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The Boat Race 2013

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159th Boat Race
Date31 March 2013 (2013-03-31)
WinnerOxford
Margin of victory1+1⁄2 lengths
Winning time17 minutes 27 seconds
Overall record
(Cambridge–Oxford)		81–77
UmpireMatthew Pinsent
(Oxford)
Other races
Reserve winnerIsis
Women's winnerOxford
← 2012 2014 →

The 159th Boat Race between crews from the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge took place on 31 March 2013. Held annually, the event is a side-by-side rowing race between crews from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge along the River Thames. The Cambridge crew featured the first rower from the Czech Republic to compete in the event. Umpired by former Olympic medallist and former Oxford rower Matthew Pinsent, Oxford won by a margin of 1+1⁄2 lengths in a time of 17 minutes and 27 seconds.

In the reserve race, Oxford's Isis defeated Cambridge's Goldie, and Oxford won the Women's Boat Race.

Background

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The Boat Race is a side-by-side rowing competition between the University of Oxford (sometimes referred to as the "Dark Blues")[1] and the University of Cambridge (sometimes referred to as the "Light Blues").[1] First held in 1829, the race takes place on the 4.2-mile (6.8 km) Championship Course on the River Thames in southwest London.[2] The rivalry is a major point of honour between the two universities and followed throughout the United Kingdom and broadcast worldwide.[3][4] Cambridge went into the race as reigning champions, having won the disrupted 2012 race by 4+1⁄4 lengths,[5] and led overall with 81 victories to Oxford's 76 (excluding the "dead heat" of 1877).[6] The race was sponsored for the second consecutive year by BNY Mellon.[7]

Matthew Pinsent (pictured in 2019) umpired the race.

Following the disruption caused by a protester in the previous year's race, Royal Marines provided support to the security arrangements surrounding the race.[8] Race director David Searle urged nobody to repeat the disruption of 2012, saying "What I would say to anybody thinking of doing that, is that it's unbelievably dangerous ... We had practised emergency stops and it worked".[9] The manner of any potential restart was modified to allow the race re-commence as soon as practicable.[10] The Metropolitan Police had made contact with the protester, Trenton Oldfield, to assist him making a more peaceful protest should he wish to do so,[11] but he declined the offer and did not attend the race in any capacity.[12]

Oxford announced that they had named their boat Acer in honour of former cox Acer Nethercott who had died two months earlier from brain cancer.[13] Nethercott, an Olympic silver medallist in Beijing, had coxed Oxford in the 2003, 2004 and 2005 races.[14]

The first Women's Boat Race took place in 1927, but did not become an annual fixture until the 1960s. Up until 2014, the contest was conducted as part of the Henley Boat Races, but as of the 2015 race, it is held on the River Thames, on the same day as the men's main and reserve races.[15] The reserve race, contested between Oxford's Isis boat and Cambridge's Goldie boat has been held since 1965. It usually takes place on the Tideway, prior to the main Boat Race.[5]

Crews

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The Oxford crew weighed an average of 6 pounds (2.7 kg) per rower more than Cambridge. For the second consecutive year, Cambridge's crew featured just one British rower.[16] Cambridge was coached by Steve Trapmore for the third time, and declared "It's the best crew I've had in my time at Cambridge".[8][17] Oxford's Sean Bowden who was coaching the university for an eighteenth time, was "very satisfied" with his crew.[8][17] Milan Bruncvík was the first Czech rower in the history of the Boat Race.[18] Three medallists from the 2012 Summer Olympics featured: Cambridge's George Nash won a bronze for Great Britain in the coxless pair, Oxford's Constantine Louloudis won bronze for Great Britain in the men's eight and his crew-mate Malcolm Howard won silver for Canada in the same event.[11]

Oxford (in dark blue) lead Cambridge (white with light-blue trim)
Seat Oxford
Cambridge
Name Age Nationality Weight Height Name Age Nationality Weight Height
Bow Patrick Close 27 American 14 st 2 lb 6 ft 2 in Grant Wilson 23 American 14 st 2 lb 6 ft 3 in
2 Geordie Macleod 21 British/American 13 st 10 lb 6 ft 2 in Milan Bruncvík 28 Czech 13 st 0 lb 6 ft 1 in
3 Alexander Davidson (P) 22 British 15 st 2 lb 6 ft 5 in Alexander Fleming 23 Australian 15 st 5 lb 6 ft 5 in
4 Sam O'Connor 25 New Zealander 14 st 0 lb 6 ft 1 in Ty Otto 24 American 14 st 4 lb 6 ft 7 in
5 Paul Bennett 24 British 15 st 11 lb 6 ft 10 in George Nash (P) 23 British 14 st 13 lb 6 ft 4 in
6 Karl Hudspith 25 British 14 st 8 lb 6 ft 6 in Steve Dudek 24 American 16 st 0 lb 6 ft 8 in
7 Constantine Louloudis 21 British 14 st 11 lb 6 ft 3 in Alexander Scharp 25 Australian 14 st 9 lb 6 ft 6 in
Stroke Malcolm Howard 29 Canadian 17 st 3 lb 6 ft 7 in Niles Garratt 24 American 13 st 8 lb 6 ft 4 in
Cox Oskar Zorrilla 25 American 8 st 4 lb 5 ft 4 lb Henry Fieldman 24 British 8 st 8 lb 5 ft 4 in
Sources:[16][17]
(P) – boat club president

Race

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Oxford won the toss and elected to start from the Surrey station.[11] The weather conditions were adverse, with a "brisk wind" and snow flurries prior to the race.[11] The race commenced at 4:31 p.m., and despite a good start from Cambridge, Oxford quickly moved to hold a half-length lead.[11] With blades nearly overlapping, Umpire Pinsent issued warnings to both coxes to avoid a clash, and approaching Hammersmith Bridge, Oxford's lead extended to nearly a length.[11] Cambridge kept in touch despite a push from Oxford, but by Barnes Bridge, Oxford were two lengths clear, and according to James Cracknell, they were "the fastest eight in the world right now."[11] Oxford passed the finishing post 1+1⁄2 lengths clear, in a time of 17 minutes 27 seconds.[5]

In the reserve race, Oxford's Isis defeated Cambridge's Goldie by one third of a length, the smallest margin of victory ever recorded in the reserves race. Oxford won the 68th Women's Boat Race by 1+3⁄4 lengths.[5]

Reaction

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Olympic gold medallist Katherine Grainger presented Oxford with the trophy.[19] Winning cox Zorilla said "It was fun, tough but that was what we expected. We had a plan and we stuck to it ruthlessly."[11] His Light Blue counterpart, Fieldman, remarked: "I asked a lot of the guys and they gave it me every time. Unfortunately it wasn't quite enough.”[13]

The BBC apologised for broadcasting Zorilla's repeated swearing. A microphone in the Oxford boat picked up the "bad language" during the latter half of the race which was subsequently broadcast live on both BBC One and the BBC World News channel.[20] Further swearing from Zorilla was broadcast as he emerged from the Thames after the customary soaking of the victorious cox.[20]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Dark Blues aim to punch above their weight". The Observer. 6 April 2003. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  2. ^ Smith, Oliver (25 March 2014). "University Boat Race 2014: spectators' guide". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 1 July 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  3. ^ "Former Winnipegger in winning Oxford–Cambridge Boat Race crew". CBC News. 6 April 2014. Archived from the original on 24 September 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  4. ^ "TV and radio". The Boat Race Company Limited. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  5. ^ a b c d "Boat Race – Results". The Boat Race Company Ltd. Archived from the original on 12 July 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  6. ^ "Classic moments – the 1877 dead heat". The Boat Race Company Limited. Archived from the original on 26 October 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  7. ^ "BNY Mellon announced as new Boat Race title sponsor". The Boat Race Company Limited. 8 February 2012. Archived from the original on 16 December 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  8. ^ a b c Quarrell, Rachel (29 March 2013). "University Boat Race 2013: Royal Marines deployed to prevent repeat of protest which halted crews in 2012". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2 April 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  9. ^ "Boat Race 2013: Organisers to introduce new safety measures". BBC Sport. 14 February 2013. Archived from the original on 1 April 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  10. ^ Quarrell, Rachel (27 March 2013). "University Boat Race 2013: organisers introduce new plans to avoid repeat of the disruption which blighted last year's event". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 22 June 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h "Boat Race 2013: Oxford v Cambridge". BBC Sport. 31 March 2013. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  12. ^ Oldfield, Trenton (30 March 2013). "The boat race protester's prison notebook". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 29 July 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  13. ^ a b Quarrell, Rachel (31 March 2013). "University Boat Race 2013: Oxford cruise to comfortable victory over Cambridge". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  14. ^ Williamson, Marcus (29 January 2013). "Dr Acer Nethercott: Olympic rowing cox and noted academic". The Independent. Archived from the original on 28 January 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  15. ^ "A brief history of the Women's Boat Race". The Boat Race Company Limited. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  16. ^ a b "Boat Race 2013: The basics on Oxford v Cambridge". BBC Sport. 29 March 2013. Archived from the original on 21 July 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  17. ^ a b c Quarrell, Rachel (29 March 2013). "University Boat Race 2013: Meet the Cambridge and Oxford crews". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  18. ^ Quarrell, Rachel (28 March 2013). "University Boat Race 2013: Milan Bruncvik ready to become first Czech to row in race's 159-year history". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 23 June 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  19. ^ White, Jim (31 March 2013). "University Boat Race 2013: Oxford beat Cambridge in contest that is incredible and horrible". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 3 May 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  20. ^ a b Marsden, Sam (31 March 2013). "BBC apologises for Oxford cox's bad language during Boat Race". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
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