31 Mar 08

Despite difficult conditions, the 2008 Oxford boat race crew powered past Cambridge to a six-length victory

In this year’s rowing season, six out of seven varsity races between Oxford and Cambridge universities resulted in a win for Oxford. The icing on the cake was yesterday's Boat Race.

Oxford clocked their third victory over Cambridge in four years, winning 154th Boat Race by six lengths, just after Oxford’s Isis had beaten Cambridge’s Goldie by 11 seconds. In the previous week, the two main women’s crews had already won their races comfortably at Henley.

While conditions were not quite as bad as expected for the 2008 Boat Race, crews still had to battle hard, and Oxford made the most of having a heavier crew.

Cambridge won the toss and chose the safe option of the Surrey station, but Oxford took an early lead. By the time the crews reached Hammersmith Bridge, Cambridge was briefly in the lead by 2/3 lengths. But Oxford raised their game, increasing their rate to 36 strokes a minute, and launched an attack to which the tiring Cambridge crew had no response. When the Oxford boat reached Barnes Bridge, it was a full sixteen seconds clear of Cambridge, and the Dark Blues were able to choose the centre line all the way home.

Oxford won the 2008 Boat Race in 20 mins 53 secs, the slowest time since 1947, which is an indication of the tough conditions that the crews had to overcome on the day.

Race results 2008