Victory for Oxford in varsity swim
15 Jul 08
Oxford University’s cross-channel swimmers have beaten Cambridge in the bi-annual Varsity Cross-Channel relay.
The team of six swimmers trailed Cambridge by 200 yards after the first leg before Oxford’s Clare Kane stormed back to put her team into the lead. In the final leg Oxford’s Rahul Bachuta saw them safely home to the finish in France despite the attentions of a friendly seal.
Clare and Rahul, along with the other members of the Oxford team - Ian Osband, Joe Grutwell, Gina Gosney and Naomi Hopwood – notched up a time advantage of 20 minutes over their Cambridge rivals.
The Varsity Cross-Channel relay is a bi-annual event that started in 1998. This year’s race was brought forward because of bad weather.
On the 7 July three Oxford students also broke the British record for swimming from Europe to Africa. Lennard Lee, Harry Fisher and Nicholas Berry crossed the 22km-wide Gibraltar Strait in three hours 38 minutes. Their effort was in aid of the Variety Club of Great Britain.