Cambridge claim double first in Boat Race with wins for men and women | The Boat Race

The Boat Race is Cambridge’s domain once again. Dominant for so much of the event’s recent history, the Light Blues bounced back from a rare defeat in the men’s race last year to return yet another men and women’s double on a blustery Thames.

On a grim spring day, with cold gusts of wind ensuring hats and scarves were compulsory attire for spectators along the 4.25 miles from Putney to Mortlake, the two Cambridge crews ensured the title of university rowing powerhouse remains irrefutable.

The men’s race this year had been seen by many as something for the university rowing purists, with an abundance of undergraduates and total absence of Olympians in either boat. This was the Boat Race as it was initially meant in the early 19th century, albeit with multiple nationalities represented in both boats.

Starting from the northern Middlesex station, the men’s race took on an immediately fascinating complexion when the Cambridge cox, Jasper Parish, made a rare move away from the fast water in the centre of the river. It was unexpected, to say the least.

Deciding that the water was too rough, he instead guided his boat towards the bank passing Fulham’s stadium, Craven Cottage, in the hunt for shelter. The gamble paid off in abundance, with Cambridge able to gain the ascendancy and an early length lead that they maintained throughout.

With Oxford left battling Cambridge’s dirty water for the majority of the race, the margin remained enough to secure victory under Chiswick Bridge.

Off the back of a five-year winning sequence – and a course-record time in 2022 – the Cambridge women showed why they had been deemed such firm favourites to extend their run, despite only one returning occupant from the record-breaking boat of last year.

Assured of the power at his disposal, the cox James Trotman – an economics undergraduate, who learned his trade at an all-boys school – contentedly watched his Oxford rivals edge into a narrow early lead before gently easing his crew into an advantage that they never came close to relinquishing.

So quickly did the gulf grow between the boats that the only threat emerged from a potential rule breach, when the assertive line taken by Trotman led to his being warned twice by the umpire to shift his boat back on to the Surrey side of the river to avoid a collision that might have resulted in disqualification.

Once that possibility was dismissed by a swift change of direction, the inevitable played out. One length became two, then three and eventually four and a half as the Light Blues retained their crown by a hefty margin.

A belated attempt by the Oxford cox Tara Slade, a former Cambridge undergraduate, to protest against Trotman’s hostile line after the race’s conclusion was swiftly dismissed.

Asked whether he deemed his line as aggressive, Trotman offered a smile and said: “I wouldn’t say so but … yeah, potentially you could argue that. I’d say it was a little bit of me coming out and her [Slade] coming in, but that’s where the fast water is so I was just trying to steer the best line for the crew I had and it paid off.

“When you get warned, get back on your station. It’s pretty simple. Job done. That’s what I did.”

On Cambridge women’s sixth successive win, he said: “The culture of the team we’ve got at Cambridge is just so strong. Year on year, it’s starting to reinforce itself. It’s a great place to row.”