Not for the last time, but perhaps for the last, the BBC unhinged itself from the Boat Race.
It was over to Channel 4 to host the ancient event that dates back to 1829, yet it was still a joy to be on the Tideway on Saturday. As war goes on. As energy prices go up. As the world goes mad. However, it was a pleasure to be on the banks of the river that Winston Churchill called a silver thread running through the capital.
We shall come to Channel 4 in a minute, and, in precis, I thought it was largely great, caveats attached.
Some of it was excellent, not least in presenter Clare Balding’s calm hands, and the Boat Race may reach a new audience.
There were three hours of coverage – on a major free-to-air channel – and who can argue with that if you are trying to promote a heritage brand?
The BBC, meanwhile, almost airbrushed the Boat Race from its channels, unravelling an association going back, on and off, for a century with this great old event.
Cambridge clinched their fourth consecutive Boat Race victory over their old foes
Channel 4 took charge of the coverage for this year’s race and was in the calm hands of Clare Balding, who was supported by Pete Reed and Ade Adepitan
As for the result of the actual contest, which is of some significance among those who divide themselves into shades of blue at least on one day of the year, the Boat Race was won by Cambridge, their fourth straight win. Oxford won the women’s edition, ending a long period of subjugation by their varsity rivals, commandingly by three lengths.
It was a massacre of sorts in the men’s race. It was getting on for four lengths in blustery conditions. It was a victory established early on.
Even by Fulham’s famous Craven Cottage home, the first third of the race, the break clear had been established, and the Light Blues were away.
The Cantabrigians now lead Oxford 89-81 overall. There was a dead heat in 1877, let’s not forget.
At times, it seemed as if Cambridge might succumb to the waves and go down. But they had a pump on board and it removed the water that might otherwise have done for them, just as it did for both crews in 1912, when they both sank.
Yes, an ancient tradition on the flood tide, and people on an Easter weekend lap it up even if they can only glimpse it for a second between ordering a beer and a burger. Speaking of those traditions, a few policemen wore old-style helmets on the hard at Putney, which brought to mind Bertie Wooster, who, as fiction has it, nicked one in high jinks, and was fined £5 for his crime.
As PG Wodehouse’s Bertie put it: ‘Abstemious cove though I am as a general thing, there is one night in the year when, putting all other engagements aside, I am rather apt to let myself go a bit and renew my lost youth, as it were. The night to which I allude is the one following the annual aquatic contest between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge – or, putting it another way, Boat Race Night. Then, if ever, you will see Bertram under the influence.’
Laing seemed to miss that Cambridge had won, and offered his commiserations to Cambridge before realising his mistake while live on air
Apologies from Bertie, just as there were from Made In Chelsea reality star Jamie Laing, who was leading the coverage with Balding.
Laing seemed to miss that Cambridge had won, and offered his commiserations to the Light Blues. He then froze in horror, aware of his mistake. One felt for him. Poor chap. A bad moment for Channel 4, who otherwise seemed to do OK. I was on the launch following the race at the time, so I bow to devotees of the channel to inform me further as I only caught some moments of their work on my phone.
Though I can say that one other apology came when triumphant Oxford cox Louis Corrigan swore during an interview, bellowing: ‘What a f*****g awesome day!’
Whatever C4 did or did not say, it was a great day of sport.
Cambridge bowman Simon Hatcher, who grew up on the myth of the Boat Race in America as a 13-year-old, said he wanted to win the Race by the ‘curvature of the Earth’. But the water pump played its part in the incremental victory.
‘The conditions tend to make equals of us all,’ he said.
‘A lot can happen that’s unexpected when the conditions rear up like that. We handled it well enough to get our bow well enough ahead at the end. Whether the margin would have held on a flatter day, we’ll never know.
‘I mentioned before that I wanted to win by the curvature of the earth. We might not have won by the curvature of the earth, but we got the bow well ahead and I think that’s the most important thing.’
And you’ll never be fully informed on the BBC again. Too ‘elitist’ for Auntie? Discuss.
