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Having already shown that she is no lightweight by stroking the Cambridge women to a record time victory, Olympian Imogen Grant continues to prove that she can mix it with the big girls by drinking her own body weight in alcohol.
8 April 2022
By Tim Koch
The first of Tim Koch’s three-part photo album of Boat Race Day 2022 covered Putney in the build-up to the races. Yesterday, it focused on the Men’s Blue Boat Race in action from start to finish. Today, the final pictures show the post-race scenes at Mortlake.
The Oxford Men celebrate their first win since 2017. You win some…You lose some. Cambridge in defeat.Oxford’s Jack Robertson (4) and Roman Röösli (5) have a reverse man hug.The youngest member of the Cambridge crew, 19-year-old undergraduate Luca Ferraro is comforted by one of the old men of the boat, 29-year-old Jamie Hunter (2).Charlie Elwes (6) and Angus Groom (7) wind down in different ways.In most years, having the power of Olympic Bronze medalists Tom George (6) and Ollie Wynne-Griffith (7) in the boat would almost guarantee success.Oxford stroke Tobias Schröder acknowledges the cheers of supporters on the bank. Swiss Olympic Gold medalist Simon Schürch (4) composes himself.An emotional Tobias Schröder, defeated in 2019, reacts to his win with a few tears.Stroke Ollie Parish and cox Charlie Marcus reflect on their defeat.Oxford jubilant.Clusters of Light and Dark Blue ashore at Mortlake.Congratulations…And commiserations. Picture: @CUBCSquad.Oxford President, Martin Barakso, who rowed with Isis, gives his thoughts.Oxford men’s coach, Sean Bowden, does his version of ecstatic.Cambridge’s Sarah Portsmouth (left) is all smiles while Oxford’s Anja Zehfuss (right) is more reflective.The Oxford Men mark OUBC’s 81st win – Cambridge have had 85.The Cambridge women celebrate CUWBCs/CUBCs 46th victory making the score 46 – 30 over OUWBC. The Blue Boat is joined by Blondie who lead 28 – 20 over Osiris. The Blue’s coach, Paddy Ryan, is standing at the back left.Winners all.The Oxford men show their gratitude to the coxes.Cambridge stroke, Imogen Grant, knows how to make a good picture.Cambridge women’s cox, Jasper Parish, enjoys a Boat Race Cocktail. To make this drink at home, mix English sparkling wine with eight people’s spittle and add a dash of silver polish. Shaken not stirred, serve warm and drink quickly. The immediate riverside celebrations over, the crews go to Quintin BC and Mortlake Anglian & Alpha RC to shower and change into their Boat Race Dinner outfits.The party is over for another year.An illustration of the Boat Race course from 1875.
A final thought. The return to the Thames Tideway after the enforced sojourn to Ely last year made me realise that the Oxford – Cambridge Boat Race is perhaps less about the contest between the boat clubs of the two ancient universities than it is about actually racing the Putney to Mortlake (P to M) course. Should Oxford and Cambridge boaties one day tire of the annual jamboree and gift the franchise to two other aquatic centres of learning, I think that Boat Race Day itself would remain a splendid and much anticipated event. How long would the Oxford – Cambridge Boat Race last if it moved permanently to a stretch such as Ely? The P to M course is the real star of the show.
Does anyone else find it abominable that the Oxford crew in The Boat Race had the name of its sponsor emblazoned on their chests? Sure, there are other sponsors supporting crews, but this is The Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race; on the water, they should just be representing their universities.
The Oxford crew is not a soccer team, not supposed to appear as rowing for Gemini. Or did Gemini buy the race?
Look at this link, https://www.theboatrace.org/
or worse, this one. https://www.britishrowing.org/2022/04/the-gemini-boat-race-2022-with-ollie-wynne-griffith-and-amelia-standing/
Even British Rowing is calling it the “Gemini Boat Race”! Maybe Gemini did indeed buy the race, for what price, with what agreements? In smaller letters, Gemini is also on the Cambridge shirts. Did Gemini sponsor individual oarsmen, recruit them to study at Oxford, also Cambridge?
I know from two rowing clubs and a tennis club what happens when a sponsor gets too ambitious. At the start, the success is nice, but within a couple of years it undermines broader support. And then one day the so ambitious sponsor loses interest, and the club suddenly discovers how dependent on one sponsor it has become, discovers that it has neglected contact to other sponsors. Why should they support the club, when only that sponsor’s name is seen and heard everywhere?
Sure, Gemini can support The Boat Race for years, but one day it won’t. OUBC, CUBC and others should think about that, also Gemini, which doesn’t need the advertising. It could be more modest and show greater respect for the traditions of The Boat Race.
Larry Fogelberg
Keep up Larry, sponsorship began in 1976 and the Boat Race has only improved year-on-year since then. Further, sponsors’ names have been on Boat Race racing kit since 2012 and the world still spins on its axis.
I think that I can claim to “respect for the traditions of the Boat Race” and can I tell you that sponsorship is the best thing that has happened to it. Before outside money came in, the standard of both fitness and rowing was low and the whole thing was amateur in the pejorative sense. Also, without sponsorship, the women would never have gained parity.
Thanks, Tim. I’m aware that sponsoring has been around and is here to stay, as your article so well explains. And The Boat Race may always find a generous primary sponsor (not the case for the clubs I referred to). Spinning on my bar stool, however, I still feel that a sponsor’s name should not be the most prominent thing on the rowers’ kit during the race and the name for the race. Larry
Hear The Boat Sing 
Does anyone else find it abominable that the Oxford crew in The Boat Race had the name of its sponsor emblazoned on their chests? Sure, there are other sponsors supporting crews, but this is The Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race; on the water, they should just be representing their universities.
The Oxford crew is not a soccer team, not supposed to appear as rowing for Gemini. Or did Gemini buy the race?
Look at this link,
https://www.theboatrace.org/
or worse, this one.
https://www.britishrowing.org/2022/04/the-gemini-boat-race-2022-with-ollie-wynne-griffith-and-amelia-standing/
Even British Rowing is calling it the “Gemini Boat Race”! Maybe Gemini did indeed buy the race, for what price, with what agreements? In smaller letters, Gemini is also on the Cambridge shirts. Did Gemini sponsor individual oarsmen, recruit them to study at Oxford, also Cambridge?
I know from two rowing clubs and a tennis club what happens when a sponsor gets too ambitious. At the start, the success is nice, but within a couple of years it undermines broader support. And then one day the so ambitious sponsor loses interest, and the club suddenly discovers how dependent on one sponsor it has become, discovers that it has neglected contact to other sponsors. Why should they support the club, when only that sponsor’s name is seen and heard everywhere?
Sure, Gemini can support The Boat Race for years, but one day it won’t. OUBC, CUBC and others should think about that, also Gemini, which doesn’t need the advertising. It could be more modest and show greater respect for the traditions of The Boat Race.
Larry Fogelberg
Keep up Larry, sponsorship began in 1976 and the Boat Race has only improved year-on-year since then. Further, sponsors’ names have been on Boat Race racing kit since 2012 and the world still spins on its axis.
I think that I can claim to “respect for the traditions of the Boat Race” and can I tell you that sponsorship is the best thing that has happened to it. Before outside money came in, the standard of both fitness and rowing was low and the whole thing was amateur in the pejorative sense. Also, without sponsorship, the women would never have gained parity.
Before sponsorship, the race was becoming increasingly irrelevant but now it is a near world-class event. It cannot return to its Victorian roots. See here: https://heartheboatsing.com/2016/01/20/rebranding-the-boat-race/
Thanks, Tim. I’m aware that sponsoring has been around and is here to stay, as your article so well explains. And The Boat Race may always find a generous primary sponsor (not the case for the clubs I referred to). Spinning on my bar stool, however, I still feel that a sponsor’s name should not be the most prominent thing on the rowers’ kit during the race and the name for the race. Larry