10 April 2025

By Tim Koch

Tim Koch is not posting the second part of Prince Harry’s autobiography.

Boat Race Day was on Wednesday, 9 April, for the Oxford and Cambridge “Spare Pairs”, a probably not too ancient tradition whereby the stroke side and bow side spares from each crew race from the Putney University Stone start to the Mile Post sometime during Tideway Week. It turned out to be the Light Blues day with the single losing Cambridge crew being beaten, not by Oxford but by other Tabs.

The women’s openweight and lightweight spares races gave rise to a strange situation. Although the spares’ races are informal events not under the control of the Boat Race Company, I understand that Oxford would not race against Cambridge Women’s President Lucy Havard who has been declared ineligible to race in a Boat Race Blue, reserve or lightweight crew under a rule which imposes a 12-year limit after a student first enrolled at any university. 

Further, the Dark Blues wanted to race coxed fours and not pairs. It was suggested that this was because they do not train in pairs, something that, if true, I find surprising.

Cambridge offered to race a pair or a hastily assembled four but held that Havard would be in either crew. When Oxford refused this, the Cambridge openweight pair raced and beat their own CUBC lightweight pair.

The Spares’ races certainly demonstrated Cambridge’s strength in depth but, of course, it is only the strength in the eight rowing seats of the Blue Boats that counts on 13 April.

Another Tideway Week post looking at crews on the water will follow but here are a few land based shots collected on Wednesday. Apologies for the apparent Cambridge bias but the Tabs are simply more accessible and media friendly. Come on Oxford, give us a hug!