Cambridge Women v Oxford Brookes in #FixtureSeries

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY BOAT CLUB v OXFORD BROOKES UNIVERSITY⁠.


Oxford Brookes University Boat Club came to the Tideway in force on Sunday to take on Cambridge in the first official fixture for the Light Blue women. The Fixtures are an important part of pre-Boat Race preparation.
Due to Storm Eunice, it was decided that racing would only take place between Putney and Hammersmith Bridge. As ever, the Umpire and Safety Advisor take the safety and welfare of the crews as the highest priority.
Brookes has a highly regarded reputation as a high performance centre producing Henley Royal Regatta winning crews and producing a long line of international athletes. As such Cambridge knew this was going to be a tough pre-Boat Race set of races for both the 'A' and 'B' line ups.
There was a last minute crew change to the Light Blue line up when President Bronya Sykes tested positive for COVID. As a result Chief Coach Patrick Ryan invited British Olympian Jess Eddie to join the crew for the day.

Blue Boat vs Brookes A

UMPIRE Richard Phelps

In the first piece Cambridge drew the Middlesex Station. Cambridge took a quick start and took an early lead and won by three lengths. In the second piece, the crews swapped stations. This was a close race, with Brookes keeping right up with Cambridge. In the closing stages, Cambridge held onto the lead and won by just over a length.⁠

To watch parts of this race go to the Boat Race TV HERE
Chief Coach Patrick Ryan said

"Firstly, I’d like to thank Brookes for bringing a full squad out to race us in todays challenging conditions and bearing with all the last minute changes that came as a result of the weather. Thanks also to Jess Eddie for stepping in and supporting the team today, it was awesome to have her experience on board. Today showed a strong performance from the Blue Boat, who handled the conditions really well against tough opposition. We are ready to step on even further in the next couple of weeks in preparation for the Leander Club fixture."

Cambridge 'B' vs Brookes 'B'

UMPIRE Clare Briegal

In the first piece Brookes won the Toss and chose the Surrey Station. Off the start Brookes took an early lead and continued to draw this out. Cambridge tried to battle bacl but were unable to regain contact and Brookes won by 3 lengths. In the second piece the crews remained on the same station and Brookes won by 2 lengths.
CUBC Assistant Coach Autumn Mantel said

"It was so great to get the chance to race side by side on the tideway again after so long! It was a great learning opportunity for all the rowers & coxes and we’re looking forward to regrouping back in Ely and building on todays efforts in time for the Imperial College fixture on the 5th March!'

Brookes Women's Chief Coach Hugo Gulliver reflects on the weekend's racing and says,

"It was brilliant to test our student eight up against the Cambridge crew with four Olympians on board and push them the whole way to the finish line, in what was some fantastic racing. It was equally brilliant to test our strength-in-depth with the Oxford Brookes 2nd & 3rd Women’s Eights putting in strong performances against Blondie and the Cambridge Lightweight crew. We’re looking forward to returning to the Tideway in two weeks time with both our Brookes men’s and women’s crews for the next weekend of the Fixture Series vs. Oxford Women and Cambridge Men”.