OUBC vs Leander 2016
Today saw the final fixtures in The 2016 Boat Race schedule take place for Oxford and Cambridge men’s crews. Having lost out to a talented Oxford Brookes crew in February, the Dark Blues took on a Leander Club development crew in a piece from Putney Bridge to just past the Chiswick Eyot.
Leander took the Surrey station and both crews left the start together, staying their lines well under the watchful eye of umpire Sir Matthew Pinsent. By the end of the Putney Embankment, Leander had settled and led Oxford by around three seats. Both crews forced punchy rhythms in light of the fact that only one piece was due to be raced, which made for an exciting spectacle. Arching around the Fulham bend, Leander stretched out to half a length as Oxford struggled to contain the horsepower of their opposition. Leander, steered by Olympic bronze medallist Phelan Hill, veered slightly towards Oxford at the Mile Post and the crews clashed, forcing Pinsent into action.
Both boats dealt with the incident well and the margin remained half a length as they worked their way past the Harrods Repository. Aggressive steering from both crews forced Pinsent’s hand again as he warned Oxford under Hammersmith Bridge. Despite this, Leander stretched out to ¾ of a length as the Surrey bend began to turn to their advantage.
Oxford still looked composed, and began to turn the screw approaching Chiswick Eyot. They clawed back much of the deficit and looked to have the momentum before Sean Bowden called time on the piece, leaving Leander to run out as narrow winners by around two seats.
This was a stern test for an Oxford crew who have improved greatly since their meeting with Brookes. The dark blues will now turn their attention to the final two weeks of preparation ahead of The Cancer Research UK Boat Races on 27th March 2016.
OUBC:
B) Georgy McKirdy
2) James White
3) Morgan Gerlak
4) Joshua Bugajski
5) Leo Carrington
6) Jørgen Tveit
7) Jamie Cook
S) Nik Hazell
C) Sam Collier
Leander:
B) Chris Boddy
2) Tom Ford
3) Barney Stentiford
4) Adam Neill
5) Cameron Buchan
6) Phil Congdon
7) Tim Clarke
S) George Rossiter
C) Phelan Hill