In preparation for their historic showdown on the tideway, Oxford and Cambridge have been taking on top competition from across the country, plus a few international crews. While the two clubs avoid giving direct comparisons, there are still clues as to the relative forms of the various crews.
Cambridge Men
Between the much-publicised changes in eligibility and a minimal set of fixtures, estimating the speed of the top Cambridge lineup is difficult. They opened the season in January with a race against an international all-star crew, including Tom Ford and Valent Sinković, which they comfortably won in two lineups. By their televised fixture in early March, Tom Ford was in the provisional Blue Boat as they comfortably dealt with a Dutch development crew, but with no public racing since the first weekend in March, how much Rob Baker has developed their speed remains to be seen.
Behind them, the provisional Goldie lineup has seen plenty of racing. From wins over Thames and Leander to a seventh overall finish at the Head of the River, the men at Ely are developing plenty of speed.
Oxford Men
The Oxford camp has also kept its cards close to its chest. Across the non-televised racing, the Dark Blues have not released full results, but they finished their racing with several pieces against a stong London Rowing Club crew that was reinforced by the introduction of Tom Ford in the stroke seat. It was a close race across the first few pieces, but a strong performance in the final piece demonstrated a killer instinct as they passed Barnes Bridge to gain the overall win on the day.
Off the Thames, the Oxford crews made the trip to Amsterdam for the Heineken Roeivierkamp, where they finished second overall. With strong performances in long-distance racing, they finished only behind a crew filled with Dutch Olympic talent like Simon van Dorp and Melvin Twellar. From our limited results, Isis does not seem to have the same depth as Goldie, but the top crews seem very comparable.
Cambridge Women
Like their men, the Cambridge women had a very front-loaded fixture schedule with major showdowns with Leander and Thames, coming off worse on both occasions. As the season progressed, the crew became more competitive, with their last competitive runout coming at the Women’s Head of the River, where they placed third overall. This performance was a notable step up across the entire course compared to their results over the shorter pieces, and as the Light Blues build to training peaks, they may be looking to show their best when it matters most.
Oxford Women
The Oxford women followed a very similar structure to their men, with limited public results available, but they have made some strong statements in recent weeks at both the Heineken Roeivierkamp and the media fixture on the Tideway. They finished fifth in Amsterdam, behind two British crews: Molesey and Thames. They held their own over three pieces on the Tideway against Leander but were ultimately whitewashed on the scoring. These results, while strong, are a little weaker than those that Cambridge was able to show against similar opposition but with differing times of the season, this may easily be explained by being at different points in their training cycles in the build-up to their clash in mid-April.
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