2011 Xchanging Boat Race Crews Announced
The 2011 Xchanging Boat Race later this month will pit an Oxford boat composed largely of British students with an impressive rowing pedigree against a slightly older, multi-national Cambridge eight that includes three returning Blues from last year’s epic encounter.
For the first time in more than 20 years, the Dark Blues have just one rower from overseas in the boat – German international Moritz Hafner who rowed for Isis last year and becomes the sixth rower from Germany to represent Oxford in the Race. The last time the Oxford boat contained only a single foreign student was in 1990, the year Sir Matthew Pinsent made his debut in the event, when American Michael Gafney helped them to win the Race.
Oxford have also switched club President Ben Myers from bow, the seat in which he appeared last year, for the 2 seat. At 18, cox Sam Winter-Levy is one of the youngest coxswains in the history of the Race, although that record is held by E C J Warner who was more than six months younger in 1904.
The Light Blues have a blend of five Britons, two Australians and individuals from Canada and the United States – the latter being the club President Derek Rasmussen, who rows in the same 7 seat he occupied 12 months ago. He is joined from last year’s winning boat by Canadian Geoff Roth and British Olympic prospect George Nash, plus four members of the victorious Goldie reserve boat in 2010. They include 30-year-old Hardy Cubasch – the oldest competitor in the event – and Liz Box, the 14th female to cox in the Race 30 years after the first to do so, Sue Brown in 1981.
The youngest rower taking part is Oxford’s 19-year-old Constantine Louloudis, who has been compared to Pinsent at the same age as an outstanding rowing talent. Also in the Dark Blue Boat is former club President Alec Dent, who resigned after three months in the role fearing a back injury would keep him out of the boat.
The two strokes are Simon Hislop, one of five Londoners in the Race, who had surgery for testicular cancer less than a year ago and is a medical student at Oriel College, and Australian David Nelson, whose family were caught up in the recent flood in Brisbane.
Oxford Chief Coach Sean Bowden, looking for his tenth win in 14 seasons at Oxford, is optimistic about the Dark Blue chances. “The crew has come together well and what it lacks in Boat Race experience, it more than makes up for in terms of determination and track record,” he says.
Rival coach Steve Trapmore, who’s making his debut in the event, believes the Light Blues have given themselves every chance of stretching the overall Race lead to six (it currently stands at 80 to 75 with one dead-heat). “I’m very happy with the balance of experience and youth in the boat and they are single-minded about wanting to perform well on the day,” he says.
Cambridge have broken more than 30 years of tradition in selecting a white Hudson boat for the event, as opposed to the customary yellow-hulled Empacher that Oxford will use.
The Race, which is sponsored by Xchanging - the international business processing company - takes place at 17:00 on Saturday, 26 March on the River Thames. It is being broadcast live on BBC One, BBC America and BBC World News, as well as screened in more than 200 countries around the world.