Latest news with #UniversityBoatRace
The Guardian
12-04-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Friends relish battle from opposite sides of women's Boat Race
Heidi Long and Claire Collins have competed against each other at world championships and Olympic Games, so it is testament to the continued allure of the University Boat Race that both describe it as a 'bucket-list event'. Having last met in the final of the Women's Eight in Paris last summer, with Long winning bronze for Team GB ahead of Collins' USA crew in fifth, they were reunited on the banks of the Thames in Putney this week in preparation for Sunday's race. The pair have led parallel lives on and off the water, competing against each other on 15 previous occasions in international, Olympic and American collegiate regattas, as well as sharing the same birthday – 29 November 1996 – but Sunday is likely to be a one-off. Both are targeting the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 so may not return to a race where the result is the only thing that counts. 'The Boat Race has always been on my bucket list,' says Collins, who has added even more strength to a Cambridge crew that have won the last seven women's races. 'It's an incredible event, with a unique mix of athletes in terms of their age and experience. You have athletes coming from the Olympics rowing alongside students who've literally only learnt to row at either Oxford or Cambridge in their colleges. And together we have to form a team, which is a real challenge and great fun. 'I've really enjoyed the whole experience, particularly meeting Heidi again and getting to know her over the past few days. There are usually 10 or 20 teams in the mix, but this time it's just two teams so we've had time to talk properly. We didn't even realise we had the same birthday until this year, things like that. It's pretty crazy that we've had these parallel journeys, but it's super cool.' Oxford's Long chips in: 'I was looking back to see actually when we first raced each other, and it was 11 years ago at the junior world championships in Hamburg. We probably learned to row around a similar time and made similar decisions to go to collegiate rowing programs, go for the Olympics and now come back to university. 'I want to continue representing Great Britain internationally and still dream of winning an Olympic gold medal, so that is going to be a priority the closer it gets to LA. But for now this experience has been unbelievable. I am super-excited to race, and will take it where it comes after Monday morning.' Talk of their first meeting in Hamburg reminds Long that when she first applied to Oxford as an undergraduate the women's Boat Race did not take place on the same course as the men's race, and was hidden away in Henley with little media interest. Given the gradual move towards greater parity between the sexes in sport, it seems incredible that Sunday is just the 10th time the women's race will be held on the Thames with equal billing and live TV coverage on the BBC. While the 100th anniversary of the women's event in two years' time will be a cause for big celebrations, the smaller landmark this weekend should be the source of some embarrassment given how slow these old institutions were to adapt, although Long takes heart from how much has changed during her career. 'When I was applying to Oxford there was no women's Boat Race on the championship course,' she says. 'So in my university lifetime it has completely changed in that regard, and women are now able to go out there and compete in exactly the same format as the men. 'I remember when I first watched the Boat Race you just watched the men. The sad thing was I didn't realise that there was anything wrong with that, it was just the norm. You just would go and watch men's sport. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion 'But now I think, if on Sunday the women's race didn't happen, young girls around the river would notice and ask: 'What's going on here?' Hopefully we're inspiring the next generation to go out there and give sport a go. Sport gives you so much more than just some physicality – the friends you make and the lessons you learn are one of a kind.' Long's friendship with Collins is testament to that, but while the rivalry between both crews is friendly enough Cambridge remain deeply aggrieved that Molly Foxell and Kate Crowley, plus Matt Heywood from the men's club, are unable to race after Oxford successfully petitioned for a ban on students studying for postgraduate certificates in education, rather than degrees, competing. All three have remained with the squad in London this week and will join in the celebrations if Cambridge maintain their recent dominance. As well as winning seven women's races in succession the Light Blues have won five of the last six men's races and are bidding for three in a row. 'At this point we're really excited for the team, for the whole team, to be able to enjoy the whole day and compete,' Collins says of the controversy. 'It really does take a whole team to compete, so while I'm quite sad that some people on our team can't race it doesn't mean that they haven't contributed to what's going to happen on race day. 'It is sport, so what happens on the day is what people will remember, but the journey that gets you there is also important. Like in the buildup to an Olympics, the Boat Race is very much a journey, and those teammates of ours are very much a part of that. 'And they're very impressive human beings, I will say that as well. They're very impressive athletes, they're very impressive students, very impressive human beings. So I feel very lucky to have been on a team with them, even if they can't race.'
The Guardian
09-04-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Boat race feud results in Oxford and Cambridge ditching women's trial race
The bad blood between Oxford and Cambridge continues to fester ahead of Sunday's University Boat Race, with the fallout from the PGCE row leading to the abandonment of a trial race between the two clubs this morning. The Guardian has learned that Cambridge were unable to field a crew in Wednesday's women's spare race after Oxford insisted that the ban on PGCE students taking part also applied to what is a practice race for squad members not selected for the Boat Race. Oxford are also understood to have said that CUBC president Lucy Havard could not take part as she was deemed ineligible due to the 12-year rule, which prevents anyone taking part in the Boat Race if it is 12 years since they first enrolled on an undergraduate degree. As result Cambridge did not have enough rowers to fill their main women's boat and were replaced by London Boat Club, who beat Oxford over a shorter stretch of Sunday's course on the Thames. The women's lightweight spare race, and the two men's races, went ahead as planned with Cambridge winning all three leaving Oxford defeated in all four outings. The so-called spare races are used to give both clubs an up-to-date insight into conditions on the Thames four days before the Boat Race, as well as a competitive outing for squad members not selected after months of training. Cambridge are understood to have made representations that they could not fill their women's spare boat without Molly Foxell and Kate Crowley, who were ruled out of the main race last month after the interpretation panel which governs participation in the 196-year-old race, upheld Oxford's complaint that as PGCE students they were ineligible. Club president Havard was suggested as a replacement, but that solution was also rejected by Oxford due to the 12-year rule. This new regulation was added to the joint agreement between the two boat clubs that governs the race four years ago after the double Olympic champion James Cracknell rowed for Cambridge in 2019 at the age of 46. Cambridge rower Matt Heywood was also ruled out of the main men's race this year on those grounds. Cambridge sources expressed surprise that Oxford had insisted that these controversial rulings should also apply to the spare races, a situation which is indicative of the continued ill-feeling between the clubs. One source noted that as Oxford lost all four races their apparent siege mentality seems to be doing them few favours. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion Cambridge could mount a legal challenge against the decision of the interpretation panel ahead of next year's race. The Guardian revealed last month that an independent legal opinion written by four barristers at Blackstone Chambers concluded there are 'strong grounds to challenge the lawfulness' of the decision to ban three Cambridge students from the race.
BBC News
14-02-2025
- Business
- BBC News
London's Thames Tideway Tunnel now fully connected
London's new £5bn super sewer has been fully connected and is already stopping half a million tonnes of sewage from entering the River Thames, the firm behind it has 10 years of construction work, the last of the 21 connections of the Thames Tideway Tunnel was made to the city's Victorian sewage 16-mile (25km) pipe will divert 34 of the most-polluting sewage outflows that have been discharging into the chief executive Andy Mitchell said: "This is another significant step forward – with this final connection complete, the super sewer is fully up and running and protecting the Thames." London's combined sewage system handles human waste and rain runoff together, but the capital's population has outgrown the new system is expected to stop 95% of the sewage spills that previously would have polluted the river. Connections have been made at locations including the starting point of the University Boat Race at Putney Embankment; Chelsea and Victoria Embankments; Blackfriars Bridge in the heart of the City of London; and King Edward Memorial Park in Thames Tideway Tunnel connects with the 4.2-mile (6.9km) Lee Tunnel, an existing Thames Water asset, creating the London Tideway Tunnel system. The infrastructure project, funded by Thames Water customers, will reduce sewage discharges into the Thames and create lasting benefits for biodiversity, recreation and public health, a Tideway spokesperson project is not yet fully complete, as it will still need to be tested in storm conditions over the coming Water will then take over the operation of the system. Environment Secretary Steve Reed described the tunnel as "an example of the kind of infrastructure investment needed to clean up our waterways around the country", adding: "This government is determined to clean up our polluted rivers, lakes and seas – and that includes the capital's iconic Thames river."London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan said it was an "important milestone" towards cleaning up London's waterways.
