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 Boating Blues Internationals dominate Oxford vs. Cambridge race
Posted: Monday March 29, 1999 03:58 PM
LONDON (AP) -- The annual Oxford-Cambridge -- one of the most British sporting events of all -- is being dominated by foreigners. The weigh-in Monday for the 145th Boat Race assured that nine of the 16 members -- plus a foreign cox -- will be non-British. The Light Blues of Cambridge have won six straight times against the Dark Blues of Oxford, and American Josh West says his Cambridge crew is "leaner, meaner" and can extend the string to seven on Saturday Cambridge's recent domination has given the Light Blues a 75-68 overall advantage over the Dark Blues. One race ended in a draw. At 6-feet 9-inches (2.06 meters), West is the tallest man ever to row in the Oxbridge event. The Cambridge crew is also the tallest in history averaging 6'6" (1.98 meters). Former Harvard rival David Ellis joins West, who was an undergraduate at Yale, in the Cambridge crew, which is captained by Canadian Brad Crombie and also contains German stroke Tim Wooge. The Oxford boat is even more international, with Swede Hernrik Nilsson, Americans Martin Crotty and Tobias Ayer, Canadian Morgan Crooks and German stroke Colin Von Ettingshausen among the eight. The Dark Blues are coxed by American Neil O'Donnell (46 kilograms/101.2 pounds) who, along with Crotty, hails from Buffalo, New York. As the crews were put on the scales at London's plush Hurlingham Club, Oxford grabbed an unexpected but very slight edge as the heaviest crew with an average weight of 93.4 kilograms (205.5 pounds), a 200-gram (half pound) advantage per man. But the slight weight advantage means little. Although Cambridge won last year with the heaviest crew on record, five of last seven races have been won by the lighter side. Cambridge covered the 4 1/4-mile course (6,840 meters) in 16 minutes, 19 seconds last year to break the race record, set by Oxford in 1984, by 29 seconds. More than 250,000 spectators are expected to line the banks of the Thames between the start at Putney Bridge in southwest London and the finish line at Mortlake. The Boat Race is one of the major events on the British sporting calendar and is broadcast live on the BBC to millions of viewers around the world. West said he was undaunted by the size of the crowd or expectations. "The Oxford weight advantage is almost negligible," he said. "I think if we get into our rhythm we can use our height to a greater advantage," he said. His parents will be flying in from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to watch the race, his father with an added interest as a Cambridge graduate. On the Oxford crew, Crotty is also a boat race rookie but has competed internationally for the United States in 1997 and '98. The former Princeton rower said it was easier to get into the spirit of the event knowing he had two Ivy League rivals in the other boat. His father will be leading the "cavalry" of American supporters, which also includes his mother, brother and two sisters flying in from the United States. "The biggest event I rowed in to date is the U.S. national collegiate championships, which is important because of your four-year attachment to your university," he said. "But in terms of the number of spectators and the specter of the entire event, this is definitely bigger," he added.
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