A quick coaching adjustment turned what had looked like an uneventful fixture into a feisty clash for Cambridge this weekend, as the Light Blues won two pieces against a crew of under-23 triallists.
The first piece was virtually a walkover. Cambridge - using the new white Hudson boat for the first time on the Tideway - nipped two seats at the start on the Middlesex station, quarter of a length by the start of the boathouses, and 2/3 ahead as they reached the Black Buoy. The triallists, a mixture of 2010 under-23s and this year's hopefuls, couldn't mount a challenge, and the Light Blues romped steadily away, finishing a little over four lengths up at the foot of Chiswick Eyot.
For the second piece, the coaches agreed to give the under-23 eight a length's lead, and Sir Matthew Pinsent, umpiring his first fixture this season, set them off on a running start along the Eyot. They were at full speed near the upstream end, Cambridge initially closing fast having swapped to the Surrey station, but finding their opposition a much better match than they had before.
Pinsent's flag was out and waving at both before they reached Chiswick Pier, but his shouts could not prevent a clash of blades by the moored boats. Cambridge carried on motoring, and by just under two minutes gone had drawn level, then took a couple of seats, but were warned again at three minutes gone as they edged the under-23s towards Middlesex beside the Bandstand.
There were more warning, but also more clashes, rounding the Civil Service boathouse. Cambridge shifted out to two-thirds of a length up, and then three-quarters, but this proved to be their biggest margin, as the under-23s rallied again and attacked under Barnes Bridge, taking it back to half a length.
From there round to Chiswick Bridge, the battle continued, the oars colliding frequently, but never enough to disrupt the race. Most of the warnings were for the under-23s, despite them being close to Middlesex, but there was very little stream running, and the two crews finished with Cambridge half a length up after the final sprint and looking a little more ragged than they had in the first piece.
"We couldn't have been any further over if we'd tried", said Henry Bailhache-Webb, coach of the under-23s, of the final warnings. "But they managed to relax and get on the front end more, it was smoother, in the second piece."
"I thought the coxes did a reasonable job not getting too stuck into each other", said Pinsent. "I don't think anything they did to each other affected the result or the rowing, which is the main thing."
Cambridge coach Steve Trapmore was pleased with his crew's day. "The first piece was much better exercise for them in race terms, though it wasn't easy against a crew which hasn't been together long, especially off the start", he said. "[Cambridge] got good speed going, and thereafter it was a relaxed row. I wanted to put them under more pressure in the second piece. I was pleased with the way they coped with it, but there's room for more improvement in terms of race experience."
Imperial College won convincingly against Goldie.
CAMBRIDGE Bow Mike Thorp 2 Joel Jennings 3 Dan Rix-Standing 4 Hardy Cubasch 5 George Nash 6 Geoff Roth 7 Derek Rasmussen (President) Str David Nelson Cox Tom Fieldman
GB Under-23s Bow Oliver Staite 2 Jack Cadman 3 Alex Torbica 4 Alex Davidson 5 Matt Tarrant 6 Ertan Hazine 7 Mason Durant Str Scott Durant Cox Max Gander
Goldie Bow Sasha Kasas 2 Jamie Logie 3 James Strawson 4 Andrew Viquerat 5 Alex Ross 6 Ben Evans 7 Josh Pendry Str Nick Edelman Cox Liz Box
The 2011 Xchanging Boat Race will take place on Saturday 26 March at 17:00.