Anyway, back to the subject in hand. The events that unfolded around the half way point. Firstly, the race was stopped due to a swimmer in the water. The Oxford crew should be commended in their swift reactions. It may not look it, but those boats are going bloody quick. Should there have been a collision, matey in the water would have come off considerably worse. Both the boats and blades are made out of stiffened kevlar - the same stuff used in bullet-proof vests - and the riggers from aluminium. All of that is travelling fast with the momentum generated by 8 burly blokes. Contact with any part of it would have caused serious damage to him. Not only that, but there are lots of sharp bolt heads sticking out from the shell where the riggers attach. Again possibility for serious injury. Quite what he was thinking I don't know (if anything) but I hope the prosecution is seen through. As I say, the Oxford crew should be commended for stopping so quickly and doing their best to get everything they could out of the way. The umpire also, in my opinion, made exactly the right call by stopping the race and allowing everyone to calm down and sort themselves out.
Sadly the same cannot be said for his later decision making. I should stress at this point that I'm not an umpire however I have grown up around rowing. My father was a very successful oarsman so it naturally followed that I would be out in a boat fairly swiftly. My first time in a rowing boat was when I was 6 months old. The Australian men's eight plonked me in the cox's seat at the Commonwealth games that year. My first experience of actually rowing was around eight years later. I rowed at various levels until I was around twenty. Therefore, I can confidently say I know a wee bit about the sport. Not only that, I spent about four years as a cox for a highly successful veteran team. Coxing not only requires the ability to steer and yell at people significantly bigger than you; it also requires considerable tactical thinking and a decent knowledge of the rules of racing... essentially so you know exactly how far you can push your luck and when you need to wind your neck in.
I therefore feel I can comment on the umpiring round about the time of the clash. As soon as the race had re-started, Oxford were storming away (well why not?). A few seconds later they were warned. This is my first issue. Under the rules of racing (as I understand them) during a processional race, the crew being overtaken must give way to the overtaking crew. In this instance, although they started roughly even, Oxford were clearly beginning to pull away. The act of passing, I think, should have been regarded as an overtaking manoeuvre even although they weren't quite coming up from behind. Therefore, it should have been Cambridge that were given the warning. Furthermore, when the two crews clashed, I think the umpire should have disqualified Cambridge. Again, the rules of racing state that if the crew being overtaken causes a clash, that crew are eligible for disqualification. Maybe not the most honourable way to win but the just result none the less. I am assuming that the race is conducted according to the Amateur Rowing Association rules of racing. I don't have any reason to believe otherwise. Both times, when there was any sort of conflict, the umpire favoured Cambridge. Arguably, he should have given Oxford a greater head start at the restart as well although that case is by no means as certain.
During the post-race analysis it was pointed out that the umpire was an ex-Cambridge man. I genuinely don't think there was deliberate favouritism going on. I just think it was exceptionally poor decision-making at the time. Unfortunately, the rules of racing also state that the umpire's word is final so there will be no means to appeal the decision. A shame really, I hope the incident will be noted for future reference and guidance given.
At the end of the day however, it's only a game. Nobody died as a result (despite the best efforts both of the swimmer and the Oxford bowman) and there are generally more important things going on in the world. It was a bit of fun; a spectacle made all the more spectacular by the intervening events. Let's hope next year's is a bit more straight-forward.
JR
