(Adds details)
* Intruder removed from Thames
* Race re-started in unprecedented scenes
* Cambridge win after Oxford break an oar
LONDON, April 7 (Reuters) – Cambridge beat Oxford in a
bizzare and chaotic Varsity Boat Race which featured an intruder
in the River Thames, a broken oar and an ailing oarsman on
Saturday.
Cambridge won the 158th edition of the race but the event
would have sparked security concerns just 111 days before the
start of the London Olympics after the appearance of a swimming
intruder forced the umpire to halt the contest near the halfway
mark.
A man wearing a black wetsuit was almost hit by the oars of
the Oxford crew before he was hauled out of the river and
detained.
The boats were ordered to pull up and race umpire John
Garrett declared a restart after a stoppage of around 30
minutes.
There was more drama just a minute following the restart
when one of the Oxford rowers saw his blade snap off following a
clash of oars between the crews of the two boats.
That effectively ended Oxford’s challenge and Cambridge
sprinted away to win by several lengths.
But as Cambridge celebrated, there was despair and concern
in the beaten Oxford boat where exhausted bow man Alex Woods
collapsed. After being carried off the boat for treatment, media
reported that he was recovering in a London hospital.
Oxford cox Zoe de Toledo, unhappy at having to race minus
one oar, appealed against the result but was told by Garrett
they had been warned for getting too close.
Cambridge president Dave Nelson, asked about the intruder,
told BBC TV: “Suddenly there was this yelling about an
obstruction going on and the next thing I know is I can see a
guy’s head in the middle of the two boats
“There must have been 10 or 20 boats following us so that
guy was in serious strife.
Garrett said: “We thought it was some debris but then
realised it was actually a swimmer.
“We weren’t sure what was going to happen, whether he was
going to get out of the way in time and then it was quite clear
he was just waiting for the boats to come across him so I had to
stop the race and re-start.”
He said of the Oxford protest: “In the immediate run-up to
the clash of oars I was warning Oxford. Cambridge were in the
right position so I was content to let the race continue and the
result stand.”
(Writing by Dave Thompson, editing by Pritha Sarkar, Reuters
messenger:
dave.thompson.reuters.com@reuters.net
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