Boat Race 1997 143rd Boat Race Christopher Dodd on the Tideway Cambridge's tenacious and brilliant rowing earned them a fifth successive victory in the 143rd Boat Race on Saturday. They accepted the Beefeater Gin Trophy from the hands of Olympic star Steve Redgrave, and sent Oxford scurrying back to the drawing board. Ed Bellamy, Oxford's President who lost to Goldie aboard Isis half an hour before the Boat Race, then had to endure watching the crew from which he had been dropped rowed down on the long Surrey bend. "To turn round from a run of defeats you've actually got to be a number of lengths quicker than the other crew from a psychological point of view," he said. "As the race went, maybe that's what started to slip away, that Oxford hadn't done it for a number of years and here we go again. I think maybe the difference is that three of them had won a Boat Race and three of our crew had lost an Isis race. It certainly takes it out of you, losing this bloody race, as I've now discovered twice. That's probably it for me." This was the end of a three-year contract in which Daniel Topolski was brought back as director of coaching after his demise following the 1987 mutiny to turn Oxford round. His weapon this time was the Dutch Olympic coach Rene Mijnders who took the driving seat for six months and injected a wonderful spirit in the club as well as turned out a superb crew stroked by Tim Foster, late of Britain's Olympic four. "Both crews did an excellent job," Mijnders said. "In the beginning we hit a better rhythm. On the bend I think we were pushed out of the stream a bit. They held on and were actually flying there. The further the race, the better Cambridge started to row. It was very high quality. You can see what it takes to win this race. I know it now. It's not easy." Bellamy may have wished to crawl into a corner like half the Oxford Blues after the race, but Foster always comes up smiling. The first thing he did when he came ashore was congratulate each and every Cambridge oarsman. "I tend to produce good races but I don't win very many at the moment," he said. "We gave it the best shot and I don't think anyone in the Oxford boat felt they could have given more." His opposite number, James Ball, said "Last year it was relief. This year it's absolute joy." What they gave was a reminder of what a great event the Boat Race is. Winning the toss, Oxford chose the Surrey station and must have prayed that the North West wind would not blow up like it had the day before, when Middlesex would have given protection from the elements at the start. They were very quick off the mark and a quarter length up in no time. Cambridge came almost level before Oxford stretched their lead to a length around Barn Elms after half a mile, only to lose it all at the Mile, where both crews were clocked at 3.51. An Oxford push at Harrods gained them hardly anything and they were only a quarter of a length ahead at Hammersmith Bridge. Cambridge began to make up ground at St Paul's School and really hit their stride on the outside of the long Surrey bend, arriving at Chiswick Steps level with Oxford. Apart from moments of sogginess after passing the bandstand at Duke's Meadows, Oxford never flinched, but now Cambridge were romping home, opening clear water before Barnes Bridge and extending their four second advantage there to six at the Finish. Oxford's Italian Olympian, Roberto Blanda, said: "This is mentally much more painful than any 2000 metre race I've ever rowed. You have to fight your weaknesses through the course, and I think I did, but they had better speed." Umpire Tom Cadoux-Hudson issued his first warning on Putney Reach and conducted semaphore for the next three miles, mostly directed at Cambridge's Kevin Whyman. Did Kev hear him? "He started to get personal with me. He kept saying 'Kevin move over' so I knew he was getting a little fed up at that stage but I thought, Oh soddit, I'll keep plodding on. I haven't been disqualified yet, haven't had a blade clash yet, so I kept going. The Oxford crew, whatever you say about how good they are, they're not Boat Race streetwise, and I knew if I could get in there and upset their routine with a few clashes, that would be a good thing for the crew." Cadoux-Hudson said that there were two occasions where blades clashed. "Cambridge were being warned on one occasion and Oxford on the other, so I think it equalled out at the end. I don't think it affected the outcome. There was no dramatic move at the time those occurred." Kev found a supporter in Steve Royle, Oxford's manager. "I would take my hat off to their cox," he said. " I thought he was brilliant. He got away with it. He did his job. The umpire allowed him to do basically what he wanted. I only saw him move once. I'd have liked him on board." Cambridge's President, the American Ethan Ayer who has now beaten Yale four times with Harvard and Oxford twice with Cambridge, said: "I'm just so pleased that the guys held up. To be able to row at this level which is entirely based on the system and the coaching here is such a thrill, it's so much fun. I don't know what to say, I'm overwhelmed." His parents were watching from a rooftop at Chiswick. "I thought it was very nice for the sake of the party that they did it just there," said Mrs Lynnaye Ayer. "I've seen Ethan get behind 1-5 in the deciding set at tennis, and you just see him say 'I don't want to lose this match' and just dig in, and so when things don't look good I still think there's a chance, and I think it's true of the whole boat." Robin Williams, the Light Blues' chief coach, whose contract extends into the next century, was practically speechless. "The only plan was to win, and we said we would have to do it as it has been done. Middlesex turned out good, didn't it?" So planning, plotting and preparation for the 144th Boat Race begins today. Prospects are bright for Cambridge - their reserves Goldie thumped Isis in a time six seconds faster than Cambridge's. Will it be all change again on the Isis? "Who knows if I would carry on, even if they give me the opportunity after today?" said Oxford's Mijnders. "I am sure I can't do it on full time basis. I could be part time like Cambridge's Harry Mahon, but of course that means you need a resident coach whom you can work with very well." 143rd Boat Race: Cambridge beat Oxford by 2 lengths in 17 mins 38 secs. Times (Cambridge first) - Mile 3.51, 3.51. Hammersmith Bridge 6.56, 6.55. Chiswick Steps 10.49, 10.49. Barnes Bridge 14.35, 14.39. Finish: 17.38, 17.44. Cambridge 74, Oxford 68, one dead heat. Goldie beat Isis by 6 and a half lengths in 17 mins 32 secs. Times (Goldie first) - Mile 3.54, 4.00. Hammersmith Bridge 6.59, 7.06. Chiswick Steps 10.53, 11.03. Barnes Bridge 14.36, 14.51. Finish 17.32, 17.52. © Copyright Christopher Dodd, 1997.