View from yesterday's office.
The Media Boat approaches Hammersmith Bridge on the return to Putney after the Oxford University Boat Club VII v German U23 VIII rowing fixture. The head to head race on the Tideway is part of the preparation for the 160th running of the University Boat Race sponsored by BNY Mellon on April 6th 2014. The crews raced two sections, the first from the Boat Race start at Putney to Chiswick Eyot and a second section from Chiswick Steps to Mortlake. Oxford led from the start and never looked like being in trouble. The second section saw the crews change stations with Sean Bowden [Oxford Coach] giving the Germans a length start to gave his crew a bit of a challenge. Can’t think of any other sport where an Englishman would give Germany an advantage. Again Oxford got off slightly quicker, pulling back half of the German advantage within the first 30 strokes. By Barnes Bridge the lead was minimal on the bend Oxford accelerated and caught them and by the finish were four lengths clear. Took the opportunity to experiment and shoot from the back of the media boat rather than the front and with the 200-400mm and the 24-70mm. If only Bowden could coach England’s penalty takers…………