News postings from other seasons can be found in the Squad News Archive.

The 2006 World Championships were held in England, at Dorney Lake, and it was a successful regatta for both the Boat Race and the Oxford University Boat Club.

Thirteen Oxford Blues were competing for their countries, culminating in two Bronze medals and two Gold. In the Eights event - which saw nine Boat Race athletes racing the A Final - Chris Liwski (Blue '05) and Paul Daniels (Blue '06) took home the Bronze, whilst in the Fours event - which saw five Oxford Blues racing for their countries - Pete Reed (Blue '04, '05) and Andy Hodge (Blue '05) were crowned World Champions.

The day-by-day reports posted by OUBC reporter Simon Flack throughout the duration of the Championships can be read here:

www.oubc.rowing.org.uk/new/dorney2006.jsp

The City of Malaga and Real Club Mediterraneo Malaga once again played the "hostess with the most-ess" to Oxford and Cambridge for the "Oxford Cambridge-Malaga International Regatta". The invitational challenge race, sponsored by Unicaja, is in its second year. With many of this year's squad away on international duty and others writing up dissertations, Oxford enlisted the services of two University of London oarsmen to bolster numbers. When, on the eve of the trip, Jeremy Howick [Blue 96] fell foul of a shoulder injury and a certain Blue lost his passport, both UL rowers had to answer the call of duty. Alongside a crew made up predominantly of former Isis members, Oxford showed the Cambridge crew of four Old Blues and several Ladies' Plate winners just how to row hard and play hard.

After both teams were treated to a fine feast of fresh seafood and paella on the first evening, the Cambridge crew retired to rest up for the following days racing. Oxford, inquisitive tourists that they were, hit the town, to sample some sangria and meet some of Malaga's welcoming and charming people. Having slept peacefully until midday, Oxford took to the water for a training outing and immediately set the tone for the week: taking the bull by the horns. After some words of wisdom from the coaching team of Hackworth, Howick and Reeve and some tweaking of heights and pitches with the kind help of Donald Leggett, Oxford were ready... for lunch.

The racing was mercifully scheduled for the evening, given the scorching 35-degree heat of the afternoon. The crews raced twice over 500 metres. The first race was delayed due to a large oil tanker passing along the course which was staged in a dock area on seawater. Since the water was extremely bouncy, common sense saw Oxford tape their rigs before setting out. Unfortunately, the Empacher boat given to them did not have any pumps on board, but Oxford were certainly not going to make an excuse of this. When the race finally began, Oxford romped home to a convincing win, followed by the clean aggressive rowing of Malaga. Cambridge finished third and last, almost 3 seconds behind. Oxford 1:27.5 Malaga 1:28.5 Tabs 1:30.3.

The second race, however, was a much closer affair. Malaga and Cambridge went to the front early. Oxford, unshaken and ever the crowd pleasers, pulled through first Malaga, and then Cambridge to win by a canvas. Oxford 1:27.0 Tabs 1:27.3 Malaga 1:27.8. Overall therefore, Oxford won the trophy, with Malaga in second and Cambridge last.

With the racing completed, the Oxford and Cambridge teams were treated to an idyllic few days in Malaga, guided by the lovely Natalia Boveda of the City Tourism Department. The teams visited the Old Castle, enjoying the panoramic views of the port and city, and also the Picasso museum, before carousing at the Festival which was in full swing. The Real Club Meditteraneo happened to overlook a beach where Enrique Inglesias was playing on the Friday evening, so in the end, the Tabs did have something to enjoy. With the weekend drawing to a close, those lucky enough to have been involved in this trip were already plotting how they could manage to come back for the same again next year.

Oxford wishes to thank the Real Club Meditteraneo and the City of Malaga for what was an amazing couple of days in their beautiful city. Jeremy Howick and Peter Hackworth were also instrumental in the organisation of the trip.

Oxford crew (from bow to stern):
Dominic Burke [Isis '06]; John Adams [Isis '02, Blue '03]; Philip Killicoat [Isis '06]; Andrew Wright [Isis '06]; Pete Wells [UL]; Andrew Brennan [Isis '05, '06]; Ciaran Hayes [Isis '03]; Richard Smith [UL]; Peter Hackworth (cox) [Isis '01, Blue '02].

Cambridge crew (from bow to stern):
Chris Le Neve Foster [Goldie '03, Blue '04]; Oliver de Groot [Goldie '04, '05]; Henry Adams [Blue '05]; Stephan Bushbacher [Goldie '03, Blue '04, '05]; Sam Pearson [Goldie '06]; Tom Edwards [Blue '05, '06]; Ed Sherwood [Goldie '04, '05, '06]; Jasper Hassell [Goldie '06]; Russ Glenn (cox) [Goldie '05, '06].

The World Championships are being held in Britian this year, at the Dorney Lake venue that is earmarked to host the rowing at the London 2012 Olympics. There are fourteen Boat Race winning Oxford Blues in attendance with their countries, and the OUBC website hopes to carry news of their progress throughout the regatta here.

There were to have been fifteen athletes of OUBC interest attending this year's Worlds, with 2006 Boat Race winner Jake Wetzel originally selected for the Canadian 2x. However, a back injury has put him out for the rest of this season. All at OUBC wish him a speedy and complete recovery.

Internet access permitting, reporter Simon Flack will post updates from the course at Eton as the regatta week progresses, culminating in the Finals scheduled for 26th & 27th August:

www.oubc.rowing.org.uk/new/dorney2006.jsp#2006worlds

Oxford oarsmen racing for their countries:

• Pete Reed... (BB '04, '05)... GBR 4-
• Andy Hodge... (BB '05)... GBR 4-
• Colin Smith... (BB '04, Isis '05, BB '06)... GBR 2-
• Acer Nethercott... (Isis '02, BB '03, '04, '05)... GBR 8+
• Tom Parker... (BB '06)... GBR 4+
• Seb Pearce... (BB '06)... GBR 4+
• Bastien Ripoll... (BB '06)... FRA 8+
• Scott Frandsen... (BB '03)... CAN 4-
• Barney Williams... (BB '05, '06)... CAN 4-
• Mike Blomquist... (BB '05)... USA 4-
• Chris Liwski... (BB '05)... USA 8+
• Paul Daniels... (BB '06)... USA 8+
• Jamie Schroeder... (BB '06)... USA 1x
• Luke McGee... (BB '02)... USA spare man

For those in the UK, the BBC will be showing both days of Finals live (from 12:00 to 13:00 on BBC2 and then from 13:00 to 14:15 on BBC1 on the Saturday, and from 13:00 to 15:35 on BBC2 on the Sunday). There will also be a show on the Thursday, summarising the early rounds of racing and showing some of the semi-finals, from 12:10 to 14:15 on BBC2; whilst BBC Interactive will be offering live coverage of the racing on Thursday from 10:55 to 14:30 and on Friday from 10:55 to 13:10.

Elsewhere Eurosport will broadcast live on both the semi-finals (Thursday and Friday) and finals (Saturday and Sunday) days, and will also be streaming live coverage of racing over the internet via their website www.eurosport.com. Finally, the FISA website www.worldrowing.com will be operating their real time Race Tracker service throughout the week of the Championships.

This year's Isis and Blue Boat coxes were in Belgium this past week for the 2006 Under 23 World Championships. Nick Brodie was the cox for the GB U23 4+, whilst Seb Pearce - who will be coxing the GB 4+ at the Senior World Championships in Dorney next month - was coaching the GB U23 coxless pair.

With the 4- and the 2- the priority boats for the GB U23 Team this year, Nick's 4+ exceeded expectations in reaching the A Final in their event. Along the way they beat the Aussies (eventual silver medalists) and the Italians (the bronze medalists) with two very good rows in the Heat and the Repechage. However, a disappointing row in the Final saw them finish 5th overall, and they thus ended the regatta without a medal.

Seb was coaching the pair, and was delighted to see this boat have the most successful regatta of the Mens GB heavyweight boats. Racing strongly throughout, the pair finished third, picking up the bronze medal only inches away from the silver.

The final World Cup regatta of the season took place in Lucerne, Switzerland as usual. And Oxford boys were out in force: In the GB 4- were Pete Reed and Andy Hodge; in the GB 2- Colin Smith; in the GB 8+ Acer Nethercott; in second GB 4- Tom Parker; and in a French 4- Bastien Ripoll.

In the Fours event, Tom Parker's GB 4- were 10th fastest in the heats, but an unfortunate repechage draw pitted them against tough opposition. There they finished third - in a time that would have seen them qualify from any of the other three reps, and outright win two of them - but were thus consigned to the C Final. Disappointed that the chance of a top twelve finish was gone, they were slow out of the blocks in their Final and had to row through the field to take second place, a mere 0.8secs in the end behind the winners, Italy. They thus finished 14th at the regatta overall.

Bastien's French boat raced one final up in the B Final, and finished 6th, which translates into 12th overall. Two other French coxless fours raced, finishing 7th and 11th, and the French team now go away to training camp, and to decide who goes in the 8+ and who goes in the 4- for the World Champs in six weeks' time.

Finally in the A Final the GB 4- of Hodgey and Pete Reed went undefeated the entire regatta. This took their tally to 21 wins in 21 consecutive international races since they were formed just after Hodgey and Pete's 2005 Boat Race victory. To do so they had to beat their perennial rivals, the Dutch, twice - facing them first in the semi-finals and then in the final too. In the first encounter, the British boys rowed a superbly controlled race to keep the orange boat at bay; come the final the Dutch had another go, this time pushing the GB boys hard in the second 500m... but with poise and authority, the Brits batted back their attacks before opening up the gap in the second 1000m to win Gold once more.

In the pair, Colin Smith teamed up with his Boat Race rival and the next Cambridge President, Tom James, to form the GB 2- with great effect. They won their heat in the fastest time of the day on the Friday, and so progressed straight through to Sunday's Final. Come Sunday they turned in a top class performance, leading the reigning World Champions New Zealand to the first two markers. A great battle ensued in the second thousand, during which the significantly larger and more powerful Kiwis emerged victorious by just over a second. Colin and Tom James took home silver, and a whole heap of praise for a fine display of technically efficient rowing and effectively aggressive racing.

Finally, in the Eights event a disappointing heat's performance from Acer Nethercott's GB 8+ was followed by an improved repechage showing. Winning that put them through to the A Final on the Sunday but there they paid for their repechage efforts. They led off the start through to 250m but faded fast and finished last, a significant distance behind the leaders. There remains a significant amount of work to do with the British 8+ if it hopes to fare any better at Worlds in a month and a half's time given that the French, the Aussies (winners in Poland at the previous round of the World Cup), the Belarussians (silver in Poland), the Americans (reigning World Champions) and the Canadians were all absent in Lucerne.

Next up are the World Championships in Dorney, England, at the end of August...

The Oxford pairing of Paul Daniels and Barney Williams won the Silver Goblets and Nickalls' Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta this weekend. The pair, both from this year's victorious Oxford Blue Boat from the Boat Race in March, beat the highly fancied international pair from Serbia & Montenegro by two and three-quarter lengths to take home the trophy.

It was Barney's second stab at the trophy, having lost the Final of this same event last year to Di Clemente & Cech of South Africa in an Oxford pair with Scott Frandsen. With Daniels on board this time, the Oxford pair capitalised when the Serbia & Montenegro boat had a brush with the booms early on. They then fended off the attacks as their opposition threw in push after push; eventually, none more were forthcoming and Paul and Barney could enjoy the home straight through the Enclosures with applause ringing in their ears and nearly a three length lead in the bag.

Elsewhere in the regatta, Pete Reed and Andy Hodge's GB 4- had to pull out of their Final due to illness. In the three other Finals contested by boats containing OUBC alumni, some hard racing disappointingly resulted in no other victories for Oxford men: Jonny Searle's Visitors' 4- lost by half a length to the GB U23 4-; the Ladies' Plate Final saw Princeton beat Bruce Magee and Stephan Molvig's crew to the line by the same margin; the GB 8+ coxed by Acer Nethercott went down to the Dutch by a length.

The reports from each day of racing carried by the OUBC website can be read here on the Henley 2006 page.

The second of the season's three World Cup regattas took place in Poznan, Poland this past week, and as usual an array of Old Blues were competiting for Great Britain. Andy Hodge and Pete Reed were in the GB 4- that has recently seen an order reshuffle, but the result remained unchanged; Acer Nethercott's 8+ were the unfortunate victims of an equipment failure; whilst Seb Pearce and Tom Parker were part of a crew that performed well and exceeded expectations.

Between the first World Cup regatta in Munich and this one in Poland, coach Jurgen Grobler had rerigged the GB 4-, changing from the tandem used throughout their unbeaten season last year to the traditional strokeside/bowside-alternating line-up. The new crew order sees Pete Reed now at three behind his Trials winning pairs partner Hodgey, with Olympic Gold Medallist Stevie Williams moving up to two and Alex Partridge switching to the bowseat. With the Dutch absent and the German crew a different one from that which pushed both the Dutch and the Brits so close in Munich, the result did not offer the chance to compare this seat-order with the last; nonetheless, the boys in blue dominated from start to finish in the manner of old, controling all their races completely in a very impressive manner.

In the Eights event Great Britain fielded two boats, both with an Oxford interest. The first was the crew that placed 5th in Munich, but like the 4- before it with a re-rig and a juggled line-up. Former Boat Race cox Acer Nethercott was the only one of the nine sitting in the same seat as he was at the first World Cup, as the rig had been changed from bowside-stroked to strokeside-stroked. The crew was progressing solidly through regatta - they placed second in their heat, and were looking comfortable in their repechage clear-water up on the field at the halfway marker - when trouble struck. Cox Nethercott had to reach behind him and urgently unscrew the stern hatch cover to get to the rudder bar beneath: with the rudder stings ineffectual and the rudder stuck fast, the steering system had to be freed and then the boat steered from the T-bar for the rest of the race. Whilst this was going on the GB blades had briefly moved over the buoy line and into the Chinese lane, and when the Chinese finished a close third behind the Romanians and thus just outside the A Final spots, the Chinese appealed to the Umpire and the GB 8+ was disqualified. An appeal against this decision was made by GB Team Manager David Tanner, but FISA turned this (and the possibility of a seven boat A Final) down.

The second GB entry was a mixed line-up of U23 athletes and the remaining senior athletes from the current 12-strong Eights group. It was coxed by Boat Race winner Seb Pearce, and had Tom Parker, Seb's crewmate from March and now back after a month-long illness, sitting in the six seat. This GB 8+ managed to race all the way through the regatta, and started very strongly with a storming row in the heat that saw them shock a fair few people and display an impressive amount of speed for a scratch crew: they ended up fourth, but were right up there with the Poles (second in Munich) and overall beat the Germans (winners in Munich) in the other heat on time. They went on to have a real crack at the leaders in their repecharge before finishing third, just outside of the A Final places. Come Finals' day they settled a little too low in the tailwind and finished third in the B Final behind the Egyptians and Estonians. The more senior heads in the crew were disappointed with their final day's race, but overall Coach Grobler was pleased with their showing.

Next up is Henley in a week and a half's time, followed by the third and final World Cup regatta in Lucerne (Switzerland) a week after that. At Henley Acer's GB 8+ is due to race in the Grand against the German, Dutch and Russian National Team squads, whilst Hodgey and Pete Reed race their GB 4- against the Dutch and the French in defence of the Stewards' Challenge Cup they won last year.

Further Oxford interest at this year's Henley Royal Regatta will be provided by the Oxford pair containing Boat Race winners Barney Williams and Paul Daniels racing in the Goblets; by various Isis oarsmen from this year's crew in an OUBC/Brookes composite in the Ladies' Plate; and by a number of Old Blues in boats racing in coxless fours in the Visitors'. The OUBC website hopes to provide updates throughout the Henley regatta week on all of these boats, as it did for all those boats containing Old Blues and Isis oarsmen racing in the regatta last year.

The first World Cup regatta of the 2006 international season took place in Munich, Germany this weekend, and Oxford oarsmen were amongst the competitors as usual.

In the coxless fours event the GB 4- picked up where it left off last season, winning each of its races on its way through to the final before winning there too. Former Blues and reigning World Champions Peter Reed (BB'04, '05) and Andy Hodge (BB '05) were at two and stroke once more, and they remain unbeaten on the international stage. However, the final turned out to be a race a great deal closer than any in 2005. The British 4- opened up a significant lead off the start, as has become their wont, but the Dutch crew who took silver behind Hodge, Reed et al in Japan never let the gap extend to over a length before sprinting back hard in the final 500m. Almost unnoticed, the German crew out in lane six had an even faster finish, and almost pipped the battling Brits and Dutch on the line. GB hung on for gold though, even if less than half a second seperated the three medal places.

Other Old Blues competing at the regatta were Scott Frandsen (BB '03) and Acer Nethercott (Isis '02; BB '03, '04, '05). Frandsen was the bowman of a new Canadian 4- that finished 4th, whilst Nethercott coxed the GB 8+ to 5th place in their A Final.

The next World Cup regatta is to be held in Poznan, Poland, on 15th-17th June, before the final round of racing takes place in Lucerne, Switzerland on 7th-9th July.

The OUBC and CUBC Presidential Elections took place in Oxford and Cambridge last week, and the men to lead the two clubs into the 153rd Boat Race between the two Universities have been decided...

For Oxford, Robin Ejsmond-Frey, British undergraduate and Theology student, will take over from Barney Williams ahead of the 2007 Boat Race. Robin went to St. Paul's school in London, situated halfway along the Boat Race course on the very banks of the river Thames, before coming up to Oxford in the autumn of 2004. In his first year at the University he rowed at 5 in Isis, the Oxford reserve crew, before being selected in the same seat for the Great Britain 8+ for the U23 World Championships that summer. The following year Robin stepped up to the Blue Boat and enjoyed a 5-length Oxford victory over Cambridge in the 152nd Boat Race. Sitting at bow, Robin was afforded a grandstand view of the Cambridge Blue Boat receding into the distance over the course of the 18 minute of the race, before becoming the first of the 18 Blues competing to cross the finish line at Mortlake, just before Chiswick Bridge.

All at Oxford wish Robin a successful Presidency, and look forward to him leading the 153rd Oxford Blue Boat into the Boat Race on 7th April 2007 against the Tabs, and from there on to victory.

Over in the Fens, Robin's counterpart has been selected and is GB international Tom James. James was the strokeman of the Bronze medal winning GB 8+ at the 2003 World Championships and at the Athens Olympic Games a year later. He has competed in three Boat Races so far, as part of the losing Cambridge Blue Boats of 2003, 2005 and 2006. He is now entering his final year as an engineering undergraduate at Cambridge, with one final shot at the Boat Race.

As in 2005, the year of the inaugural Oxford-Cambridge-Split universities regatta, an eight from Oxford was invited by Luka Grubor, Old Blue (1997) and Olympic Gold medallist in the GB 8+ (2000), to fly out to Split, Croatia to race against the Tabs and a number of other Croatian universities, including the University of Split itself. The Oxford and Cambridge teams were put up in Hotel President, reputedly the best hotel in Split, and treated like royalty: after arriving at the course on the second day, the Oxford boys were given a brand new Empacher shell to race in, used only a couple of days before by the Croatian national eight. The regatta, to be raced over 1000m, took place on the Saturday and was organised into two heats, with Oxford in the first and Cambridge in the second. Both crews won their respective heats in the morning and drew adjacent lanes for the final in the evening. Cambridge took a seat or two off the start, but Oxford settled into a strong, powerful rhythm, which saw them win by half a length in a respectable time of 2.48. It must be added that Oxford won the party too, celebrating their victory into the early hours of Sunday morning, while the Tabs, who always prefer a stimulating lecture to a good party and had thus chosen to return to the UK as soon as possible after the race, left for the airport with nothing but more losers' medals and the gnawing anticipation of a mid-flight hangover. As for Team Oxford, it was with enormous sadness and some incredible memories that they left on the Monday evening. As David Livingston, Old Blue and Croatia '05 veteran, said in a TV interview earlier that day, "I tell you, the real winner here is the city of Split. Every time I come here it gets harder to leave. I think you guys must put something in the water." Indeed, Oxford University Boat Club would like to convey its sincerest thanks to Luka Grubor and his fellow-organisers for their amazing generosity and hospitality and would be honoured to return to Split next year to defend its title.

Oxford crew (from bow to stern):
Terence Kooyker [Isis '06]; Jonny Mathews [Isis '04, '05, '06]; Andrew Brennan [Isis '05, '06]; Dave Livingston [Isis '02, '05; Blue '03, '04]; Andrew Wright [Isis '06]; Bruce Magee [Isis '06]; Robin Bourne-Taylor [Blue '01, '02, '03, '05]; Bastien Ripoll [Blue '06]; Seb Pearce (cox) [Blue '06].

Cambridge crew (from bow to stern):
Carl Dietz [Spare '06]; Spencer Hunsberger [Spare '06]; Tim Perkins [Goldie '06]; Peter Champion [Spare '06]; James Livingston [Goldie '00, '01; Blue '02, '03]; Jasper Hassell [Goldie '06]; Ed Sherwood [Goldie '04, '05, '06]; Kip McDaniel [Blue '06]; Pete Rudge (cox) [Blue '05, '06].

The GB Team for the first World Cup regatta of the 2006 season was named today, and includes a number of Oxford athletes...

Off the back of winning the recent set of final GB Trials in Hazewinkel, Oxford old boys Pete Reed and Andy Hodge are again named to the lead men's boat, the coxless fours. Undefeated throughout the entire World Cup series of regattas and the World Championships last summer, the British 4- returns this year with its line-up unchanged after the other half of that crew, Alex Partridge and Stevie Williams, finished second to Reed and Hodge at said Hazewinkel Trials. Well aware that going similarly undefeated this year will be a tougher proposition with the Beijing Olympics now one year closer, Reed and Hodge are nonetheless hungry for more success and report that they are itching to get racing at the first World Cup in Munich.

Whilst Dorney Lake, near Slough, hosted the first World Cup regatta last year, in 2006 Dorney is hosting the World Championships, and so it is Munich, venue of the 2007 World Championships and the Olympic qualification regatta, that hosts this year's opening World Cup race. Joining Reed and Hodge on the GB Team racing there will be Acer Nethercott, coxing the 8+, and recent Boat Race winner Tom Parker. Parker is part of the 12-strong group from which the eight rowers of the 8+ and a second 4- will be selected, and which includes the three Cambridge old Blues on the team. Colin Smith, Parker's crewmate from this year's Oxford Blue Boat, is currently sitting his Finals (i.e. end of course exams) in Oxford. He will be considered for selection (alongside Cambridge Blue Tom James who finds himself in a similiar situation) once these are over and he is free to train full-time again. Both are expected to be a part of the GB Team at the World Championships in August.

In other news, Robin Ejsmond-Frey will be racing in a GB U23 8+ at the Ghent International Regatta this weekend

The Munich World Cup takes place from 25th to 27th May, clashing unfortunately with Oxford's Summer Eights. The GB Team Press Release announcing the team can be accessed at: http://www.bosonmedia.co.uk/ara/gbrowing/news/

This weekend the long-awaited elite-level rowing lake at Caversham, near Henley, was finally opened. The 2,200m six-lane lake and state-of-the-art boathouse was unveiled and then officially declared open at a star-studded ceremony where the great and good of British Rowing paid tribute to the vision and philanthropy of OUBC supporter David Sherriff.

The vision for the rowing course came from Sherriff, who spent over 25 years positioning the project. His strategy was to buy up small parcels of land and relocate his 300 berth marina to make way for a rowing centre, as well as securing extensive planning permission. This has meant Sherriff contributed a more than generous seven-figure sum towards the project. It will provide the perfect training facilities for Britain's future Olympic rowing squads, together with Oxford University Boat Race crews.

Dr John Bell, Professor of Clinical Medicine at Oxford University and the Senior Member from the University for the Boat Club, spoke at the opening of the new training facility. "We are very privileged to have the opportunity to use this very remarkable facility", said Dr Bell. "It will have an impact on our programme for many years to come. We must recognise a very old and dear friend today, David Sherriff, for the role that he has played. There are lots of people with vision but very few people are able to take a vision and deliver it to such a high standard. This lake is a testament to his abilities and determination".

At the same time as it is a permanent home for the GB Team Rowing Team, the Redgrave-Pinsent Lake at Caversham will be of benefit to Dark Blues from next season on, as was the personal wish of David Sherriff. He drove the project on for GB Rowing, but ensured that Oxford had a place in the overall picture. OUBC envisage using the course for time trials, for speed work, and to train on if the river is ever flooded at Wallingford. Less than a 40min drive from Oxford and inside 15min from the new OUBC Boathouse at Wallingford, it compliments the other world-class facilities available to Oxford oarsmen and cements Oxford's place as a performance centre of the highest level.

Sir Matthew Pinsent, the former Oxford Blue, OUBC President and four-times Olympic gold medal winner after whom the lakes have been jointly named, said it was a "pretty magical moment" when the new high performance training centre was opened. Matthew's partner and fellow namee Sir Steve Redgrave thanked all those involved in the project which had taken several years to come to fruition. "I'd like to thank Sport England, The Caversham Lakes Trust, the ARA's Di Ellis, David Tanner and Brian Armstrong but most of all David Sherriff who had the original foresight and vision as well as the determination to see the project through as well as everyone else involved", he said. Former Cabinet Secretary Lord Butler - Master of University College, Oxford - also spoke in praise of the venue and of David Sherriff.

The Redgrave-Pinsent Rowing Lake has been developed by the Caversham Lakes Trust Ltd, in partnership with David Sherriff, Sport England and the Amateur Rowing Association. The lake has been leased to the Amateur Rowing Association as a high level training venue. The course is for the exclusive use of the British National rowing squad and Oxford University Boat Club and - David Sherriff's personal wish - the 1st VIII's of University College, Oxford, and this state of affairs has been contractually covenented for all time.

The final set of Winter Trials before Team GB names its crew line-ups for the first World Cup regatta of the season took place in Belgium this weekend, and a number of current and former Oxford Blues were competing. From this year's Blue Boat, the bow-three of Robin Ejsmond-Frey, Colin Smith and Tom Parker were all in action, whilst old boys Andy Hodgey (BB '05) and Pete Reed (BB '04, '05) were also raceing.

The latter two were in a pair again and defending the title they won on the same course last year. Pushed harder this year than last by their World Champion GB 4- compatriots Steve Williams and Alex Partridge, Hodge and Reed still ran out comfortable winners - by a margin of over three seconds - having led from start to finish.

In the same race, on the Hazewinkel course that will host the World U23 Championships this summer, Tom Parker finished fifth. Parker was pairing with one of his vanquished Boat Race opponents of just two weeks before, Cambridge man Kieran West. The two of them last rowed together as the stern-pair of last summer's GB 8+ that contained three other Boat Race alumni and finished 4th at the World Championships in Japan.

Elsewhere in the pairs race, Robin Ejsmond-Frey finished 13th as part of his scratch U23 pairing. Meanwhile in the single, Colin Smith finished a very creditable 4th, beating Olympic single sculler Ian Lawson back in to 5th place in the process. All in all, yet again a highly successful set of GB Final Trials for the OUBC.

In the build-up to the 2006 Boat Race, for the second year running all the talk from the Cambridge camp for was of how confident they were and how this was their best Blue Boat ever. And, for the second year running, a dominant display from Sean Bowden's charges put Cambridge on the back foot from the very first stroke; saw Oxford row the Surrey station to perfection; and meant that the Boat Race trophy came home to Oxford once more.

Oxford won the toss - incredibly, for the first time since 1998 - and President Barney Williams chose Surrey. With a stiff westerly wind battering the course and turning the water down Chiswick Eyot rough, both crews knew that the final bend in Middlesex's favour was unlikely to come into play. If you backed yourselves to be able to give the oppositon the advantage of the first bend to Middlesex at Fulham but to still hold on to them through the first three minutes having done so, then in such conditions Surrey - with its massive bend in the middle of the course - was the obvious station to pick.

And so, come 16:35, Oxford once again showed Cambridge how you win the Boat Race. As with the previous year's race, an aggressive and racey Oxford crew shot off the start like a bullet from a gun, leaving Cambridge floudering and putting the light blue crew on the back foot from the very first stroke. As a result the first bend, to Cambridge's favour on Middlesex, became the light Blues' chance to draw back level rather than an opportunity for them to inflict any real damage on their Oxford counterparts. As the two crews barreled down the Milepost straight, even though they were reasonly matched for speed, psychologically the crew in command and in control was the crew in the dark blue of Oxford.

As the Surrey bend hove into view, both crews attacked hard: Cambridge fought to minimise the impact of Oxford's beginning bend, whilst Oxford sought to make every advantage count. First of all pushes by both crews - at Harrod's and then again a minute later at Hammersmith bridge - cancelled each other out. But as Oxford's bend carried on, they continued to offer up a text-book example of how to race the Surrey station. The pushes kept coming, relentlessly and remoreslessly, and Cambridge - down and psychologically on the back foot since the start, seven long minutes of hard racing earlier - found themselves no longer able to cope or respond. As the light Blues began to wilt and the water roughed up, the dark Blues continued to turn the screw and slowly, surely, inexorably, the gap of clear-water between the two crews so highly prized by any Boat Race racer began to appear. Oxford had done it, and Cambridge were broken.

The final verdict was a 5 length victory to Oxford. With four wins in the past five races and Cambridge having not won a clean race since 1999 it is now becoming (as one of the papers on the morning of the race said) "increasingly hard to bet against a Bowden crew". Despite the Cambridge boats getting stronger and stronger year after year, nonetheless it is Oxford University Boat Club that is cementing its standing as the dominant Boat Race club of the 21st Century.

Oxford drew first blood today (30th March 2006) as the Spare Pairs race was contested ahead of the Isis-Goldie race and the Boat Race on Sunday. Raced from the Milepost to the Boat Race start line with the outgoing tide, the Oxford pairing of Nick Thomas-Peter and Jake Sattelmair were significantly faster than their Cambridge counterparts, and but for their generous steering the finish margin would have been a lot more than the one length Oxford victory it turned out to be.

Having cheered on their fellow squad members to victory vociferously from the shore, the Oxford Isis and Blue Boat crews then went to the Hurlingham Club - venue of Sunday night's dinner and Boat Race Ball - for the official Boat Race weigh in. Unlike last year (when Oxford smashed the record and became the heaviest crew of the 302 to have contested the race so far) there was no significant weight difference between the Oxford and Cambridge Blue Boats this year: Oxford weighed in with a crew average (excluding cox) of 92.1kg per man, whilst Cambridge weighed on average 92.4kg per rower. Isis, on the otherhand, tipped the scales nearly a stone per man lighter than their opposition (Isis at 85.9kg per man, Goldie at 92.0kg).

The 152nd Boat Race will take place on Sunday, 2nd April 2006 at 16:35 on the river Thames in London. The Isis-Goldie race will go off half an hour beforehand at 16:05. Coverage on ITV1 starts at half past three, and the event will be previewed in an hour-long show the day before airing at 12:40.

Lee Cadugon

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Boston Trials February 2006

Greg Turner

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Boston Trials December 2005

Greg Turner

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Trial Eights 2005

Jake Sattelmair

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Trial Eights 2005 - Preview

Greg Turner

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British Indoor Rowing Championships Report

Jake Sattelmair

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British Indoor Rowing Championships - Preview

Greg Turner

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Fours Head report

Jake Sattelmair

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OUBC to take to the Tideway

Greg Turner

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Oxford race in America

Alex Wall

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Oxford race in Poland

Bas Dixon

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Oxford beat Cambridge in Africa

Paul Bartlett

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Seville, Spain 2005

David Crantatus

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