Oxford vs. Cambridge

Oxford was weak. Grip had come upon her crew, afflicted man after man with grievous coughs, so that, on the day of the race, an oarsman who had been in training only seven days had to he substituted at bow. Cambridge was not strong. Her eight sturdy rowers pulled strongly, smoothly; but there was in that boat a weakness in which, Oxford thought, Fortune might insert a wedge. That weakness was A. G. Wansborough, stroke. Thrice in the preceding week he had "caught a crab."*

Therefore, on the morning of the race, some Oxford undergraduates visited the Cambridge headquarters with a huge papier-mache crab, whose eight legs were shrouded in the billowy breeches that Oxford men consider fashionable. Wansborough laughed. He was confident.

On the banks of the Thames were 250,000 people. Only a few could see the starting-line. Halfway down the course, the race was broadcast by a loudspeaker. "The crews are paddling to the start," said the cracked, metallic voice; "they are in position . . . the race has begun." There was an extraordinary pause. Then the gnome in the radio said that Cambridge was leading by six lengths. Amazement on the banks. Again the voice . . . "Oxford is sinking," it said.

Presently the Cambridge boat came by rowing prettily. Wansborough was smiling. The Oxford crew, spectators learned, had put ashore, water-logged.* Trying to steal a lead on Cambridge at the start, it had dared the wind, the rough water of midstream, been well-nigh swamped.

*Failed to raise the oar clear of the water on the recovery, or missed the water altogether when making a stroke.

*It is rare that either crew defaults until its boat is actually sunk. In 1912, both boats sank, the race was rowed over again, Oxford won .