Amelia's Outrageous Adventures: The Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race (and the Goodyear Blimp!)

Monday, April 9, 2012

The Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race (and the Goodyear Blimp!)

This is from Saturday, so it's completely out of order, but I wanted to post this as soon as possible.

The Oxford-Cambridge boat race has been going on for 158 years, but the race was especially exciting this year. We met up with some of my law school friends and some St. Anne's students on the edge of the river, near Barnes Bridge. We watched the start of the race on television inside a pub, and then went out to the bank to see the boats go by.

The crowd on the pub balcony

The Goodyear Blimp!

Alyssa, Megan, Rachel, and Jennifer

We waited, waited, and waited, and the boats didn't come. Finally my friend Josh told us that some moron had swum out into the river in front of the racing boats. He was lucky he didn't get brained by one of the oars. I hope he serves some time in jail for utter stupidity and recklessness.

By the time the race was restarted and the boats passed us, they had already collided and Oxford had lost an oar, making it all but impossible for Oxford to win. They were several lengths behind the Cambridge boat.