Here are a collection of videos (see below) that have been produced by Oxford University documenting their approach to the 2012 Oxford vs Cambridge Boat Race.
Some details about the Oxford vs Cambridge Boat Race.
The 158th Annual Boat Race 2011 (Oxford vs Cambridge) – Saturday April 7th, 2012.
On Saturday 7th April 2012 the 158th annual Oxford vs Cambridge boat race will take place between Putney and Chiswick on the Thames in London, UK. Two eights will battle it out over 4 and a 1/4 miles to see who will be victorious. This event is, in my opinion, far more grueling both physically and mentally than any challenge a 2000m Olympic course presents to an athlete.
These athletes represent the very model of amateur athletes as they are full time academic scholars in their chosen field and balance this with 6 hours of daily training in preparation for the 20 minute effort at rates on or above 34 strokes per minute. The boat race is the third largest sporting televised event in the UK after the FA Cup final (soccer) and The Grand National (horse racing).
A brief history of the race follows (source/taken from www.theboatrace.org)
The idea for a rowing race between the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge came from two friends – Charles Merivale, a student at Cambridge, and his Harrow school friend Charles Wordsworth (nephew of the poet William Wordsworth), who was at Oxford.
On 12 March 1829, Cambridge sent a challenge to Oxford and thus the tradition was born which has continued to the present day, where the loser of the previous year’s race challenges the opposition to a re-match.
The modern boat race still runs along the same lines but has now become a major international sporting occasion drawing millions of viewers from around the world.
On race day up to 250,000 spectators crowd the banks of the Thames from Putney to Mortlake to witness the action.
Video #1
Video #2
Video #3
Video #4
Video #5