The Boat Race is over and already half-forgotten, but the
result— a victory by ten lengths by a crew that was generally expected to be beaten—is so striking that a word of comment is still relevant. The critics seem to be uncertain whether what happened was that Oxford lost or that Cambridge won. On the whole the former verdict seems right. Cambridge rowed fully up to form and their flying start won them the race ; whether they were capable of rowing above form was never demonstrated because beyond Hammersmith Bridge they needed to do no more than paddle. Oxford, it seems clear, rowed below the form they had showed in practice, though I see that one or two commentators think not. Two features of the affair are remark- able—that Oxford, which in a practice row created a record for the course, beating the Cambridge record established on the previous day, should lose the race by ten lengths, and that a boat with Old Blues filling its four stern seats should be so decisively defeated by a crew containing no Old Blues at all.
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