Canadians front and centre in this year’s Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race

“Strategically speaking it’s also a very different race to any normal 2-k (kilometre) race,” added Smith. “Because it’s just you and Cambridge, I think there’s some mind games you can play, especially with the bends on the course. It’s quite different from a regular international race that’s just a straight line.

“So I think something that has been demonstrated to me is it’s just so important to really keep your cool and keep a level head on the Tideway because you might be the faster crew but it appears as though you’re not because you’re on the outside of a bend, for an example.”

Sunday marks the 167th edition of the men’s race and the 76th for the women. The Cambridge men hold an 85-80 edge (there was a dead heat in 1877) as well as a 45-30 edge in the women’s race.

In the past, the race has drawn more than 250,000 spectators along the Thames with millions more watching on TV.

The course was first used for the men’s race in 1845. The women switched to the same course in 2015.

Ollie Parish and Lindsay both competed in last year’s races, which were held on the Great Ouse at Ely due to the pandemic and structural issues with Hammersmith Bridge where the race is normally staged. The contest was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID.

It’s a first race for both Jasper Parish and Smith.

The Parish brothers’ mother Zoe is from Toronto. She met their father while she was studying at the University of London where she was a cox in his boat. Matthew Parish went on to row for Cambridge in 1994 and 1995 and represented Britain at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

The brothers used to visit Toronto every summer, sailing on Lake Ontario.

“It definitely holds a lot of special memories for me,” Ollie said of Toronto.

Ollie is 20 while Jasper turns 19 on Monday. Both are well-versed in the Boat Race course, having grown up five minutes away and attended St. Paul’s School which overlooks the Thames.

“That’s like my home water,” said Ollie. “Not being able to race there last year was frustrating.”

A one-length win, Cambridge’s third straight and fourth in five years, no doubt eased that frustration.

They have also picked their father’s brain over the years.

“We love to talk about it. How it’s changed and how it’s the same,” said Ollie.

Jasper stands five-foot-11 and weighs 124 pounds, around the minimum weight for a cox. Ollie is 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds.

While Ollie provides the muscle, Jasper must deal with both the ever-changing conditions and the umpires while steering the boat and following strategy.

“It’s never simple,” Jasper said of coxing the race. “I think a lot of people see coxing as quite a relaxing job, that compared to rowing, it’s not much of a challenge in terms of physical exertion. But the Boat Race may be the race where the cox is the most crucial out of all races.

“It’s going to be a stressful day,” he added. “I’m looking forward to it but at the end of the I’ll just try to do the best job I can.”

Asked how he feels after completing the course, Jasper said he is drained if not feeling the extreme fatigue of his crew.

“It’s a feeling like you wouldn’t want to do it again straightaway, I suppose,” he said with a laugh.

Ollie is studying engineering at Peterhouse College while Jasper is doing computer science at Clare College.

The Boat Race draws on rowing talent from around the globe.

This year the crews feature athletes from Australia, Britain, Estonia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and the U.S. Their ranks include Olympians and world champions.

“It’s pretty special,” said Ollie, noting that crewmates Tom George and Ollie Wynne-Griffith were part of the British eight that won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics. “Those guys are just machines.”

Cambridge crewmate Simon Scheurch won gold for Switzerland in the lightweight coxless four at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

“The talent this year is pretty remarkable,” said Smith. “It’s really exciting to line up with some of the best in the world.”

Smith is part of that. She and Jessica Sevick finished sixth in women’s double sculls at the Tokyo Games.

And the competitors’ brains are as big as their rowing resumes. Smith, a 27-year-old from Unionville, Ont., studied cellular biology at McGill where she graduated in 2016.

Smith, who only started rowing at 18, is savouring life at Oxford where she is studying water science, policy and management, at Regent’s Park College.

“I would say honestly it matches up to whatever you’re picturing. This is like straight-up Harry Potter-land,” she said with a giggle. “It’s been really quite a remarkable experience.

“Everyone at the university is so interesting and studying such niche but important things.”

The Cambridge women have won the last four races. Oxford had won eight of nine before that.

Smith has learned the rowing ropes at Oxford from Lindsay, a 25-year-old native of North Vancouver who rowed at UBC where she was a four-time academic all-Canadian.

“It’s been really lovely to get to know her more this year … It’s nice to have a little Canadian buddy with me,” said Smith.

Lindsay’s cousin is Martin Barakso, a Canadian national team member who is president of the Oxford University men’s boat club and rowed for the Dark Blues is last year’s race. He is rowing in Oxford’s reserve boat this year.

Vancouver’s Thomas Lynch, a former UBC rower, is in the Cambridge reserve boat. Their race also goes Sunday.

The Boat Race is sponsored by Gemini, which offers cyptocurrency services.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 2, 2022.

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Canadians front and centre in this year’s Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race

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