Cambridge beat Oxford in both men’s and women’s boat race

Cambridge men win boat race for second successive year beating Oxford, holding off a late Oxford push, the Light Blues  crossed the line in 16 minutes 57 seconds – just two seconds ahead of their opponents. Earlier Cambridge won the women’s race by five lengths to seal their victory in a row.

James Cracknell (46), the double Olympic champion, who made a comeback race 13 years after retiring from the sport, became the oldest winner in the 190-year history of the event as Cambridge defeated Oxford.

Cracknell, 6ft 4”  rower, who is studying for a Master’s in human evolution at Cambridge, said “ The achievement is a dream come true. It’s really a special event, to do it with these guys, some of whom are 19. It was a whole different load of pressure and for these guys doing it around studying and student life, It’s a great achievement. He further said on a personal level he wanted to refocus his attention on his and Miss Turner’s three children- son Croyde, 15, and daughters Kiki, (10) and Trixie (8). “I’ll be celebrating now with these guys his fellow rowers and then I’ve got three more important people in my life that I want to make sure I’m, there for,” he said.

His victory was watched from the banks of the Thames by his mother Jennie, whom he embraced during the celebrations and his wife Beverley Turner who nursed him back to health after a near fatal brain injury. Both Cracknell and Miss Turner have discussed the immense strain placed on their relationship when he was hit by the wing-mirror of a petrol tanker while he was cycling in Arizona in 2010. It caused his brain to slam forward, crushing the frontal lobes – the part that controls personality.

Cracknell won gold in the coxless fours at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and the Athens Games four years later.