According to the bookmakers, all the money was for Cambridge ahead of the 157th Boat Race, although the light blues were beaten by their old adversaries on Saturday afternoon.
The Dark Blues produced an excellent display of rowing to win by four lengths, which saw emotional scenes at the end of the race, especially with strike Simon Hislop having undergone cancer surgery less than a year ago.
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and that makes it all the better,” said Hislop.
Oxford won the toss and opted for the Surrey station which saw them draw an early advantage although it was a lead that they managed to command all the way through, something the 2010 team failed on.
“We had last year’s race in our minds throughout the whole year but we were just strong through the whole course. We got into our rhythm and just didn’t let them have a peek in,” said Oxford president Ben Myers.
“This is a whole world of difference from last year, although the first half of the race was remarkably similar.
“We chose Surrey because we wanted to be confident and this time it paid off.
“We got that lead in the early part of the race and we capitalised on it. We executed our plan perfectly.
“We were placed as underdogs but we had the real winning mentality and we rowed like winners the whole way.”
Posted: 26/03/11