Rowing: Heavy hitters help Oxford find rhythm in the nick of time

The wind confounded the forecast, the Light Blues of Cambridge threw their all at the first two miles, and the Dark Blues of Oxford ignited an awesome tank of rocket fuel that sent them soaring to victory. The promised gale for the 154th Boat Race turned into a manageable tailwind at the start and a headwind on the big Surrey bend where the denouement took place.

"The headwind was not a problem," said coach Duncan Holland, on the last day of his current contract with Cambridge. "The problem was that Oxford were faster." It was the tailwind that bothered Oxford. "In the tailwind we let the rhythm get too low," said their coach, Sean Bowden.

Cambridge predictably chose the Surrey station when they won the toss, and made full use of it. Oxford led them at the end of the Fulham Wall and passed the milepost one second in front. The crews teased each other with pushes until Ryan Monaghan, who came into Cambridge's stroke seat only three days before the race, drove them to a sustained advance which secured the lead at Hammersmith Bridge and ensured that Oxford could be forced wide on the long Surrey bend where the headwind kicked in. Things went swimmingly for the Light Blues, and Oxford seemed to flag a little.

At the halfway point just before Chiswick Eyot, Monaghan was about level with Oxford's bow seat. Cambridge settled into a bouncy rhythm and the heavier, trailing crew were labouring. If they could push on a bit further to take Oxford's water along Duke's Meadows, they would close the door on the Dark Blues.

Exactly the opposite happened. As Oxford's No 6, Oli Moore, put it: "It was pretty hairy in the middle, but when it came to along the island [Chiswick Eyot] we got the aggression going, started yelling at each other, and we stepped it up."

Suddenly Oxford's get-on-with-it guys galvanised into a rhythmic force again.

"When we hit that rhythm it was sort of surreal," said Will England, their stroke. "We were moving effortlessly. It was awesome." The race changed completely in no time.

Cambridge had no answer as Oxford powered past them, taking clear water before Chiswick Steps. Nick Brodie, Oxford's cox and president, could steer where he liked.

His crew – who came together from the universities of Columbia, Humboldt, Harvard, Imperial College, Minnesota, Princeton and Yale – had conserved enough power and kept their cool until they were on the cusp of defeat.

Past Duke's Meadows and Barnes Bridge the victors extended their lead until it was six lengths at the finish. Cambridge kept moving nicely, but, as Holland said, they ran out of endurance, and Oxford narrowed the gap in the series to 74 wins to Cambridge's 79, with one dead heat.

In the end, weight and rowing experience told. Jan Herzog, aged 33, the former German international in Oxford's bow seat, said: "In the last days the pressure was increasing and the nervousness was great.

"You can't keep that up. Today was the right time to do it. We were on peak today." He and Mike Wherley, the 36-year-old former American international, have been at Chiswick Eyot, metaphorically, several times before. Their crew joined a small band who have nailed the race on the outside of the great Surrey bend. Many dream of it; few achieve it.

"In the headwind," said coach Bowden, "technique came into its own. You make something count when you choose to." Oxford's time of 20 minutes 53 seconds may be the slowest since 1947, but a win is a win.

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