In the Middle

Fancy umpiring? Boat Race umpires have the testing task of keeping the battling Blues apart. More so than any other rowing race, The Boat Race has the potential to thrust its umpires into the heart of the action and drama; and occasionally, uncomfortably into the limelight too. Nothing but nous, a firm grasp of the rules and a little chutzpah keep these flag-waving, bellowing officials in control.

The Men’s and Women’s 2024 Gemini Boat Race umpires, Matthew Pinsent CBE and Richard Phelps, share what it means to umpire the nation’s favourite rowing event.

Matthew Pinsent

It is always a testing and pressured role but I’m looking forward to umpiring the Men’s Boat Race on the 30th of March. It is a privilege to be part of the Boat Race as a marquee rowing event in the calendar.

I competed for Oxford three times in the early 90’s, winning two races and losing one and like most athletes the umpire didn’t seem to be a factor and certainly, from the middle of the boat, one that could be ignored during the race! Looking back though it was obvious that the impetus was on the coxes and stroke men that I rowed behind to be adept at juggling all the inputs – tactical, physical, verbal and visual into a race plan that was going to withstand the onslaught that a 4¼ mile race is going to unleash on a rowing crew. The Boat Race is deceptively simple on the surface – fastest from start to finish wins but there is a bit more involved than that.

I finished my rowing career at the Olympics in 2004 and set about qualifying as an umpire for British Rowing, first Thames region and then multi-lane and then in subsequent years at Henley Royal Regatta and World Rowing. I’ve found that my umpiring both here and abroad keeps me in good touch with the athletes and the sport more generally and I’ve loved that part of the commitment. I joined the Boat Race Umpires Panel in 2010 and have umpired reserve, women’s and men’s Boat Races on the London course.

“None of the previous Blues’ races have resulted in a disqualification and I certainly don’t want to be in that position.”

The short version of the role is it’s my job to ensure a safe and fair race, and if both crews can have their chance to show their best rowing and top speed then that’s all we as umpires can ask. The difficulty comes when crews, coxes and umpires disagree about where the best place on the river is, and this is where the clash might occur. I have to try my best to keep the crews safely apart and on a line that doesn’t disadvantage them all the way between the start stone at Putney and the finish at Mortlake. I have two weapons like all the umpires – shouting and pointing a flag and ultimately disqualifying a crew. None of the previous Blues’ races have resulted in a disqualification, and I certainly don’t want to be in that position, but the race has a habit of throwing up a panoply of challenges be they weather, breakages, sinkings or rough water, and all of them you have to be able to cope with.

I’m indebted to the rest of the umpires on duty who have helped throughout the last five months out on the river and wish them exactly what I hope for as well – a race that is both enthralling and hotly contested but that both crews can feel as if they have given their best.

A special vote of thanks from all the Officials to our Chairman Boris Rankov who steps down after this race. In doing so he completes the full parabola of commitment to the Boat Race, from competing athlete to umpire and then to Chair of the Umpires Panel – an arc that takes many decades. Thank you and we all owe you a drink, Boris.

Richard Phelps

Umpiring any race is a mixed emotion of excitement and sense of huge responsibility. At other races I have less knowledge of the rowers, their journey to the race or the impact of the result: Not so, with the Boat Race. As a member of the Boat Race Umpires Panel, I am involved with the crews throughout the year, from the Presidents’ Challenge in November, Trial Eights in December, and fixtures in February and March. By the time we all get to the start line, I know the rowers and they know me.

More importantly, I know the coxes and the coxes know me. I’ve seen them in action, seen how they react under pressure, talked about their approach to the racing line and discussed how I will umpire them. The end goal is to provide a sense of familiarity and consistency without losing the respect on either side. It’s a difficult balance and not too dissimilar to the relationship played out on our TV screens every weekend at football and rugby matches; the need for friendly engagement without losing my authority.

Those tracking the trials and tribulations of the Women’s Boat Race will know that, whilst Cambridge have won the last six races, the gap is reducing, and Oxford are getting closer and closer. I am expecting a tight race, this season both crews have shown a turn of speed, particularly a few weeks ago when Cambridge raced Thames RC and Oxford raced the University of London. Against this credible opposition, the women from Oxford and Cambridge showed a combination of strength, cohesion, racing guile and tenacity. Over the last ten days they will have fine tuned those attributes which, I think, will leave us with the most evenly matched Women’s Boat Race for over a decade.

“At other races I have less knowledge of the rowers, their journey to the race or the impact of the result: Not so, with the Boat Race.”

So, during the race I expect my knowledge and experience of the Championship Course will be tested. Thankfully, growing up on the Tideway and born into a family that has been rowing the Thames for a few hundred years, I know this stretch well. I know, through experience, that it’s a challenging course which is subject to the vagaries of the weather and everything else Mother Nature can throw at it. In December, Cambridge raced their Trial Eights in North Sea conditions, with white horse waves crashing over them. Only two days later, the Oxford women raced on water more akin to a tranquil Swiss lake.

The combination of two evenly matched crews, the vagaries of Mother Nature and the challenges of Father Thames means I am, in my head, rehearsing every scenario possible. Which leads me to think about last year’s race when the Cambridge cox, totally within the rules, cut across the Oxford crew, but judged it so finely that it nearly resulted in Oxford ‘bumping’ Cambridge from behind. All the Boat Race umpires have taken note of this, and I am particularly alert to the possibility of a repeat in 2024. As umpires, our role is to ensure a safe and fair race so it’s important that both coxes realise the consequences of overtly aggressive steering that may result in a foul and ultimately disqualification.

That said, and as someone who has raced the Boat Race three times, my desire as an umpire is that other than saying ‘Go’ at the start, the crews, their supporters and the viewing public have no idea I’m there. It should be the crews and their rowing that receive all the attention. And, if that is what transpires, then I will be able to step down from the Umpires Panel knowing that I have played a small part in helping two amazing women’s crews write their piece of Boat Race history by demonstrating, once again, the magic of the Boat Race whether you are a man or a woman, from Oxford or Cambridge.