Our Patch April 2014
Our Patch APRIL 2014
F
eeling ‘terrible’ for a few hours
before the race is normal, says
former Oxford and Team GB
rower Matthew Pinsent.
He should know. While the
43-year-old Hammersmith
resident and father-of-three is best
remembered for leading Great Britain’s
coxless four to victory over Canada in
the 2004 Athens Olympic Games by
just .08 of a second, he’s also lifted the
Boat Race trophy twice.
Before graduating in 1992 from St
Catherine’s College, Oxford, Matthew
competed in the 1990 and 1991 races.
And both times, his Dark Blue team
defeated Cambridge in spectacular
fashion. Soon after, Matthew had
his first taste of Olympic success by
winning gold in a coxless pair with
Steve Redgrave in Barcelona in 1992.
The victory made him one of only
five athletes to win four consecutive
Olympic gold medals. But it didn’t stop
him returning to compete in the Boat
Race the following year, this time as
part of the team which would go on to
lose to the Light Blues.
After his first gold, Matthew was
awarded an MBE in the 1993 New
Year’s Honours and later the CBE in
2000. He met his bride-to-be Demetra
Koutsoukos at Oxford, a visiting Rhodes
Scholar from Harvard.
The couple married in 2002 and have
three children: twin boys, Jonah and
Lucas (born 2006), and a daughter, Eve
(born 2008). When asked what was
harder – rowing or being a father, the
St Peter’s Square resident laughed and
said: “Being a father!”
Matthew will present the 160th race
this year for the BBC on April 6 – a role
he freely admits is ‘much less stressful’
than competing. But he also says that
the race is fundamentally different than
it was two decades ago.
While some things have
changed with the race, the
intensity remains the same.
The rowing will always be king
“The crews train more scientifically
than we ever did,” he says. “The
standards are definitely higher now.
“Nerves also play a big factor. But
the important thing is to channel all
of that energy into the race itself,”
Matthew adds. “It’s a massive event.
The TV audience continues to be in
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Clockwise from top, last year’s race.
Matthew Pinsent as umpire, Oxford’s
Alex Davidson lifts the trophy and
Cambridge’s Alexander Scharp
feels dejected PICTURES: ACTION IMAGES
the millions at home – it peaked at 8.2
million viewers last year – and many
times that around the world.
“It’s got a bigger audience than
the Olympics. But while some things
have changed, the challenge and the
intensity of the race remains the same.
The rowing will always be king.”
One major change for the race this
year is the start time. With one eye on
a global TV market, the oars will hit the
Thames for the first time at 6pm. While
that gives revellers a lengthy head start,
Matthew doesn’t think it will have any
impact on the outcome. “I can’t see the
light being an issue, especially if the
weather is good,” he says.
“It will start around dusk, but there
is no harm in that. The light and hour
doesn’t particularly set out any special
challenges for the crews and they
will have adapted to that by now
in training.”
Could the change in race time
result in a new course record? “The
PURE BARBERISM
current record is 16mins 19sec, set
by Cambridge in 1998. And yes, this
record will eventually go,” Matthew
says without hesitation. “But there’s no
chance of that this year.”
“It needs a strong incoming tide,
a good crew and a wind that blows
against the prevailing and follows the
crews from the west. You need at least
two of those three in your favour. And
when there are three the record will fall
– but I can’t see the tide being right for
a new record this year.”
Any advice for spectators on the
best vantage point to watch the race?
“The bridges are great,” Matthew
says. “But you have to get onto a
bridge pretty early on the outside of
a bend to get the best view – either
from Barn Elms in Wandsworth, the
pubs in Hammersmith or on the
banks in Barnes. They will allow you a
couple of minutes of seeing the crews
approaching and then as they disappear
into the distance.”
In every issue of Our Patch we will showcase a local business
from our Partners scheme. The new Horton and Garton
scheme aims to reward residents for shopping locally and
supporting the community. This time, it’s Pure Barberism
A
local lad and ardent