Oxford Trial Eights

December 12, 2008

Oxford held their Trial Eights on December 11th with “Bull” racing “Bear” over the Boat Race course. The two crews included seven full internationals and four former Blues. “Bull” was stroked by Colin Smith, the new President and stroke of the GB silver medal winning eight in Beijing, and “Bear”, with Beijing New Zealand Olympic bronze medallist George Bridgewater in the seven seat, was stroked by Croatian Olympian Ante Kusurin, Oxford’s stroke in 2007.

“Bull”, on Surrey, led for the first two minutes before “Bear” took the lead at Fulham. With a lot of action from umpire Boris Rankov, a great race developed, “Bear” remaining in the lead but not gaining a full length’s advantage until nearly 17 minutes. The final verdict went to “Bear” by 1 ½ lengths in a time of 18m.37s. in slowish conditions.

Mike Rosewell