sa国际传媒鈥檚 version of the Boat Race 鈥� the fabled rowing eights match race between Oxford and Cambridge universities along the Thames 鈥� took place along the Gorge Saturday.
The University of Victoria Vikes won the women鈥檚 Brown Cup race against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, while the T-Birds turned the tables in beating the Vikes for the men鈥檚 Brown Cup.
Both programs, especially UVic鈥檚, have produced numerous Olympians and several Olympic medallists over the years.
鈥淭his is bigger than the national championships for us because UVic and UBC are the two best university rowing programs in the country, so there鈥檚 a lot of history to this race,鈥� said UVic women鈥檚 captain Larissa McKinlay.
UVic women鈥檚 head coach Barney Williams, an Olympic silver medallist, was also a two-time winner of the Boat Race with Oxford, once as captain.
鈥淲e channelled Mike Spracklen,鈥� Williams said, referring to the legendary Elk Lake coach, who guided Canadian crews to two Olympic gold medals, two Olympic silvers and a bronze, and eight world championship medals.
鈥淢ike鈥檚 legacy still lives on this city,鈥� said Williams, who rowed under Spracklen.
The Vikes women were certainly ready, completing the 3.6-kilometre race in 11 minutes, 41.35 seconds to UBC鈥檚 11:50.44.
鈥淏arney prepared us well for the race,鈥� McKinlay said.
The Vikes women have been dominant and are 24-3 in Brown Cup races against the Thunderbirds, although UBC has had recent success with two of its victories coming in 2014 and 2017.
鈥淲e trained like underdogs and then we executed a perfect race,鈥� Williams said. 鈥淲e were agile when we needed to be. We bent, but didn鈥檛 break.鈥�
The conditions along the Gorge were perfect.
鈥淭he water was beautiful and glassy,鈥� McKinlay said.
The UVic men, with a crew dotted with rowers who have represented sa国际传媒 at the world championships in the junior and U-23 levels, were after their fourth consecutive victory over UBC in the 28th edition of the men鈥檚 Brown Cup race, but were denied.
鈥淭his is the Canadian [version of the] Boat Race with the premier rowing schools in the country,鈥� UVic captain Alec Stapff said. 鈥淲e fought and fought and fought, and there鈥檚 not a guy in our boat who didn鈥檛 give it his all, but UBC was the better boat today.鈥�
UBC crossed 07.13 seconds ahead of the Vikes. UVic leads the overall men鈥檚 series 20-8 over the T-Birds.
The Thunderbirds won both the men鈥檚 and women's reserves races, held before the varsity races.
