The Beatles (Paul, George, John and Ringo) on the Thames in Twickenham, south-west London, perhaps waiting for a call from a girl with kaleidoscope eyes. Pictured on 9 April 1969, the band had been persuaded to pose in random locations in an attempt to dispel rumours that they were about to split up. 19 April 2024 By Tim Koch Tim Koch tries to avoid using the titles, Here Comes The Son or By George! Greg Denieffe posted his Artsy Fartsy Rowing Quiz on HTBS in August 2023 but he only recently received this comment from Gerry Macken: Interesting that you reference Georg ..read more

Left: According to the organisers, the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games torch drew inspiration from the three themes of Paris 2024: Equality, Water and Peacefulness. I am not sure how it does this, but HTBS Types will applaud the “water” part. Right: The first to carry the lit torch was the Greek sculler and Olympic gold medalist, Stefanos Ntouskos. 17 April 2024 By Tim Koch Tim Koch is fired up. Today marks 100 days until the start of the Paris Olympic Games which will run from 26 July to 11 August. The Olympic Regatta will take place 27 July to 4 August at the Vaires-sur-Ma ..read more

14 April 2024 By Philip Kuepper To see a rower at work with their oars is like watching someone speaking sign language with the water. (31 March 2024 ..read more

Photo: Tim Koch 13 April 2024 The other day Henley Women’s Regatta announced in a press release its line-up of ambassadors ahead of the 2024 event in June. The list includes 11 new ambassadors, all high-achieving athletes whose role will be to help promote the event and support competitors at the regatta. All of the 15 ambassadors have represented their countries at international level as a rower or coxswain, winning a collective three Olympic and three Paralympic gold medals; 11 Olympic silver medals; one Olympic and one Paralympic bronze medal; 36 world championship titles; nine world champ ..read more

King’s College, Cambridge. Photo credit: King Ming Lam/Wikipedia 12 April 2024 By Göran R Buckhorn* No, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle never had Sherlock Holmes saying to his side-kick “Elementary, my dear Watson” in any of the four novels and 56 short stories he wrote about his great detective and investigating sleuth in 1887-1893, 1901-1902 and 1903-1927. But after Dr. Aaron I. Jackson was invited to edit a never-before-seen Doyle manuscript, The Mystery of the Cambridge Bow, from the late 1880s/beginning of 1890s, Holmes might have said: “Elementary, my dear ‘Muttle’”. I enjoy reading “detective ..read more

11 April 2024 By Göran R Buckhorn Looking back at the 2024 Boat Races, I believe we can all agree that this year’s races were exceptional and thrilling. Leading up to the races, whether it was the trials, fixtures, the announcements of the crews, and then the race reports, HTBS had you covered. Altogether, we published 24 articles, and if you think that you missed any, you will find them all here. Enjoy ..read more

In the Women’s Veterans’ Boat Race on 29 March, Oxford won – and Cambridge too. On the left is the Cambridge crew and on the right the crew from Oxford, who were stroked by article writer, Lebby Eyres. Photo: Bigblade 10 April 2024 By Lebby Eyres Lebby Eyres After 147 years, it happened again! Dark Blue stroke Lebby Eyres recounts what it was like to be part of a historic dead heat (to Oxford!) in the Women’s Veterans’ Boat Race. Both my outings for Oxford ended in defeat – once in Osiris in 1993, and for the Blue Boat in 1994. I could slightly assuage that pain by getting the better of a Cam ..read more

The Veteran Men battle it out. 9 April 2024 By Tim Koch Tim Koch’s final piece on the 2024 Oxford – Cambridge Boat Races contains words and images that Oxonians may find upsetting. It is a good thing that the Thames Tideway is a big place, it needs to be to accommodate the seemingly growing number of Oxford – Cambridge aquatic contests. There are now seven races in addition to the four on Boat Race Day itself. Unfortunately, of the seven I was only able to follow one, the veteran men’s race. Spares While Boat Race Day proper was on Saturday, 30 March, the Wednesday before saw the spares races ..read more

Cambridge’s Tom Marsh and Jenna Armstrong Picture: The Boat Race Company/Row360. 8 April 2024 By Chris Dodd Chris Dodd, veteran rowing journalist and author, views the 2024 Boat Race. As last year when Cambridge swept the Boat Race board, I took to my couch again while wondering how Oxford’s men and women will respond to their humiliation in 2023. Many times in the past, the famous Putney to Mortlake fixture has released something new just as you imagine that there is nothing more it can throw up after 150 years of sinkings, a dead heat, a loony swimmer, ‘record’ times, tactics on the final b ..read more

7 April 2024 By Philip Kuepper Sunbeams danced where the blades entered, and resurfaced, entered, and resurfaced the water, an atomic bursting of sunbeams, as though motion, embodied, was trying to grab hold the life force, at each stroke of the rower. (31 March 2024 ..read more