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The Internet password at Cambridge University Boat Club, should you ever need to use it, is "goddamnbloodyoxford." And Oxford University has a similar shorthand it uses when referring to its rivals, but it really can't be printed where children - future scholars, perhaps - might see it. So much for dreaming spires and gentlemanly competition.
The nine men straining in unison at fixed rowing machines in Cambridge's boathouse aren't thinking about gentlemanly competition anyway. They're thinking about kicking * - or at least the three Canadians on the crew are; the four Brits are probably more comfortable kicking arse.
As they watch the boats and swans glide by on the River Cam, they've all got their minds on one thing: 17 of the most famous minutes in British sport. In a week's time they'll be competing in the Oxford and Cambridge Boat race, and this year there are a record number of Canadians on the two crews, one at Oxford and three at Cambridge.
On the stereo the British boy band Blue is wailing some sodden love song, a culture clash that the Canadian rowers have learned good-naturedly to tolerate, along with other English puzzles such as separate faucets for hot and cold water and expressions like "throwing your toys out of the pram" (for losing one's temper). On the water, where it counts,[url=http://wkshare.com/ljbw/3653.html]cheap nfl jerseys sale[/url], they all think alike.
Later, two of the Canadians offer a tour of the boathouse's trophy room. "That's me up there, right under the word 'lost'," says Rob Weitemeyer, 27, who was raised in Vancouver and is rowing the bow position for Cambridge for the second year. He's pointing to a plaque in the boathouse that does indeed have his name as part of last year's crew, in the race rival Oxford won. The tally now: Cambridge, or the Light Blues, 79. Oxford, the Dark Blues: 75 wins. The Dark Blues are on a hot streak, taking four of the past five races.
"That's all going to change this year," says his teammate Peter McClelland, 26, who only began rowing eight years ago at the University of Western Ontario (the third Canadian on the team is Geoff Roth,[url=http://ssssfj.d31.163ns.cn/wMcms_GuestBook.asp]cheapest n[/url], 22, of Edmonton).
If you look at the plaque for 1986, you'll see three Canadians on that Cambridge crew as well; Canada, with its strong tradition of amateur rowing and reputation for teamwork, has always been well represented in an event that's as English as strawberries at Wimbledon, or hurling abuse at a football match. Five years ago,[url=http://tramsys.com/Burberry/3527.html]cheapjerseys[/url], Mr. McClelland and Mr. Weitemeyer watched Canadian Barney Williams, rowing for Oxford twice in the winning crew, and they thought: Hey, we could be in that boat. Although, as it turns out, they're in the paler one.
The rowers are all seasoned athletes,[url=http://yafenjiqiao.com/tujian/]wholesale hockey jerseys nhl[/url], and have competed for Canada at junior or senior levels, but they admit there's something special about this deadly serious rivalry, which is now officially called the Xchanging Boat Race.
"After the race everyone will shake hands," says Matt Evans, the Canadian rowing for Oxford, later on the phone. "But that's after." With six nationalities represented in the 18 crew on two boats, there's room for only one loyalty, and that's to your team. (Although in 1987, American rowers staged the "Oxford mutiny,[url=http://shangcm.com/page/3827.html]chinacheapjerseys[/url]," after they thought one of their countrymen was unfairly cut. This became the basis for the 1996 movieTrue Blue.)
"It's historic, this race,'" says Mr. McClelland, and points up at the walls listing 155 winning and losing crews. "Even Hugh Laurie's up there." Dr. House rowed for Cambridge in 1980, when Oxford won by a "canvas,[url=http://www.pzty.net/wygkcn_GuestBook.asp]nfl nike j[/url],[url=http://yafenjiqiao.com/tujian/4085.html]wholesale nba jerseys usa[/url]," or roughly four feet.
The pressure's on everyone, Mr. Weitemeyer says, but it's the British rowers who feel the weight of tradition: "It's a really big deal for them. They can get a bit antsy-pantsy."
No wonder they feel the strain: There is only time for rowing, and studies. Today the crew trained in the boathouse for 70 minutes, headed to class, then rowed on a nearby canal for another couple of hours. Here and in Oxford the rival teams will train 40 hours a week for seven months, on top of their course work.
No amount of training is preparation for the actual race next Saturday,[url=http://115.28.141.44/read.php?tid=112357&ds=1]nba and nfl jerseys A strong conference[/url], when a quarter-million fans will line the bending banks of the Thames at Putney in west London. The crowd is genteel but the noise is explosive. The tides and winds can be so rough over the seven-kilometre course that the boats are fitted, for that race only, with special pumps. "Yeah," says Mr. Weitemeyer, who sits in the bow and is often soaked, "it gets a bit squirrelly."
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