SWIMMING - Varsity Match 2011
Saturday 19 February 2011
This year possibly the most intense swimming Varsity match ever took place at Parkside pools. Ultimately, the final winner was to be decided by the last event. In a neck-and-neck race the light blues pushed through to victory by 0.35 seconds, taking the overall trophy.
From the beginning, the tension was high between the two teams. The first events, the individual medleys, saw clear Cambridge victories with Henny Dillon taking the women’s title and Dale Waterhouse and Tom Rootsey securing a 1-2 victory in the men’s event after dominating the entire race, Waterhouse setting a new university record in the process. In the 100m Backstroke, Oxford began to regain some ground despite great performances by the Cambridge swimmers. The next event, the 200m Freestyle, brought the whole poolside to life as the races became much more closely fought. Cambridge started well in the women’s event with Katherine De Rome and Chloe Spiby-Loh but a late push from Oxford took them to a narrow victory. In the men’s event a face-off between Cambridge captain Andy Corley and Oxford Captain Tom Booth led to a sneak victory for the dark blues with only 0.7 seconds separating the top 3 swimmers. The 100m Butterfly before the first break saw Cambridge in need of points and their swimmers certainly delivered with Dillon and Emily Darley storming to a 1-2 victory. In the men’s event Jack Marriot of Oxford had an incredible race resulting in Cambridge’s Joel Carpenter and Jack Long taking 2-3. By the first break the overall score was Cambridge 40 - Oxford 39.
Following the break the 400m Freestyle saw close races between Oxford and Cambridge. Through both the men’s and women’s events the light blues looked the favourites but late pushes from the Oxford swimmers managed to gain them a 1-2 in the women’s event and first place in the men’s. Once again, the Cambridge swimmers had to pick up their game and they delivered in the 100m Breaststroke. Another face-off between captains saw Cambridge captain Caroline Gordon leave Oxford’s Katherine Rollins drowning in her wake. In the men’s event Tom Hill cruised to victory. In the 100m Freestyle, very fast swimming from both teams led to extremely exciting events. In the women’s Justine Schluntz of Oxford secured victory but strong swims from De Rome and Spiby-Loh denied Oxford a 1-2. In the men’s event, an incredible swim by Waterhouse saw another university record fall with another secure victory. Heading into the second break the Women’s score was an even 35-35 and the men’s Cam 34-Oxf 35. The winner was going to be decided by who could win three of the remaining four events.
Cambridge had an incredible start to the relays with the Women’s Medley team cruising to an easy victory of nearly six seconds. In the men’s Medley relay Oxford fought back and took victory, including as a result the men’s title. The women’s freestyle team had a tougher race than the medley team but once again secured victory and thus the women’s title once again. The overall winner was to be decided by the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay. Impressive swims by Carpenter, Rootsey and Corley kept Cambridge in the race but Oxford went with them stroke-for-stroke leaving the fate of the Varsity match on the final swimmers - Waterhouse of Cambridge and the Oxford captain Booth. As they went into the final finish neck-and-neck the whole poolside exploded with noise and leapt to their feet screaming Waterhouse to the finish. With a final split of 50.7 seconds Waterhouse out-touched Booth by 0.35 seconds to take Cambridge to victory overall, smashing the university record by 3 seconds in the process. Parkside thundered with the cheers of the Cambridge crowd as the final scores were announced: Cambridge 93 - Oxford 86.
Andrew Corley and Caroline Gordon
Women’s score
Cambridge 49 : 41Oxford
Men’s score
Cambridge 44 : 45 Oxford
