Irish rowers helped Cambridge to win both the men’s and women’s annual boat races against Oxford on the river Thames at the weekend.
Caoimhe Dempsey, Cambridge president and member of its winning women’s crew, is a Trinity College Dublin (TCD) graduate from Wicklow, while Tom Lynch is an Irish born oarsman from Vancouver, Canada who was selected for the winning Cambridge men’s crew.
Cambridge made a clean sweep of victories across the four races, watched by a large international television audience, on the Thames yesterday.
Cambridge won the men’s, women’s and two reserve races, with the women’s race regarded as most decisive. The light-blue crew with Caoimhe Dempsey in stroke completed the course in 20 minutes, 28 seconds, 12 seconds ahead of Oxford.
It was the Cambridge women’s sixth win, and Dempsey, who was also on last year’s winning crew, described it as a “whirlwind of a race” with conditions changing considerable over the course.
In the men’s race, an hour later, cox Jasper Parish has been praised for a decisive move which secured a lead for Cambridge – with Dublin-born Tom Lynch on the crew.
Conditions on the Tideway were “testing”, according to the Daily Telegraph, with a northerly wind creating a chop on the water. After leaving Putney Bridge, Jasper Parish, whose brother Ollie is on the crew, steered away from the middle of the river hugging the back of the football stand.
It gave the Cambridge men a decisive advantage, which Oxford did its best to challenge. Oxford stroke Felix Drinkall was so exhausted that he collapsed in his seat after the race.
The Cambridge men’s crew won by just over a length, recording their fourth victory in the past five races.
Tom Lynch was born in Dublin, and is son of distinguished Irish and international Dublin University Boat Club oarsman Kevin Lynch.
Tom Lynch lived in Vancouver, Canada, and wasn’t that serious about rowing initially. He has said in interviews that he dropped varsity rowing after a week when in his first year of mechanical engineering with a biomedical specialisation.at the University of British Columbia (UBC).
He returned to rowing in his third year at UBC, and is in his second year of a PhD at Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge.
Caoimhe Dempsey, from Wicklow, is a postgraduate student at the University of Cambridge and has been selected for the Blue Boat over several years.
Dempsey previously competed for Dublin University Ladies' Boat Club (DULBC) while taking a degree in psychology at Trinity College Dublin, and represented Ireland at under-23s level.
She completed a master's degree in psychology in Cambridge University, and is now in Newnham College working on a PhD in the same subject.
She is daughter of former Irish hill runner Roisin McDonald and her grand-aunt, Nuala Stanley was an international hockey player for Ireland.
