Boat Race rowers at risk of serious health problems due to dirty Thames water | Other | Sport

Boat Race rowers are said to be at risk of serious health problems due to the condition of the water in the River Thames. Oxford and Cambridge rowers are due to face off in the annual event next Sunday despite high levels of pollution in the river.

The Boat Race was first held in 1829 and is one of the oldest amateur sporting events in the world. The race stretches over 4.25 miles between Putney and Mortlake in south west London and is typically watched by over 250,000 spectators at the banks of the river. This year will mark the 170th men’s race and 79th women’s race.

According to The i Paper, rowers on the River Thames are becoming sick every week due to the river’s poor water quality.

Rowing clubs have had to deal with weekly medical absences, with members informed they are being exposed to an increased risk of sepsis, kidney failure and diarrhoea due to the pollution.

And Olympic gold medallist Imogen Grant, who featured in the Boat Race for Cambridge on three occasions, told the publication: “I am not really sure that people are aware of just how bad the Thames is, and that is really embarrassing.

“As rowers, we have known the state of the water quality has not been good for years, but we did not have the numbers to back it up. Last year was the first time that we could safely say it was actually unsafe.”

A year ago, Oxford and Cambridge crews were told to avoid entering the water after the end of the race. That meant the traditional ‘cox toss’, where the winning team throw their cox into the river, had to be abandoned.

The demand came after the River Action campaign group found E. coli colony-forming units to be nearly three times more than the recommended level.

And Oxford captain Leonard Jenkins even admitted he was throwing up on the morning of the race, before suggesting there was “so much poo in the water.”

And Grant admitted: “I thought it was really sad, but I thought it was pretty unavoidable. I think there was a disappointment for these crews that they could not participate in the cox toss and jump in like all the other crews racing before them.”

She then added: “The environments we play our sports in are becoming increasingly more difficult to navigate, and they are changing faster than the regulations can keep up with.

“I would love to see events being run in harmony with their environment, so that an event is not only good for the athletes but it also improves the water quality, land, or community.”