25 years on – The crews of 1999 celebrate their milestone reunions

Cambridge crews from 1999 enjoyed reunion rows and joined their 2024 counterparts in the lead up to the Boat Race, following the crews in the final stages of their preparation for the successful series of races against Oxford. Women’s Blue Boat “It was 25 years since our boat race and all nine of us met […]

Cambridge crews from 1999 enjoyed reunion rows and joined their 2024 counterparts in the lead up to the Boat Race, following the crews in the final stages of their preparation for the successful series of races against Oxford.

Women’s Blue Boat

“It was 25 years since our boat race and all nine of us met on race day to watch the incredible races at Crabtree and join the squad at the Boat Race Dinner. Many thanks to the 2024 Blue Boat crew and coaches for taking us out in a launch during their final outing before the race and thank you to Crabtree for lending us a boat for our reunion paddle. Two of us even raced in the Veteran’s Women’s Boat Race. It was fantastic to meet members of the 2024 crew. Here’s to meeting in 2049 for our 50 year 1999 reunion and their 25 year 2024 reunion. What a weekend – Well done on the most amazing performance!” – Jess Wilson Webb, 3 seat of the winning 1999 Blue Boat

Men’s Blue Boat, Goldie, Spare Men

We are grateful to 1999 Men’s President Brad Crombie and the members of his Blue Boat and Goldie crews for their recollections in celebration of their 25th reunion.

In coming together at the Duke’s Head ahead of the 2024 Boat Race, the crew discussed their winning campaign, where they became the second fastest Boat Race crew ever, and the togetherness of the entire 1999 men’s squad.

The experience of racing for Cambridge, and the selection process that comes along with that, is different for every crew. For the 1999 returning Blues and new ‘internationals,’ selection was less of a focus for them; much more time was spent “thinking about what coaches Harry, Donald, Robin or Tim would say about our technical flaws. We didn’t start thinking about beating Oxford until late in the campaign”. Crombie says the group pulled together early in the campaign and put up some very good results at Fours Head. The Blue Boat was more or less selected by Banyoles, and Goldie gelled with a spirit that pushed the entire squad to go faster (see footnotes below). Crombie says people were good to each other, even when they were competing for the same seat. Older leaders, like Graham Smith and Dai Ellis, used their influence to bind the squad together, rather than divide them.

For Crombie, the most interesting stories were those such as Kieran West, who rose meteorically from Goldie to the Blue Boat to Olympic Champion in two years, or Toby Wallace who in spite of his newcomer status to the sport made a huge contribution to the Club.

Brad paid tribute to the “forgotten stories of triallists who put in the hard work, pushed the group to get better, but did not make a crew” and who by striving for success drove the group on. He noted especially the role of the “strong bench beneath the two boats – two excellent spare men, “Terry” McSherry & Bruce Cummings. Behind them we had guys who missed selection but played a part in making both crews win. For this reason, we saw ourselves as one crew, and less as a Blue and Goldie Boat.”

Following the record breaking crew of 1998, several Blues decided not to trial and the smaller group had to adapt and modify their approach to racing and training. Fortunately, although they may not have believed it at the time, the crew in their President’s words “turned out to be one of the most talented of the 90’s (in my humble opinion) but we didn’t know it at the time.” Kieran West went on to win an Olympic gold medal the following year, while Josh West and Tom Stallard won silver medals at future Olympics. Crew members like Ronan Cantwell, Colin Swainson, Gideon Glassman, Richard Stokes and Tim Wooge all went on to row in future Blue Boats. And the ‘99ers had their fair share of future CUBC presidents. By the end of the campaign, Crombie says “we knew we had a great mix of talents but only a whiff of our true potential. As Harry used to say: ‘Everyone has to bring something to the party, and it can’t always be the same thing.’ “

The ’99 crew recognised the significant contribution to the campaign of both the Club’s coaches and its volunteer committee, with Roger Stephens described as “the architect and general contractor of CUBC’s victories in the 90s, which is saying a lot. No one questioned his total support – always 100%, all the way, win or lose.” Stephens had set up the coaching team, which the ’99 crew still regard with some disbelief, “It’s hard to believe we had so much talent in one club. Robin Williams, Ian Dryden, Adrian Cassidy, Donald Legget, Harry Mahon, Tim McLaren, Chris Drury, Alan Inns, and Heidi Richardon (our physiotherapist) were an exceptional team, and all of them went on to achieve great things outside the club.”

Crombie recollections, “On race day, you never know how things will play out. All you can do is trust the people around you, trust the system, and use everything you can to your advantage. As we were handing our kit over at the stakeboat, we heard that Goldie had won their race, which was a shot of adrenaline. We wanted to make sure Oxford knew that too, so we shouted out a ‘three cheers for Goldie’ as we waited to start the race.

To the outside observer, the ’99 races were not as exciting as some of the previous races (both crews led early and never relinquished). But I remember very clearly how great the boat felt as we got off the blocks. Cox Vian Sharif commanded us into our long pattern and we started to pull away. At Barnes, we were still opening the gap, even as our rate dropped.”

The team – athletes, coaches, and volunteers – set up the 1999 Blue Boat to become dominant and “the fastest Boat Race Crew ever at rate 28.”

That bond remains, although their number is less by 2 in the fondly remembered Harry Mahon and Toby Wallace, the 1999 crew come together regularly for their crew anniversaries, and remember both the struggle and the success. Crombie says, “It’s all about people connecting to each other. Most of us don’t get opportunities to catch up outside the reunions, so we value each other’s company. It’s like a giant time machine – when we get in the room together, 25 years disappear.”

Footnotes:

From the ’99 Blue and Goldie boats, there were 29 future Blues (24 from the Blue Boat, 5 from Goldie)

There were 5 present and future CUBC presidents rowing in 1999 (Crombie ‘99, Stokes ‘00, K West ‘01, Stallard ’02, Wooge ’03), of which four were in the Blue Boat.

The total future medal haul from the ’99 squad was: 1 Olympic Gold, 2 Olympic Silver, 2 World Championship Gold, 5 World Championship Silver, 1 World Championship Bronze medals.

In beating Isis, Goldie broke the course record (16:58) and were the first reserve crew to row under 17 minutes.

The Blue Boat posted the 2nd fastest time ever (16:41), eclipsed only by the ’98 Blue Boat (of which Graham Smith, Toby Wallace and Brad Crombie were members).