20 March 10: Leander gave the Oxford Blue Boat a run for their money in the traditional fixture as part of the Dark Blues preparation for this year's Boat Race on 3 April.
Earlier in the week the entire Oxford squad travelled to Henley for a tour of the club, hosted by captain Rick Egington, before dining with many of the club's athletes and their coaches. The tradition to host each Blue Boat in alternate years goes back many years - Boat Race athletes who have chosen Leander to further their rowing careers include Olympic champion Pete Reed from Oxford, and James Orme and Tom Stallard from Cambridge.
A minor injury for Rick Egington forced a withdrawal from Saturday's fixture, when he was replaced by London lightweight James Clarke, stroke of the GB men's heavyweight eight during the 2009 season.
Clarke's inclusion also meant a reshuffle in the Leander line-up preparing for the Head of the River Race on 27 March, as chief coach Mark Banks decided against a substitution from the second boat which would have had a knock-on effect on their own prepartion for Race Day.
In a classic battle between a well-drilled unit on the one hand and a group of eight immensely talented individuals on the other Leander, drawn on the Middlesex station, had the better start. But Oxford quickly came back to cancel Leander's advantage as the early Middlesex bend favoured Leander.
From that point until the crews crossed the line umpire Richard Phelps was kept busy as the coxes - Phelan Hill for Leander and Adam Barhamand for Oxford - clashed repeatedly, with Oxford gaining the upper hand as the crews approached Hammersmith. But Leander dug deep to come back hard round the outside of the bend, moving ahead down Chiswick Eyot before Oxford put in a final burst. The Oxford coaches gave their own crew the verdict 'by about two seats'.
The Leander crew included:
Bow: Tom Broadway
2: Nick Clark
3: Tom Wilkinson
4: Tommy Burton
5: Matt Langridge
6: Alex Gregory
7: Alex Partridge
Stroke: James Clarke (London RC)
Cox: Phelan Hill
Coach: Mark Banks
