As we pass the halfway marker on 2019 (where has the time gone?!) it seems suitable to pause for a moment and take stock of the year in rowing so far. Here’s a quick summary. In the UK, 2019 began rife with speculation that James Cracknell might actually make the Cambridge Blue Boat. Around the same time, news spread from the southern hemisphere that Hamish Bond was making his own return, this time in the New Zealand eight, along with fellow rowing legend Mahé Drysdale. Now with just weeks to go until Bond and Drysdale’s irst international race in the eight at World Cup II in Poland, we hear more about the reasoning behind his unexpected move in our interview with Bond on page 26.
In April we all watched as Cracknell did ultimately make selection – and history – going on to win the Boat Race convincingly in what was yet another Cambridge clean sweep; see our gallery from Boat Race day on page 98. Meanwhile in North American university rowing, two great American dynasties tightened their grip on the top rung as the Washington Huskies, for the second time in the events history, won all three of the eights races at the NCAA national championships in Indianapolis, and Yale’s men won their third consecutive IRA national title in California. See our roundup of the men’s and women’s varsity eight races at their respective championships on page 78.