Rowing: University Boat Race security tightened in attempt to avoid last year's farce
Protester disrupted last year's evernt
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Boat Race organisers are planning changes to security to avoid a repeat of last year's incident when a protester brought the event to a standstill.
Trenton Oldfield served seven weeks in jail for causing a public nuisance by swimming into the River Thames, narrowly avoiding being struck by the oars of the Oxford and Cambridge crews. He said he was making a stand against elitism. He was released in December, and has claimed he would protest in a similar way again.
"We've obviously been looking very hard at security and we are making some changes," said David Searle, executive director of the Boat Race Company Limited. "It is very, very difficult to police eight and a half miles of bank.
"We are taking additional measures this year and we have looked at all of our actions last year. We've reviewed them and thought about how we would react slightly differently, not much differently, if it happened this year.
"All I can and will say is that anyone who does it is taking their lives in their hands... we just say to people: Just don't consider it." This year's race takes place on 31 March.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments