page_title: The Boat Race 1997
section_title: Crews
hierarchical_section_title: The Boat Race 1997 / Crews
caption_attribution_description: English: René Mijnders at the Olympic welcome in the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam, the Netherlands Nederlands: René Mijnders tijdens de thuiskomst van de Olympische atleten in het Olympisch Stadion in Amsterdam.
context_page_description: The 143rd Boat Race between crews from the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge took place on the River Thames on 29 March 1997. Umpired by former Oxford rower Tom Cadoux-Hudson, Cambridge won in a time of 17 minutes and 38 seconds.
  In the reserve race, Cambridge's Goldie beat Oxford's Isis by ​6 ¹⁄₂ lengths. Cambridge won the 52nd Women's Boat Race.
context_section_description: The weigh-in was held at the Hurlingham Club on 24 March 1997. The Cambridge crew, pre-race favourites, weighed an average of 1 pound (0.45 kg) more per rower than Oxford, with Cambridge's Alex Story the heaviest man in the race at 16 stone (100 kg). The crews were the tallest in the history of the race, with Cambridge averaging 6 ft 5.25 in (1.96 m) to Oxford's 6 ft 4.5 in (1.94 m). Oxford's Roberto Blanda became the first Blue from Italy. Cambridge's crew featured three former Blues, while Oxford's crew contained none.
  Cambridge were coached once again by Robin Williams, while Oxford were guided by Dutchman René Mijnders, who had led the Netherlands to Olympic gold in Atlanta in the men's eight.
caption: Oxford's Mijnders was the Dutch international coach.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D100", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Ver.2.00", "Image DateTime": "2008:08:25 23:58:47", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "244", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "300", "Thumbnail YResolution": "300", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1937", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "19605", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/750", "EXIF FNumber": "28/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Aperture Priority", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2008:08:25 17:43:14", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2008:08:25 17:43:14", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "80", "EXIF SubSecTime": "90", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "90", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "90", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1820", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1428", "EXIF RelatedSoundFile": "", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1796", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[0, 2, 0, 2, 1, 0, 2, 1]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "120", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Hard", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}