Boat Race

So the Boat Race yesterday was ruined by a swimmer. It now looks like he felt he was protesting against something. "This is a protest, an act of civil disobedience, a methodology of refusing and resistance," he wrote. He described the race as "a public event, for and by the elites with broader social relations aims"

Does anyone have any sympathy for him or people doing this kind of thing?

And how likely do you think it is that events at the Olympics will also be disrupted like this? Aren't there anti-capitalist groups saying they are going to protest at the Olympics etc?

I wouldn't have cared if he'd copped an oar across his head. But then I think the boat race is an irrelevance and I only watch it in the hope one of the crews will sink.

They should hold it at Dorney Lake or the Pinsent Redgrave Lake.

Well to be accurate. one has expressed disinterest rather than knock it. 

I can only imagine how I might feel if a protestor -for any reason - disrupted a race I had trained for months. Without wishing to sound like Harry Enfield, if it happened to me, I'd want to knock him out.

If Trenton had any real guts and commitment, he might have chosen the long game, where by the strength of his argument and his political will he might be able to bring about any changes he might like to see applied to the Elite.

But he's like those Fathers for Justice guys, incapable of changing a nappy or maintaining a relationship, so they invade Buckingham Palace instead.

Didn't he go to an 'elite' public school himself.

Stupid protest imo.

I went to Cambridge Uni many moons ago........and *shock, horror* I went from an East Midlands comprehensive ......so not very elite!

I also fail to understand why an Aussie protester is getting so hot under the collar about English elitism ??

I just feel really sorry for the guys (& girl) in the boats.......all those hours and hours of training for it to be ruined

Saffy Sweety Pea wrote (see)

I just feel really sorry for the guys (& girl) in the boats.......all those hours and hours of training for it to be ruined

Me too.

RICKSTER wrote (see)

It's a unique event in the sporting calendar of this country along with the Grand National, the British Grand Prix, the cup final, the London Marathon and the Great North Run.
I enjoy watching it on tv and intend to go down to London next year to watch it. The last time I went to watch Chelsea play football it cost me £48 for a ticket. You can watch the boat race from the banks of the Thames for free.
People seem to take it the wrong way. The boat race isn't about snobbery or elitism. It's a British event that many people enjoy viewing. I'm quite shocked that people on here, runners, would knock a sporting event.

agree Rickster, im an Oxford girl and that was awful to see the Dark blues have that happen to them. Boat race is  a 'must see' in my house and i agree witht Saffy that those lads and the female cox have spent months on cold dark early mornings on cold rivers training for that lifetime experience....and as the Oxford captain said, it was all taken away from them in a moment of someones idiocy. personally i think that with a disruption on that scale the whole event should have been re-started completely on another day. the teams focus was lost after that break , there was no way their composure could be fully regained to complete that race properly. a difficult decision for the umpire and he did his best to continue the event..

Also felt sorry for Cambridge , they couldnt really celebrate either and was terrible to see the Oxford bow rower in distress at the end. hoping he is ok now.

Saffy Sweety Pea wrote (see)

I just feel really sorry for the guys (& girl) in the boats.......all those hours and hours of training for it to be ruined

Regarding OP's original questions:

No sympathy - he targetted 'innocents' who had worked bloody hard to deserve their day in the river

Yes -sadly

loulabell wrote (see)

. personally i wish theyd knocked his head off with the oar and carried on..

loulabell wrote (see)

OW, quite right. nothing will be changed-and why should it? boat race has never caused any problems, no need to. personally i wish theyd knocked his head off with the oar and carried on..

According to the Grauniad he's a "former student of contemporary urbanism at the London School of Economics", whatever that means. In his own words, it was "a protest, an act of civil disobedience, a methodology of refusing and resistance" ...This act has employed guerrilla tactics. I am swimming into the boats in the hope I can stop them from completing the race and proposing the return of surprise tactics. This is 'peaceful' … I have no weapons (don't shoot!)."

Not sure what kind of "elitism" he's against - the selection procedures for Oxbridge or for the rowing crews (haven't there been arguments about mercenaries before?)

A bit of a dickhead, anyway.