George Godber and H. C. Morphett. Cambridge's boat contained five participants with Boat Race experience, including Richard Beesly who was making his third consecutive appearance. He and Michael Warriner were gold medallists in the coxless four at the 1928 Summer Olympics. Their cox, Arthur Sulley, won a silver medal in the men's eight. Three of the Oxford crew were registered as non-British: H. C. Morphett and J. A. Ingles were from Australia, while C. F. Juel-Brockdorff was the first Danish rower in the history of the event. Race Cambridge won the toss and elected to start from the Surrey station, handing the Middlesex side of the river to Oxford. The umpire Burnell started the race at 12:12 p.m. in "gloriously fine weather", and both boats got off to quick starts, with Oxford just ahead after the first strokes. Level past the boathouses, Cambridge edged ahead to hold a canvas-length lead by Craven Steps. Taking advantage of the Dark Blues' struggle in rough water by Craven Cottage, Cambridge slowly drew ahead and held a three-quarter length lead by the time the crews passed the Mile Post. A push from the Dark Blues saw them keep in contention until Hammersmith Bridge where, according to L. Cecil Smith writing in The Observer, they "went ahead so fast and steadily as to suggest that even had they lost the toss they would have been able safely to take the Surrey water" while Oxford "had been taken out of their stride". The Light Blues passed below the bridge with a two-length lead. A spurt from Cambridge around the Chiswick Reach bend effectively ended the race as a contest. A final surge from Oxford was held off by Cambridge who passed below Barnes Bridge five lengths ahead. Here, some of the Dark Blues started to show signs of distress, in particular their bow P. D. Barr who, it was later noted, had been suffering from influenza. Later reports suggested that Barr may have been suffering from a transient cardiac dysfunction. Cambridge pulled away from the Dark Blues with every stroke and rated 36 strokes per minute towards the finish, passing the finishing post with a lead of seven lengths in a time of 19 minutes 24 seconds. It was their sixth consecutive victory, the tenth in the previous eleven years and was the fastest winning time since the 1924 race, and the ninth fastest time in