The sanctity of the annual Oxford-Cambridge boat race was recently tarnished after contestants had to contest with literal poo in the water, which some claimed resulted in their being infected with E.coli prior to the race.



Oxford University rower Lenny Jenkins told Sky News that he had to keep a mental note of how often the water goes in his mouth and on his clothes “just to know how much risk I’m at.” He added that the team has seen people come down with pretty bad illnesses, particularly back in December, prompting team members to regularly check the Thames Water discharge website to try and see how much raw sewage was being pumped into it. Their solution? Drinking cans of Coke to “try and neutralize” the bacteria in their stomachs.


Unfortunately, Coke wasn’t enough before their most recent race against Cambridge, thanks to the high levels of E.coli found in the River Thames the week of the race. Jenkins was quoted by The Independent as saying, “It would be a lot nicer if there wasn’t as much poo in the water.”


You can say that again.



Jenkins also revealed that he had been throwing up on the morning of the race and that he wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to make it, adding, “I kept that quiet and ultimately that’s on my shoulders, it may not have been the right choice because I didn’t have my all to give in that race.”


Jenkins’ teammate, on the other hand, wasn’t as quick to blame the Oxford’s team’s loss on illness, conceding that while they dealt with three sick teammates the week of the race, he wasn’t sure whether it was due to the condition of the Thames and ultimately it wasn’t an excuse.


Meanwhile, the winning teams (Cambridge won both the men’s and women’s races) opted to ignore the tradition of throwing their coxswains in the river in light of the water’s condition. The women’s team lifted their coxswain up inside the boat, while the men’s team dumped a bucket of clean water on their coxswain’s head in celebration.


Better to be safe than sorry!