TOFF-HATING LOON SINKS BOAT RACE
Oxford president Karl Hudspith
THE swimmer who stopped the Boat Race yesterday is a crazy Australian protester who says he is writing a book about fences.
It was only the second time in history that the university contest has been halted.
Bearded nut Trenton Oldfield swam across the Thames straight into the line of the Cambridge and Oxford boats.
The wetsuit-clad 35-year-old, who is penning a work on the “socio-political” meaning of fences, was forced to duck as the oar blades of the Oxford team soared inches over his head.
He was fished out by an RNLI lifeboat and was later seen laughing to himself while being led away by police in front of a booing crowd.
The two crews were side by side with a thrilling finale in store when the race was halted just past Chiswick Steps, about two-thirds down the course.
After a restart, Cambridge won the race after Oxford snapped an oar.
And there was more drama at the end of the race when Oxford rower Dr Alex Woods collapsed in his boat.
Last night, he was in a stable condition in London’s Charing Cross hospital.
In a baffling 2,200-word statement on his internet blog yesterday, Oldfield linked the race to the Holocaust, imperialism, migrant labour camps and Nick Clegg.
But Oxford president Karl Hudspith tweeted: “To Trenton Oldfield; my team went through seven months of hell, this was the culmination of our careers and you took it from us.”
Police said Oldfield was arrested on suspicion of a section 5 public order offence, namely behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.
A spokesman said: “He is currently in custody at a West London police station while inquiries into the circumstances are carried out.”