Fisking Trenton Oldfield

The Boat Race saboteur Trenton Oldfield's online manifesto includes this:

'The boat race itself, with its pseudo competition, assembled around similar principles of fastest, strongest, selected …etc, is an inconsequential backdrop for these elite educational institutions to demonstrate themselves, reboot their shared culture together in the public realm. It is also inconsequential to the performance that the overwhelming majority of the population continue to remain interested in their own lives and disinterested in the boat race. The boat race, while accessible to everyone, isn’t really advertised or promoted as something for the general public to attend, you know when it’s on because it is part of the social networking calendar. This is a public event, for and by the elites with broader social relations aims.'

Let's examine the 'logic':
' pseudo competition' - anyone who has ever rowed knows the effort involved in becoming a good rower, let alone of the standard to compete in the Boat Race. The 16 rowers who made it to the Oxford and Cambridge Eights have been competing for at least a year just to get a place in the boat, let alone the effort involved in keeping free of injury so as to make it to the stake boats at Putney. As to the racing itself, the Olympics and World Championships are raced over 2,000 metres. By the time Trenton Oldfield raised his ugly head in front of the crews they had rowed far further than that and had further to row. 'pseudi competition'? I think not.

'assembled around similar principles of fastest, strongest, selected' - yes that's how elite sports selection works and much more in this society should.

'inconsequential backdrop for these elite educational institutions to demonstrate themselves, reboot their shared culture together in the public realm' - anyone who has studied up at Oxford and Cambridge knows how important the Boat Race is to both of those great educational institutions, obviously one being greater that the other.

'inconsequential to the performance that the overwhelming majority of the population continue to remain interested in their own lives and disinterested in the boat race' - Just as the majority of the population of this country are disinterested in cricket, rugby and maybe even football. Sport is for the people who are interested in that sport, the rest are free to ignore it if they wish. The Boat Race is about more than just sport, it is a piece of tradition that helps to bind this country together and keep it rooted in its shared past. People choose to support Oxford or Cambridge despite never having studied there, not knowing anyone who has studied there or often never having even having visited either. It's about feeling connected to history.

'The boat race, while accessible to everyone, isn’t really advertised or promoted as something for the general public to attend, you know when it’s on because it is part of the social networking calendar' - What utter rubbish. The Boat Race is covered live by the BBC who, along with the broadsheet newspapers, for days beforehand show the course of the race, the best vantage points and of course the best pubs to watch the race from. What is the social networking calendar? I think the very confused Trenton Oldfield may be thinking of the social calendar that includes the far more exclusive Henley rowing regatta as well as tennis at Queens and horse racing at Ascot.

'This is a public event, for and by the elites with broader social relations aims.'' - This makes the least sense of all of the pillock's claims. It is a public event, in that it is held on a public river, in full view of the public but the rest of the claim is tripe...

Thanks for almost ruining British rowing's big day - Trenton Oldfield

Oxford crew member William Zeng used Twitter to send Trenton Oldfield, the protester, a series of emotional messages after the race.

Mr Zeng, a doctorate student at Oriel College, tweeted:

‘When I missed your head with my blade I knew only that you were a swimmer, and if you say you are a protester then no matter what you say your cause may be, your action speaks too loudly for me to hear you.

‘I know exactly what you were protesting. You were protesting the right of 17 young men and one woman to compete fairly and honorably, to demonstrate their hard work and desire in a proud tradition.

‘You were protesting their right to devote years of their lives, their friendships, and their souls to the fair pursuits of the joys and the hardships of sport. You, who would make a mockery of their dedication and their courage, are a mockery of a man.’

Nice and lucid sentiments from an articulate as well as athletic young man, who is a credit to his family and life.

On the other hand we have the ramblings of Trenton Oldfield from his own website:

'THIS IS 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!) MY ONLY FEAR, IS NOT SWIMMING FAST ENOUGH TO GET IN THE RIGHT POSITION TO PREVENT THE BOATS.'

Trenton Oldfield's manifesto continues:

'The boat race itself, with its pseudo competition, assembled around similar principles of fastest, strongest, selected …etc, is an inconsequential backdrop for these elite educational institutions to demonstrate themselves, reboot their shared culture together in the public realm. It is also inconsequential to the performance that the overwhelming majority of the population continue to remain interested in their own lives and disinterested in the boat race. The boat race, while accessible to everyone, isn’t really advertised or promoted as something for the general public to attend, you know when it’s on because it is part of the social networking calendar. This is a public event, for and by the elites with broader social relations aims.'

I will give that statement a good fisking tomorrow.

As for Trenton Oldfield's suggestions for other class warriors:

' If you work in a restaurant where elitists eat, can you serve the food once it is cold or cook the wrong food?

If you are a builder repairing the house of an elitist can you also bug it and share the footage and audio online?'

There is a word that is coming to my mind...