According to Oxford rower Leonard Jenkins, some of their team members got seriously ill with E. coli before the Boat Race, and he mentioned that it would have been better if there wasn't so much poo in the water.
Cambridge won for the fifth time in the last six years, achieving victories in both the men's and women's races at the 169th edition of the historic rivalry.
Although Cambridge's lead was nearly diminished in the final stretch, they managed to hold on and win, with stroke Matt Edge looking close to collapsing as his teammates celebrated.
Leading up to the event, there were concerns about high E. coli levels in the Thames, and the crews were advised not to enter the water or expose open wounds.
Traditionally, the winning cox in the Boat Race would be thrown out of the boat by the rest of their team, but this was not done due to the prior warnings about the water quality.
Following Oxford's loss, Jenkins expressed his feelings to BBC Sport, saying, 'I don’t have any words.'
Jenkins stated, 'We had a clear plan and a great setup, but it didn't come together on the day. I'm disappointed, but I'm proud of the guys. It's been a great battle.'
He also added, 'It’s a shame the result doesn’t reflect that. Cambridge showed their class and did to us what we wanted to do to them.'
He pondered, 'Maybe experience was the difference? I’m not sure. I didn’t expect it to be such a big difference.'
Jenkins expressed frustration about the amount of 'poo' in the water and admitted that he felt unwell after vomiting on the morning of the race.
He added, 'A few guys on our team got very sick with the E. coli strain.'
He confessed, 'This morning I was throwing up and I really wasn’t sure if I could participate. I kept that to myself, and it's on my shoulders.'
He further explained, 'I didn’t feel like I had much to give, but taking out one of the top guys would have ruined our chances.'
He expressed, 'I felt like we needed to give them a fair fight. It would have been better if there wasn't so much poo in the water.'
He clarified, 'This is not to take away from Cambridge. I'm not sure if we would have had a chance to beat them even if we were all in top form.'
Before the race, Oxford coach Sean Bowden criticized the pollution in the Thames as a 'national disgrace' and 'very concerning'.
Bowden, who has been coaching Oxford since 1997, stated, 'It’s a national disgrace, isn’t it?'
‘It is very worrying. It would be great if the Boat Race brought attention to it.
‘We are very eager to be involved and we acknowledge that we have a role and a responsibility in it.
‘Occasionally someone may catch a stomach bug, but they usually recover within 24 or 48 hours. So this is something that is really important.
‘We definitely don’t want people to get sick. Every time we come to the Tideway, we discuss good hygiene and ways to reduce the impact.’
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