Trenton, the oxymoron

I had an interesting conversation with my dad this weekend. He lives in Australia’s Perth, the most remote city on Earth I believe it’s called. He hadn’t yet heard about the ‘Trenton!’ incident that took place this weekend on the River Thames. It’s a stretch of the river we used to live near. I’ve never rowed it as I don’t have a death wish, but I did feel privileged (and not elitist at all) to live around there. The only thing I know is that no one goes swimming in the Thames because it is so dangerous. Just ask the London whale that ended up in Battersea that time when he took a wrong turn by Graves End.

So it was a no-brainer that the guy in a wetsuit swimming in the middle of the river as Oxford and Cambridge’s boats came through was clearly unhinged and/or a protester of sorts. I don’t want to name him as he’s had his five minutes of fame, but it does seem he has created more anxiety about protesters turning up to the Olympics and putting an end to years of preparation and desire in the blink of an eye. He was protesting about ‘elitism’ – although it probably came across as more of a dislike of Oxbridge and ‘posh’ people. Which is curious, not least because there is no money in rowing, unlike football for example. See more >

Anyway, so turns out, ‘big T’ as I shall call him, is in fact a privately educated chappie from Sydney, who has swapped ‘classless’ Australia for ye olde England. An oxymoron if ever there was one. The Cambridge captain was interviewed about their ‘win’ and he was also Australian. Apparently the crew included oarsmen of six different nationalities in total. I’m not sure who else was English, apart from the umpire maybe, who, in my humble opinion, should have stopped the race when an Oxford rower’s oar broke and made the race unfair, resulting in an ambulance being called for one of the team at the finish line. Dr Woods is now thankfully out of the woods – hope you’re feeling better.

It was the most eventful boat races in years, but with one eye on the Olympics, I think we should all be thankful no one ended up like that poor whale.

See also Trenton/Fenton mash-up as reported in Australia.

Difficult days ahead

I’m finding it hard to be inspired about life in London at the moment. The news is increasingly depressing about the economic situation. Right now there are sit in protesters in London’s banking district, camped up outside the London Stock Exchange. The Evening Standard led with the headline ‘Biggest inflation rise for 20 years’ last night. Today, radio 4 was talking about the shortage of affordable homes and older people having to downsize and move out of their properties to ‘free up space’. Not exactly a chipper way to start the day. Should have listened to my daughter’s Black Lace album instead. It seems the Daily Mail headlines are everywhere.

It couldn’t be further from the heady days of 2000. We didn’t know it at the time when John Major was talking about Back to Basics, but the 1990s were bliss by comparison with today. And when I worked at the Sydney Olympics, it was pre 9/11. I had no qualms about stepping inside a massive aeroplane every few weeks when I was travelling.

So I just wonder how the London Olympics are going to be received next year? Hopefully it means lots of cash will be spent – although hard to imagine and not exactly what the Games are supposed to be about – and everyone will soak up the goodwill and high spirits that existed in Sydney. There, people stopped in the street when Grant Hackett won swimming gold. Cars would honk their horns and everything just stopped for sporting victories. When Cathy Freeman was due to race, everyone came together in parks and public spaces to be a part of racing history. A Somali resident proposed to my friend Steph that night, I seem to remember. Everyone was just so happy. Can London achieve the same incredible atmosphere, I wonder?

Of course, I imagine that if you’re not in London or in places where other events are taking place, this could pass you by. But when a Football World or European Cup takes place, there’s always a unique buzz when you’re out and about, wherever you are. It helps when the sun shines, naturally, but everyone remembers where they are when England wins an important match/goes out in a big competition.

I just hope that the London Olympics can ride the storm that’s brewing.