University Boat Race 2012 halted by swimmer The two crews were halfway along the four-and-a-quarter mile course when Sir Matthew Pinsent, the former Olympic rower and one of the race officials, spotted the man, leading the umpire to stop the race. It is not the first time the Boat Race has been temporarily halted. In 2001 the race was stopped just over a minute after the start following repeated warnings to both crews to move apart and then a clash of blades. Sir Matthew said the swimmer had risked a "serious injury." "Fortunately we spotted him and stopped the race," he said, adding: "It's not ideal but we could we do? We could not possibly have carried on. The swimmer was picked up by a lifeboat and led off Chiswick pier by police amid booing from the assembled crowd. One of Oxford's blades broke shortly after the race had resumed and the Cambridge crew rowed to victory. There was more drama at the end of the race when Alexander Woods, 27, an Oxford rower, collapsed and was lifted out of his seat by medics.