Blood over Water

On a blustery, overcast April day in 2003, David and James Livington raced against each other in the 149th Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race, watched by over 8 million people in the UK alone. It was the first time brothers had battled each other in this gladiatorial and quintessentially British tradition for over 100 years. Only one could be victorious. In this book, David and James tell their stories for the first time, giving a locker-room insight into one of the least understood...
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On a blustery, overcast April day in 2003, David and James Livington raced against each other in the 149th Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race, watched by over 8 million people in the UK alone. It was the first time brothers had battled each other in this gladiatorial and quintessentially British tradition for over 100 years. Only one could be victorious.
In this book, David and James tell their stories for the first time, giving a locker-room insight into one of the least understood national sporting occasions, normally on view for only one day a year. James, following in his family's footsteps, is a student at St Catharine's College, Cambridge. In 2002, after a last minute change of heart, David joins Christ Church College at Oxford University, Cambridge's ancient rival. The book exposes the ancient, great and secretive institutions of Oxford and Cambridge and reveals a training load almost beyond endurance.
Told in alternating narratives, Blood over Water is an emotional and searching joint self-portrait, and an account of a brotherly relationship tested to breaking point, with David and James unable even to speak to each other in the final months before the 2003 Boat Race.
It is only later, with James battling not to fail his final Cambridge exams, having dedicated so much time to rowing, that they start to reconcile their torn relationship, damaged by their pursuit of a shared dream.
Blood over Water asks what you would be willing to sacrifice to achieve your dreams.