Is the Boat Race part of the Olympic picture?
For the estimated quarter of a million people who watched from the banks as , the bigger picture was unimportant.
The 18 competitors involved had enough to think about as they battled side by side for four and a quarter miles without asking what part they played in a greater story.
The 156th Boat Race was entertaining enough as a one-off sporting event but several of those involved could look back on it as a key step on their paths to Olympic success.
The race often attracts top foreign oarsmen but this year three young British rowers played key roles in ensuring Cambridge's 80th victory in the race from Putney to Mortlake.
I'm Martin Gough and I cover all Olympic sports but in particular rowing, which I've been a fan of since the age of three, when I watched on TV as Cambridge sank in the Boat Race. .
