Oxford crewman William Zeng's message on Twitter to Trenton Oldfield, "You, who would make a mockery of their dedication and their courage, are a mockery of a man" (Report, 9 April), says all we need to know about the humourlessness of modern sportsmen and their supporters. Dan Topolski should lighten up; the Boat Race is an increasingly uninteresting contest between artificially selected teams in which only a small minority are undergraduates or even British. The joy of last Saturday's race was its unexpected dissolution into chaos and confusion from Germanic order and professionalism. The fury of the Oxford cox – entirely responsible for her team's defeat – only added to the fun. Three cheers for amateurism. To hell with the Olympics.
John Hoar
South Molton, Devon
• While I tend agree with the views of Trenton Oldfield, I can't help thinking he's simply swimming against the tide.
Daniel Millbank
Sheffield