Twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss successfully sued Facebook for $65 million and now they will compete in one of England's oldest and most prestigious sporting events
The Greenwich twins will be among just five Americans to compete in the 156th Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race along the River Thames. That’s the famous Oxford-Cambridge rowing competition.
The attractive, rich 28-year-old twins are rowing for Oxford, where they are working toward their MBAs. Oh, and they happen to be Olympic rowers. They placed sixth in the coxless pairs final at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
What they are best known for, however, are their claims to be the original creators of Facebook, which is how they wound up with $65 million -- a court settlement from Facebook in 2008 after a four-year legal battle
They are also involved in the movie, "The Social Network," which is due out in the fall.
"We're characters in it, so there's some rowing and it's basically about the founding of Facebook," Tyler said.
The other U.S. rowers include Deaglan McEachern, 26, of Portsmouth, N.H., native and president of Cambridge's boat club, Rob Weitemeyer and Henry Pelly, all rowing for Cambridge.
Derek Rasmussen of Darnestown, Md., is new to Cambridge this year. But he's no stranger to the history behind the Boat Race. His roommate from the University of Wisconsin, Adam Barhamand of Naperville, Ill., coxed Oxford's reserve boat Isis to a win over the Cambridge reserves in last year's Boat Race.
Local
Oxford is the favorite coming in, but Cambridge has an advantage in experience.
