Oxford University Women's Boat Club (OUWBC) is the rowing club for female

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is ...

s (and coxes of either sex) who are students at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. The club was founded in 1926 and is now based in Wallingford at the Fleming Boat House, along with

OUBC Oxford University Boat Club (OUBC) is the rowing club for male, heavyweight oarsman of the University of Oxford, England, located on the River Thames at Oxford. The club was founded in the early 19th century. The Boat Race The club races agai ...

, OUWLRC and OULRC. The training season runs from September through to July, with the major event, the

Women's Boat Race The Women's Boat Race is an annual rowing race between Cambridge University Women's Boat Club and Oxford University Women's Boat Club. First rowed in 1927, the race has taken place annually since 1964. Since the 2015 race it has been rowed on ...

against

Cambridge University Women's Boat Club Cambridge University Women's Boat Club (CUWBC) was the rowing club for women at the University of Cambridge. CUWBC fielded both a lightweight eight that races against Oxford at the Henley Boat Races, and two openweight eights that race at the W ...

(CUWBC), happening in March or April. Up until 2015 the Women's Boat Race had taken place over 2000m as part of the

Henley Boat Races The Henley Boat Races were a series of annual rowing races between various crews representing the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. The event included the Lightweight Men's Boat Race from 1975 to 2018, the Women's Boat ...

on the Henley Reach. In 2015, for the first time, the Women's Boat Race took place on the 6.8 km

Championship Course The Championship Course is a stretch of the River Thames between Mortlake and Putney in London, England. It is a well-established course for rowing races, particularly the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. The course is on the tidal reaches of th ...

on the

Tideway The Tideway is a part of the River Thames in England which is subject to tides. This stretch of water is downstream from Teddington Lock. The Tideway comprises the upper Thames Estuary including the Pool of London. Tidal activity Depending on ...

, and was televised on the BBC alongside the Men's Boat Race.

History

The original challenge between the Oxford and Cambridge University boat clubs was issued in 1829. As a result, two men's eights raced on the river at

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, west of Maidenhead, southeast of Oxford and west of London (by road), near the tripoint of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buc ...

. In 1836 the race was moved to the

in London, and it has remained there ever since. At this time rowing was not seen as an appropriate sport for a lady. However, towards the end of the century attitudes began to change. The two universities caught onto the trend a few decades later and OUWBC was formed in May 1926. Following on from this the 'Ladies' Boat Race' was founded in 1927. The first races took place on

The Isis "The Isis" () is an alternative name for the River Thames, used from its source in the Cotswolds until it is joined by the Thame at Dorchester in Oxfordshire. It derives from the ancient name for the Thames, ''Tamesis'', which in the Middle ...

in Oxford and took the form of a time and style contest, since the Principals of the women's colleges disapproved of racing. The OUWBC was disbanded for financial reasons in 1953 but re-formed in 1964. The races were held alternately on The Isis and The Cam and in 1975 a 2nd VIII race was added. In 1977 the 'Women's Boat Race' was invited to join the men's lightweights at Henley and so the '

' were established. At this time, the women's reserve race crews were named 'Osiris' (Oxford) and 'Blondie' (Cambridge) to parallel the men's reserves 'Isis' and 'Goldie'. From 1977 to 2014 the Women's Boat Race continued to be held at Henley over 2000m (excluding 2013 where the race was moved to

Dorney Lake Dorney Lake (also known as Eton College Rowing Centre, and as Eton Dorney as a 2012 Summer Olympics venue) is a purpose-built rowing lake in England. It is near the village of Dorney, Buckinghamshire, and is around 3 km (2 miles) west of Wi ...

due to flooding).

Sponsorship and the move to the Tideway

Following a sponsorship deal with

Newton Investment Management Newton Investment Management is a investment management firm based in London. It is subsidiary of BNY Mellon Investment Management. History The firm was founded as Newton in 1978 as a joint venture with Scottish insurance broker Reed Stonehous ...

, established shortly before the Women's Boat Race 2011, parent company BNY Mellon announced in February that they would be sponsoring both the men's and women's boat races from the 2013 race. This sponsorship was key in enabling the

to move to the Tideway in 2015. Since the 2012 race, Newton Investment Management has provided equal funding to OUWBC and CUWBC to enable the clubs to employ full time professional coaches and a support team to transition ‘from a student-run club to a pre-elite team’ on their road to the Tideway.

2015 Newton Women's Boat Race

In 2015, the Women's Boat Race took place on

the Championship Course The Championship Course is a stretch of the River Thames between Mortlake and Putney in London, England. It is a well-established course for sport rowing, rowing races, particularly the The Boat Race, Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. The course ...

between the University stones at Putney and Mortlake on 11 April. The Reserve boat, Osiris, raced the Cambridge reserve boat, Blondie, on 10 April over the same course. OUWBCWeHORR

Osiris Honours

British champions

References

External links

OUWBC WebsiteHenley Boat RacesOxford University Rowing ClubsNewton Investment Management
{{United Kingdom rowing clubs

Boat Club A boat club is a sports club serving boat owners, particularly those interested in rowing and yachting, but also kayaking, canoeing, motor boats and other small boats. See also *Rowing club *Yacht club A yacht club is a sports club specif ...

Sports clubs established in 1926 1926 establishments in England Women's Boat Race Rowing clubs in Oxfordshire Rowing clubs of the River Thames