The 148th Boat Race took place on 30 March 2002. Oxford won the race by three-quarters of a length, one of the narrowest margins of victory in the history of the contest.
In the reserve race Isis beat
Goldie; Oxford also won the
Women's race.
Background
The Boat Race is an annual competition between the universities of
Oxford and
Cambridge. First held in 1829, the competition is a race along the
River Thames in southwest London. The rivalry is a major point of honour between the two universities and followed throughout the United Kingdom and worldwide.
Cambridge went into the race as reigning champions, having won the
2001 race by 2.5 lengths,
and led overall with 77 victories to Oxford's 69 (excluding the
"dead heat" of 1877).
The race was sponsored by
Aberdeen Asset Management for the third consecutive year.
The first
Women's Boat Race took place in 1927, but did not become an annual fixture until the 1960s. Until 2014, the contest was conducted as part of the
Henley Boat Races, but as of the
2015 race, it is held on the River Thames, on the same day as the men's main and reserve races. The reserve race, contested between Oxford's Isis boat and Cambridge's Goldie boat has been held since 1965. It usually takes place on the Tideway, prior to the main Boat Race.
[
]
Crews
Despite weighing just over less per man than their opponents,[ Both boats contained four ]Blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
; the Oxford cox Peter Hackworth attended St Paul's School while Cambridge's cox Ellie Griggs attended St Paul's Girls' School, so both were familiar with the course.[ Oxford's crew contained two American international rowers in Dan Perkins and Luke McGee, and ]Gerritjan Eggenkamp
Gerritjan Eggenkamp (14 November 1975) is a Dutch rower.
Born in Leiden, Netherlands, Eggenkamp started rowing aged 12 at Het Spaarne rowing club in Heemstede, and first competed internationally as a Junior, coming 9th in the coxless four at th ...
, a Dutch international. Cambridge's stroke, Rick Dunn, cousin of Oxford's bow Andrew Dunn, was a world champion in coxless fours, and he rowed alongside fellow British internationals Tom Stallard and Josh West
A. Joshua West (born 25 March 1977) is a dual citizen British-American Olympic rower and Earth Sciences professor. He is a two-time World Championship silver medalist, a World Championship bronze medalist, and a four-time Cambridge Blue, and r ...
. Cambridge's other international rowers included American Sam Brooks, German Sebastian Mayer and Australian Stu Welch.[
(P) – Boat Club President
]
Race description
Cambridge won the coin toss and elected to start from the northern bank (the "Middlesex side") of the Thames.[ Despite Cambridge's cox Griggs having her hand raised (to indicate that she and the Cambridge crew were not yet ready to commence), race umpire Simon Harris started the race.]Craven Cottage
Craven Cottage is a football ground in Fulham, West London, England, which has been the home of Fulham F.C. since 1896.According to the club'official website The ground's capacity is 22,384; the record attendance is 49,335, for a game against M ...
. Taking a slight lead round the Surrey bend, Cambridge's number four, Mayer suffered an asthma attack and showed signs of struggle, allowing Oxford to draw up to within a second as they approached Barnes Bridge
Barnes Bridge railway station, in Travelcard Zone 3, is on The Terrace, Barnes in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, in south west London. The station and all trains serving it are operated by South Western Railway. It is on the Houn ...
. In a sprint finish, Oxford pulled away to be three-quarters of a length clear at the finishing post.[
Oxford finished with a time of 16 minutes, 54 seconds, Cambridge finishing two seconds behind them, three-quarters of a length behind.][ It was Oxford's second victory in the previous three years, and brought the overall result to 77–70 in Cambridge's favour.][ At the finish, following tradition, the Oxford crew threw their cox, Hackworth, into the water in celebration.][ Mayer was hospitalised minutes after the race, initially considered a result of exhaustion, but later diagnosed as following an asthma attack.][
In the reserve race, Oxford's Isis beat Cambridge's Goldie. Earlier at Henley, Oxford won the 57th women's race by lengths.][
]
Reaction
Hackworth said "it was neck and neck, but I had absolute belief we could do it".[ Four-time Olympic gold medallist Matthew Pinsent said of the race "it truly was amazing". Cambridge coach Robin Williams was generous in defeat: "Credit to Oxford. They did an awesome job and took their chance. It was a fantastic race",]Simon Barnes
Simon Barnes is an English journalist. He was Chief Sports Writer of ''The Times'' until 2014, and wrote a wildlife opinion column in the Saturday edition of the same newspaper. He has written three novels.
The son of Edward Barnes, a co-cre ...
of '' The Times'' noted that "Cambridge reeled in an early Oxford lead and went ahead themselves ... that should have been the end of it... But this Oxford crew just kept pestering away ... and, with the finish in sight, Cambridge ... yielded."
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boat Race 2002
The Boat Race
2002 in English sport
2002 in rowing
March 2002 sports events in the United Kingdom
2002 sports events in London