The Boat Race is an annual set of rowing races between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club, traditionally rowed between open-weight eights on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the ...

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

. There are separate men's and women's races, as well as races for reserve crews. It is also known as the University Boat Race and the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. The men's race was first held in 1829 and has been held annually since 1856, except during the First and

Second World Wars World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

(although unofficial races were conducted) and the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

in 2020. The first women's event was in 1927 and the race has been held annually since 1964. Since 2015, the women's race has taken place on the same day and course, and since 2018 the combined event of the two races has been referred to as the Boat Race. The Championship Course has hosted the vast majority of the races. It covers a stretch of the Thames in West London, from

Putney Putney () is a district of southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ancient pa ...

Mortlake Mortlake is a suburban district of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames on the south bank of the River Thames between Kew and Barnes. Historically it was part of Surrey and until 1965 was in the Municipal Borough of Barnes. For many c ...

. Other locations have been used, including a stretch of the

River Great Ouse The River Great Ouse () is a river in England, the longest of several British rivers called "Ouse". From Syresham in Northamptonshire, the Great Ouse flows through Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk to drain into the W ...

which was the venue for the 2021 race. Members of both crews are traditionally known as blues and each boat as a " Blue Boat", with Cambridge in

light blue The first use of "light blue" as a color term in English is in the year 1915. In Russian and some other languages, there is no single word for blue, but rather different words for light blue (, goluboy) and dark blue (, siniy). The ancient Gre ...

and Oxford in dark blue. As of 2022, Cambridge has won the men's race 85 times and Oxford 81 times, with one dead heat, and has led Oxford in cumulative wins since 1930. In the women's race, Cambridge have won the race 45 times and Oxford 30 times, and has led Oxford in cumulative wins since 1966. A reserve boat race has been held since 1965 for the men and since 1966 for the women. In most years over 250,000 people watch the race from the banks of the river. In 2009, a record 270,000 people watched the race live. A further 15 million or more watch it on television.

History of the men's race

Origin

The tradition was started in 1829 by

Charles Merivale Charles Merivale (8 March 1808 – 27 December 1893) was an English historian and churchman, for many years dean of Ely Cathedral. He was one of the main instigators of the inaugural Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race which took place at Henley ...

, a student at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corporation established by a charter dated 9 April 1511. Th ...

, and his Old Harrovian school friend

Charles Wordsworth Charles Wordsworth (22 August 1806 – 5 December 1892) was Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane in Scotland. He was a classical scholar, and taught at public schools in England and Scotland. He was a rower, cricketer and athlete and he ...

who was studying at Christ Church, Oxford. The

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

challenged the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...

to a race 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 ...

but lost easily. Oxford raced in dark blue because five members of the crew, including the stroke, were from Christ Church, then Head of the River, whose colours were dark blue. The second race was in 1836, with the venue moved to a course from Westminster to Putney. Over the next two years, there was disagreement over where the race should be held, with Oxford preferring Henley and Cambridge preferring London. Following the official formation of the Oxford University Boat Club, racing between the two universities resumed in 1839 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 the tradition continues to the present day, with the loser challenging the winner to a rematch annually. Since 1856, the race has been held every year, except for the years 1915 to 1919 due to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, 1940 to 1945, due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, and in 2020 due to the

1877 dead heat

The race in 1877 was declared a dead heat. Both crews finished in a time of 24minutes and 8seconds in bad weather. The verdict of the race judge, John Phelps, is considered suspect because he was reportedly over 70 and blind in one eye. Rowing historian Tim Koch, writing in the official 2014 Boat Race Programme, notes that there is "a very big and very entrenched lie" about the race, including the claim that Phelps had announced "Dead heat... to Oxford by six feet" (the distance supposedly mentioned by Phelps varies according to the telling). Phelps's nickname "Honest John" was not an ironic one, and he was not (as is sometimes claimed) drunk under a bush at the time of the finish. He did have to judge who had won without the assistance of finish posts (which were installed in time for the next year's race). Some newspapers had believed Oxford won a narrow victory but their viewpoint was from downstream; Phelps considered that the boats were essentially level with each surging forward during the stroke cycle. With no clear way to determine who had surged forward at the exact finish line, Phelps could only pronounce it a dead heat. Koch believes that the press and Oxford supporters made up the stories about Phelps later, which Phelps had no chance to refute.

Cancellations during World Wars

Because of World War I and II, the race was not held in 1915–1919 and 1940–1945. On 12 January 1915, ''The Daily Telegraph'' announced that the annual race was cancelled due to men leaving for war, "for every available oarsman, either Fresher or Blue, has joined the colours."

1959 Oxford mutiny

In 1959 some of the existing Oxford blues attempted to oust president Ronnie Howard and coach Jumbo Edwards. However, their attempt failed when Cambridge supported the president. Three of the dissidents returned and Oxford went on to win by six lengths.

1987 Oxford mutiny

Following defeat in the previous year's race, Oxford's first in eleven years, American Chris Clark was determined to gain revenge: "Next year we're gonna kick ass ... Cambridge's ass. Even if I have to go home and bring the whole US squad with me." He recruited another four American post-graduates: three international-class rowers ( Dan Lyons, Chris Huntington and Chris Penny) and a cox (Jonathan Fish), in an attempt to put together the fastest Boat Race crew in the history of the contest. Disagreements over the training regime of

Dan Topolski Daniel "Dan" Topolski (4 June 1945 – 21 February 2015) was a British author, rower, rowing coach and commentator on BBC television. He studied at the University of Oxford where he represented the Blue boat twice, in 1967 and 1968. In 1977, he w ...

, the Oxford coach ("He wanted us to spend more time training on land than water!", lamented Lyons), led to the crew walking out on at least one occasion, and resulted in the coach revising his approach. A fitness test between Clark and club president Donald Macdonald (in which Clark triumphed) resulted in a call for Macdonald's removal; it was accompanied with a threat that the Americans would refuse to row should Macdonald remain in the crew. As boat club president, Macdonald "had absolute power over selection", and when he announced that Clark would row on starboard, his weaker side, Macdonald would row on the port side and Tony Ward was to be dropped from the crew entirely, the American contingent mutinied. After considerable negotiation and debate, much of it conducted in the public eye, Clark, Penny, Huntington, Lyons and Fish were dropped and replaced by members of Oxford's reserve crew, Isis. The race was won by Oxford by fourlengths, despite Cambridge being favourites. In 1989 Topolski and author Patrick Robinson's book about the events, '' True Blue: The Oxford Boat Race Mutiny'', was published. Seven years later, a film based on the book was released. Alison Gill, the then-president of the Oxford University Women's Boat Club, wrote '' The Yanks at Oxford'', in which she defended the Americans and claimed Topolski wrote ''True Blue'' in order to justify his own actions. River and Rowing Museum founder Chris Dodd described ''True Blue'' as "particularly offensive" yet also wrote " xfordlacked the power, the finesse—basically everything the pre-mutiny line-up had going for it."

2012 disruption

In the 2012 race, after almost three-quarters of the course had been rowed, the race was halted for over 30 minutes when a lone protester, Australian Trenton Oldfield, entered the water from Chiswick Eyot and deliberately swam between the boats near Chiswick Pier with the intention of protesting against spending cuts, and what he saw as the erosion of civil liberties and a growing culture of elitism within British society. Once he was spotted by assistant umpire Sir

Matthew Pinsent Sir Matthew Clive Pinsent, (; born 10 October 1970) is an English rower and broadcaster. During his rowing career, he won 10 world championship gold medals and four consecutive Olympic gold medals. Since retiring, he has worked as a sports b ...

, both boats were required to stop for safety reasons. Once restarted, the boats clashed and the oar of Oxford crewman Hanno Wienhausen was broken in half with the blade snapped off. The race umpire John Garrett judged the clash to be Oxford's fault and allowed the race to continue. Cambridge quickly took the lead and went on to win the race. The Oxford crew entered a final appeal to the umpire which was quickly rejected; and Cambridge were confirmed as winners in the first race since 1849 that a crew had won the boat race without an official recorded winning time. After the end of the race Oxford's bow man, Alex Woods, received emergency treatment after collapsing in the boat from exhaustion. Because of the circumstances, the post-race celebrations by the winning Cambridge crew were unusually muted and the planned award ceremony was cancelled.

2020 cancellation

Like other sports events, the 2020 boat race was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

2021 relocation

The 2021 races were held on the

Great Ouse The River Great Ouse () is a river in England, the longest of several British rivers called "Ouse". From Syresham in Northamptonshire, the Great Ouse flows through Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk to drain into the Wa ...

Ely Ely or ELY may refer to: Places Ireland * Éile, a medieval kingdom commonly anglicised Ely * Ely Place, Dublin, a street United Kingdom * Ely, Cambridgeshire, a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England ** Ely Cathedral ** Ely Rural District, a ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

, over a shorter straight course of . This was due to the safety issues of Hammersmith Bridge, as well as restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic still being in force. The 2022 Boat Race returned to the Thames and the traditional course between Putney and Mortlake.

Sinkings

In the 1912 race, run in extremely poor weather and high winds, both crews sank. Oxford rowed into a significant early lead, but began taking on water, and made for the bank shortly after passing Hammersmith Bridge to empty the boat out: although they attempted to restart, the race was abandoned at this point because Cambridge had also sunk while passing the Harrods Depository. Cambridge also sank in 1859 and in 1978, while Oxford did so in 1925, and again in 1951; the 1951 race was re-rowed on the following Monday. In 1984 the Cambridge boat sank after colliding with a

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels. ...

before the start of the race, which was then rescheduled for the next day. In 2016, at Barnes Bridge, Cambridge women began to sink but gradually recovered to complete the race.

History of the women's race

From the first women's event in 1927, the Women's Boat Race was run separately from the men's event until 2015. There was significant inequality between the two events. Changes in recent years, arising significantly from the sponsorship of Newton Investment Management, have made the two races more equal: both events have been held together on The Tideway since 2015, and there are new training facilities for the women, comparable to those of the men, since 2016.

Courses

The 1st Boat Race took place at

in 1829 but the event was subsequently officially held along the Thames, mostly the Championship Course, until the 2021 race which was moved to the

both due the

and safety concerns under Hammersmith Bridge. Unofficial races were held during the Second World War at various locations.

The Championship Course

The Championship Course is 4 miles and 374 yards (6.779 km) from

, passing

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

and Barnes, following an S shape, east to west. The start and finish are marked by the

University Boat Race Stones The University Boat Race Stones are two tapered, granite cuboids on southern embankments of the Tideway in west London, one 129 metres west of Putney Bridge and the other at Mortlake, 112 metres east of Chiswick Bridge. The stones define ...

on the south bank. The clubs' presidents toss a coin (the 1829 sovereign) before the race for the right to choose which side of the river (station) they will row on: their decision is based on the weather, the speed of the flood tide, and how the three bends in the course might favour their crew's pace. The north station ('

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbourin ...

') has the advantage of the first and last bends, and the south (' Surrey') station the other, longer bend. During the race the coxes compete for the fastest current, which lies at the deepest part of the river, frequently leading to clashes of blades and warnings from the umpire. A crew that gets a lead of more than a boat's length can cut in front of their opponent, making it extremely difficult for the trailing crew to gain the lead. For this reason the tactics of the race are generally to go fast early on, and it is unusual for the leading crew to change after halfway (though this happened in 2003, 2007 and 2010). Save for three Victorian instances, each race is rowed westwards, but starts during the incoming (known as flood) tide, so that the crews are rowing with, not against, the fast stream. At the conclusion of the race, the boats come ashore at the shared shingle of the two boat clubs in Chiswick, a few metres west of Chiswick Bridge. Here, shortly after the race, the Boat Race trophy is presented to the winning crew. It is traditional for the winning side to throw their cox into the Thames to celebrate their achievement.

Unofficial courses

In addition, there were four unofficial boat races held during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

away from London. None of those competing were awarded blues, and these races are not included in the official list: *1940, 1945 –

*1943 –

Sandford-on-Thames Sandford-on-Thames, also referred to as simply Sandford, is a village and Parish Council beside the River Thames in Oxfordshire just south of Oxford. The village is just west of the A4074 road between Oxford and Henley. Early history In 1086 ...

*1944 –

Littleport Littleport is a large village in East Cambridgeshire, in the Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. It lies about north-east of Ely and south-east of Welney, on the Bedford Level South section of the River Great Ouse, close to Burnt Fen and ...

to Queen Adelaide

Women's Boat Race courses

During its early years (1927 to 1976 with several gaps) the Women's Boat Race alternated between

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 Middl ...

in Oxford and the

River Cam The River Cam () is the main river flowing through Cambridge in eastern England. After leaving Cambridge, it flows north and east before joining the River Great Ouse to the south of Ely, at Pope's Corner. The total distance from Cambridge to ...

in Cambridge over a distance of about 1,000 yards. On two occasions, in 1929 and 1935, the race was held on the Tideway in London. Unlike the men's race, the official women's race continued in most years through the Second World War. From 1977 to 2014, the Women's Boat Race was usually held on a 2000-metre course as part of the

Henley Boat Races The Henley Boat Races were a series of annual Rowing (sport), rowing races between various crews representing the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. The event included the The Lightweight Boat Races, Lightweight Men's Boa ...

. However in 2013 the entire Henley Boat Races were 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 ...

due to rough water at Henley. In 2021, the race was held on the River Great Ouse from Ely, Cambridgeshire along with the men's race.

Media coverage

The race first appeared in a short film of the 1895 race entitled "

The Oxford and Cambridge University Boat Race The Boat Race is an annual set of rowing races between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club, traditionally rowed between open-weight eights on the River Thames in London, England. There are separate men ...

", directed and produced by

Birt Acres Birt Acres (23 July 1854 – 27 December 1918) was an American and British photographer and film pioneer. Among his contributions to the early film industry are the first working 35 mm camera in Britain (Wales), and ''Birtac'', the firs ...

. Consisting of a single shot of around a minute, it was the first film to be commercially screened in the UK outside London. The event is now a British national institution, and is televised live each year. The women's race has received television coverage and grown in popularity since 2015, attracting a television audience of 4.8 million viewers that year.

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced t ...

first covered the men's race in 1938, the BBC having covered it on radio since 1927. For the 2005 to 2009 races, the BBC lost the television rights to ITV, after 66 years, but it returned to the corporation in 2010. Ethnographer Mark de Rond described the training, selection, and victory of the 2007 Cambridge crew in ''The Last Amateurs: To Hell and Back with the Cambridge Boat Race Crew''.

Competitors

Men's race

Many notable individuals have participated in the Boat Race, including those of an Olympic standard. Four-time Olympic gold medallist Sir Matthew Pinsent, rowed for Oxford in 1990, 1991, and 1993. Olympic gold medallists from

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

– James Cracknell (Cambridge 2019), Tim Foster (Oxford 1997), Luka Grubor (Oxford 1997),

Andrew Lindsay Andrew James Ronald Lindsay, (born 25 March 1977) is a British former Olympic medal-winning rower and the CEO of Telecom Plus, which owns The Utility Warehouse. Early life Lindsay was educated at Eton College, where he first started rowing, ...

(Oxford 1997, 1998, 1999) and

Kieran West Kieran Martin West (born 18 September 1977) is a retired English rower and Olympic champion who represented Great Britain. Education Born in Kingston upon Thames, West was educated at Dulwich College, in south-east London, before going to Ch ...

(Cambridge 1999, 2001, 2006, 2007),

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

– Ed Coode (Oxford 1998), and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

– Jake Wetzel (Oxford 2006) and Malcolm Howard (Oxford 2013, 2014) have also rowed for their university. Other famous participants include Andrew Irvine (Oxford 1922, 1923), Lord Snowdon (Cambridge 1950), Colin Moynihan (Oxford 1977), actor

Hugh Laurie James Hugh Calum Laurie (; born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and musician. He first gained recognition for his work as one half of the comedy double act Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry. The two men acted together in a ...

(Cambridge 1980), TV presenter Dan Snow (Oxford 1999, 2000, 2001) and

Conspicuous Gallantry Cross The Conspicuous Gallantry Cross (CGC) is a second level military decoration of the British Armed Forces. Created in 1993 and first awarded in 1995, it was instituted after a review of the British honours system to remove distinctions of rank in ...

recipient

Robin Bourne-Taylor Robin Edwin Geoffrey Bourne-Taylor, CGC (born 22 July 1981) is a former British officer and sportsman. He is a three times Boat Race winner, and for his service in Afghanistan he was awarded the second-highest British gallantry medal. He is ma ...

(Oxford 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005).

Academic status

Oxford University does not offer sport scholarships at entry; student-athletes are not admitted differently to any other students and must meet the academic requirements of the university, with sport having a neutral effect on any application. Likewise, bursaries and scholarship opportunities for athletes at the University of Cambridge are only open to those students who have already been admitted to the University on academic merit. In order to protect the status of the race as a competition between genuine students, the Cambridge University Blues Committee in July 2007 refused to award a blue to 2006 and 2007 Cambridge oarsman

Thorsten Engelmann Thorsten Engelmann (born 20 July 1981 in East Berlin, East Germany) is a German rower. Engelmann started rowing at age 9 because his father was the president of a rowing club in Berlin. He continued training while earning his pre-diploma in econom ...

, as he did not complete his academic course and instead returned to the German national rowing team to prepare for the Beijing Olympics. This has caused a debate about a change of rules, and one suggestion is that only students who are enrolled in courses lasting at least two years should be eligible to race.

Standard of the men's crews

According to British Olympic gold medallist Martin Cross, Boat Race crews of the early 1980s were viewed as "a bit of a joke" by some international-level rowers of the time. However, their standard has improved substantially since then. In 2007 Cambridge were entered in the London

Head of the River Race The Head of the River Race (HORR) is an against-the-clock ('processional') rowing race held annually on the River Thames in London, England between eights, other such races being the Schools' Head of the River Race, Women's Head of the River Rac ...

, where they should have been measured directly against the best crews in Britain and beyond. However the event was called off after several crews were sunk or swamped in rough conditions. Cambridge were fastest of the few crews who did complete the course.

Sponsorship

;Men's race The Boat Race has been sponsored since 1976, with the money spent mainly on equipment and travel during the training period. The sponsors do not have their logos on the boats, but now tend to have their logo on kit during the race. They also provide branded training gear and have some naming rights. Boat Race sponsors have included

Ladbrokes Ladbrokes Coral is a British gambling company founded in 1886. Its product offering includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. The business is split into two divisions, UK and International. UK operations ar ...

Beefeater Gin Beefeater Gin is a brand of gin owned by Pernod Ricard and bottled and distributed in the United Kingdom. Beefeater remained in the Burrough's family control until 1987. It is a 47% or 44% alcohol product (94 proof) in the US, and a 40% alcoh ...

, Aberdeen Asset Management, and the

business process outsourcing Outsourcing is an agreement in which one company hires another company to be responsible for a planned or existing activity which otherwise is or could be carried out internally, i.e. in-house, and sometimes involves transferring employees and ...

company Xchanging for a few years until 2012. Since 2010 the deal has included the crews agreeing to wear the logo on their race kit for more funding. Prior to this, all sponsorship marks had been scrupulously discarded on boating for the competition, on amateurist, ‘Corinthian’ values but perhaps also as before televised races a single sponsor for both crews was unlikely. The sponsor has extended to being a "title sponsor" (titular, official race name) since such a longer name of the race was founded in 2010, the first three of which thus becoming ''The Xchanging Boat Race''. In 2013 the sponsor

BNY Mellon The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, commonly known as BNY Mellon, is an American investment banking services holding company headquartered in New York City. BNY Mellon was formed from the merger of The Bank of New York and the Mellon Finan ...

took over and it became the BNY Mellon Boat Race. From 2016 to 2018, BNY Mellon and Newton Investment management donated the title sponsorship to

Cancer Research UK Cancer Research UK (CRUK) is the world's largest independent cancer research organization. It is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man, and was formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and t ...

. ;Women's race The

Women's Boat Race 2011 The 66th Women's Boat Race took place on 27 March 2011. The race was conducted as part of the Henley Boat Races and took place at Henley-on-Thames. Oxford won by one length in a time of 6 minutes 24 seconds, their fourth consecutive win. The ...

was the first to be sponsored by Newton Investment Management, a subsidiary of BNY Mellon. Previously the crews had no sponsorship and were self funded. Newton have remained the sponsor since then and increased the amount of funding significantly. The Boat Races In 2021 the Men's and Women's Boat Races came under the same sponsorship for the first time. Gemini, a cryptocurrency exchange founded by 2010 Oxford Blues

Cameron Cameron may refer to: People * Clan Cameron, a Scottish clan * Cameron (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Cameron (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) ;Mononym * Cam'ron (born 197 ...

and Tyler Winklevoss, took over as title sponsor and it became the Gemini Boat Race.

Other boat races involving Oxford and Cambridge

Although the Boat Race crews are the best-known, the universities both field reserve crews. The reserves race takes place on the same day as the main race. The Oxford men's reserve crew is called ''Isis'' (after

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 Middl ...

, a section of the River Thames which passes through Oxford), and the Cambridge reserve men's crew is called ''Goldie'' (the name comes from rower and Boat Club president John Goldie, 1849–1896, after whom the Goldie Boathouse is named). The women's reserve crews are ''Osiris ''(Oxford) and ''Blondie ''(Cambridge). A veterans' boat race, usually held on a weekday before the main Boat Race, takes place on the Thames between Putney and Hammersmith. The two universities also field

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight b ...

men's and women's crews. These squads race each other in eights as part of the Lightweight Boat Races. The first men's race took place in 1975, being joined by a women's race in 1984. Both races are currently held on the 4.2-mile (6.8 km) Championship Course from Putney to Mortlake, although they previously formed part of the

, along with various other rowing races between the two universities including the openweight women's Boat Race until 2015. Competitors in the event have gone on to compete at international and Olympic levels, as well as represent their universities at openweight level. For the men's race the average weight of the crew must be 70 kg (154.3 lb / 11 st 0.3 lb), with no rower weighing over 72.5 kg (159.8 lb / 11 st 5.8 lb). For the women's race no rower can exceed 59 kg (130.0 lb / 9 st 4 lb). At Oxford, both the men's and women's lightweight boats are awarded a full

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...

. At Cambridge the women's boat is awarded a full blue, whereas the men's boat receives a half-blue.

In popular culture

''Boat race'' became such a popular phrase that it was incorporated into

Cockney Cockney is an accent and dialect of English, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by working-class and lower middle-class Londoners. The term "Cockney" has traditionally been used to describe a person from the East End, or ...

rhyming slang Rhyming slang is a form of slang word construction in the English language. It is especially prevalent among Cockneys in England, and was first used in the early 19th century in the East End of London; hence its alternative name, Cockney rhymi ...

, for "face". In the stories of P. G. Wodehouse, several characters allude to Boat Race night as a time of riotous celebration (presumably after the victory of the character's '' alma mater''). This frequently sees the participants in trouble with the authorities. In '' Piccadilly Jim'', it is mentioned that Lord Datchett was thrown out of the Empire Music Hall every year on Boat Race night while he was an undergraduate.

Bertie Wooster Bertram Wilberforce Wooster is a fictional character in the comedic Jeeves stories created by British author P. G. Wodehouse. An amiable English gentleman and one of the "idle rich", Bertie appears alongside his valet, Jeeves, whose intelligen ...

mentions he is "rather apt to let myself go a bit" on Boat Race night and several times describes being fined five pounds at "Bosher Street" (possibly a reference to

Bow Street Magistrates' Court Bow Street Magistrates' Court became one of the most famous magistrates' court in England. Over its 266-year existence it occupied various buildings on Bow Street in Central London, immediately north-east of Covent Garden. It closed in 2006 and ...

) for stealing a policeman's helmet one year; the beginning of the first episode of the television series ''

Jeeves and Wooster ''Jeeves and Wooster'' is a British comedy-drama television series adapted by Clive Exton from P. G. Wodehouse's Jeeves#Jeeves canon, "Jeeves" stories. It aired on the ITV (TV network), ITV network from 22 April 1990 to 20 June 1993, with the ...

'' shows his court appearance on this occasion. In the short story '' Jeeves and the Chump Cyril'', he describes having to repeatedly bail out of jail a friend who is arrested every year on Boat Race night. In '' Missee Lee'' by

Arthur Ransome Arthur Michell Ransome (18 January 1884 – 3 June 1967) was an English author and journalist. He is best known for writing and illustrating the ''Swallows and Amazons'' series of children's books about the school-holiday adventures of childr ...

(one of the

Swallows and Amazons series The ''Swallows and Amazons'' series is a series of twelve children's adventure novels by English author Arthur Ransome. Set in the interwar period, the novels involve group adventures by children, mainly in the school holidays and mainly in E ...

of children's books) Captain Flint (who had dropped out of Oxford) tells Missee Lee he was in gaol once on ''Boat-race night. High spirits. A fancy for policemen's helmets.'' When Missee Lee says ''Camblidge won and evellybody happy'' he replies ''Not that year, ma'am. We were the happy ones that year''. In the Jennings books by Anthony Buckeridge the protagonist's teacher Mr Wilkins is a former Cambridge rowing blue. The 1969 film '' The Magic Christian'' features the Boat Race, as Sir Guy makes use of the Oxford crew in one of his elaborate pranks. Actor and comedian

Matt Berry Matthew Charles Berry (born 2 May 1974) is an English actor, comedian, musician, and writer. He is best known for his roles in comedy series such as ''The IT Crowd'', '' Garth Marenghi's Darkplace'', '' The Mighty Boosh'', '' Snuff Box'', ''Wh ...

wrote and narrated an irreverent, alternative history of the Boat Race for the BBC in 2015.

Statistics

Men's race *Number of wins: Cambridge, 85; Oxford, 80 (1 dead heat) *Most consecutive victories: Cambridge, 13 (1924–36) *Course record: Cambridge, 1998 – 16 min 19 sec; average speed *Narrowest winning margin, excluding the dead heat: 1 foot (Oxford, 2003) *Largest winning margin: 35 lengths (Cambridge, 1839) *Reserve wins: Cambridge (Goldie), 29; Oxford (Isis), 24 Women's race *Number of wins: Cambridge, 45; Oxford, 30 *Course record: Cambridge, 2022 – 18 min 22 sec (faster, in different conditions, than the Cambridge men's Blue Boat in 2016 and the Oxford men's in 2014) *Reserve wins: Cambridge (Blondie), 27; Oxford (Osiris), 20

Results

;Men's race There have been 167 official races in 192 years. Source: ;Women's race There have been 75 races in 94 years.

Notes

References

External links

*
Watch the 2007 Boat Race

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boat Race 1829 establishments in England Annual events in London Mortlake, London Putney Recurring sporting events established in 1829 Rowing on the River Thames Regattas on the River Thames University rowing competitions in the United Kingdom