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The 124th Boat Race between crews from 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 ...
and the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...
took place 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 R ...
on 25 March 1978. Umpired by former Cambridge rower
James Crowden James Gee Pascoe Crowden CVO (14 November 1927 – 24 September 2016) was an English former oarsman who competed for Great Britain in the 1952 Summer Olympics. He was Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire. Crowden was born in Tilney All Saints, ne ...
, Oxford won in a time of 18 minutes and 58 seconds. The race was complicated by bad weather, and when faced with choppy water, a strong headwind and horizontal, driving rain, the Cambridge boat, which lacked splashboards, took on water and sank. It was the fifth time a boat had sunk during the event. In the reserve race, Cambridge's Goldie beat Oxford's Isis by lengths. Cambridge won the 33rd
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 ...
.


Background

The 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's ...
is a side-by-side rowing competition between 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 ...
and the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...
. First held in 1829, the competition is a race along 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 R ...
in southwest London. The rivalry is a major point of honour between the two universities and is followed throughout the United Kingdom and worldwide. Oxford went into the race as reigning champions, having won the 1977 race by seven lengths, with Cambridge leading overall with 68 victories to Oxford's 54 (excluding the "dead heat" of 1877). The 1978 race was sponsored by
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 are c ...
, while the
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...
had paid between £10,000 and £20,000 to televise the event. During training for the race, Oxford had sunk, taking on water in the inclement weather, and had decided to fit splashboards to their boat, while Cambridge opted to leave their boat unchanged. Prior to this year's event, there had been four sinkings in the history of the race. Cambridge sank in
1859 Events January–March * January 21 – José Mariano Salas (1797–1867) becomes Conservative interim President of Mexico. * January 24 ( O. S.) – Wallachia and Moldavia are united under Alexandru Ioan Cuza (Romania since 1866, final ...
, Oxford sank in
1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Itali ...
and
1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...
, and both crews sank in 1912. The first
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 ...
took place in 1927, but did not become an annual fixture until the 1960s. Up until 2014, the contest was conducted 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 ...
, 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

Oxford's crew contained three Old Blues in Moran, Shealy and the former lightweight world champion Andy Michelmore, while Cambridge's boat featured five returning rowers in Bathurst, Clegg, Horton, Ross and Cooke-Yarborough. The race also marked the debut of
Boris Rankov Nikolas Boris Rankov (born 9 August 1954) is a British professor of Roman history at Royal Holloway, University of London. He is a former rower and current umpire. Early life, education and family Rankov was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, th ...
, who went on to represent Oxford in five further races. The Cambridge crew was marginally heavier per rower, averaging more than Oxford.Dodd, p. 347


Race description

Oxford won the toss and elected to start from the Surrey station. After a false start, the race commenced at 2.45 p.m. in reasonable weather conditions, and Oxford took a one-length lead to
Hammersmith Bridge Hammersmith Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the River Thames in west London. It links the southern part of Hammersmith in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, on the north side of the river, and Barnes in the London Borough ...
in a record time of 6 minutes 24 seconds. As the crews turned into the Surrey bend, conditions drastically worsened with a strong headwind and "horizontal rain driving into them". Entering choppy water and in an attempt to push past Oxford, Cambridge made their challenge at
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 ...
but began to take on water. Within seconds the boat started to sink; the Oxford crew realised the contest was over and rowed carefully to the finish in a time of 18 minutes 58 seconds. It was Oxford's third victory in a row, and their fourth in the past five years. In the reserve race, Cambridge's
Goldie Clifford Joseph Price MBE (born 19 September 1965), better known as Goldie, is a British music producer and DJ. Initially gaining exposure for his work as a graffiti artist, Goldie became well known for his pioneering role as a musician in t ...
beat Oxford's Isis by lengths, and in the 33rd running of 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 ...
, Cambridge also triumphed.


Reaction

Cambridge boat club president Mark Horton immediately challenged the Oxford president Andy Michelmore to a re-row; the challenge was declined. Horton recalls "It was hard to take and is still a painful memory. The Boat Race was supposed to be one of the proudest moments of my life". Cambridge's Mark Bathurst was indignant about the preparation of the boat: "we had taken to the water without fitting any plashboards– an act of monumental idiocy". Oxford cox Fail told ''The Guardian'' "I was surprised when I heard that Cambridge had sunk. If you keep going steadily you forget about water and ride it out." Cambridge's sinking was featured as the 79th in
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
's
100 Greatest Sporting Moments ''100 Greatest'' is a long-running TV strand on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom that has been broadcasting from 11 September 1999 to 10 October 2015, originating in Tyne Tees Television’s Factual Features department under Executive Producer Ma ...
.


References

Bibliography * Notes


External links


Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boat Race 1978 The Boat Race 1978 in English sport 1978 in rowing 1978 sports events in London March 1978 sports events in the United Kingdom