The 128th Boat Race took place on 27 March 1982. Held annually, the Boat Race is a side-by-side rowing race between crews from the Universities of

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

along the

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

. Oxford won by lengths, securing their seventh consecutive victory. Their number five,

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 ...

, won a record fifth Boat Race as a rower, and Oxford's Clay brothers became the first twins to win the event. In the reserve race, Oxford's Isis beat 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 th ...

by lengths, and in 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 were victorious.

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 ...

(sometimes referred to as the "Dark Blues") and 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 ...

(sometimes referred to as the "Light Blues"). First held in 1829, the race takes 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 rowing races, particularly the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. The course is on the tidal reaches of th ...

on the

in southwest London. The rivalry is a major point of honour between the two universities and followed throughout the United Kingdom and broadcast worldwide. Oxford went into the race as reigning champions, having beaten Cambridge by eight lengths in the previous year's race. However Cambridge held the overall lead, with 68 victories to Oxford's 58 (excluding the "dead heat" of 1877).Dodd, p. 348 The first

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. During the pre-race preparations, the Cambridge crew struck a floating

railway sleeper A railroad tie, crosstie (American English), railway tie (Canadian English) or railway sleeper (Australian and British English) is a rectangular support for the rails in railroad tracks. Generally laid perpendicular to the rails, ties transfer ...

near

Chiswick Eyot Chiswick Eyot is a narrow, uninhabited ait (river island) of the Thames. It is a tree- and reed-covered rise on the Tideway by Chiswick, in London, England and is overlooked by Chiswick Mall and by some of the Barnes riverside on the far b ...

, damaging their boat, which needed repair before the race. Oxford's crew suffered illness in the days leading up the race, in particular the president Nick Conington who was moved from stroke to bow to reduce the chances of a possible recurrence of glandular fever.

Crews

The Oxford crew weighed an average of just below 14 st (88.7 kg) per rower, and had a per man advantage over Cambridge. Oxford saw four former

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 ...

return, including the first female cox in Sue Brown. Cambridge's crew contained a single Blue in boat club president Roger Stephens. Despite retiring from rowing,

, a junior fellow at St Hugh's was persuaded back into the crew by the Oxford boat club president Nick Conington. Rankov was rowing in his fifth consecutive Boat Race, alongside Steve Foster whom he supervised in

classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

. Oxford's crew also contained the Clay twins, Robert and Hugh. Boat Race 2015 - Boris Rankov

Race

River conditions were calm: Jim Railton of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' described the course as "a smooth and flat Queen's highway from Putney to Mortlake." Michael Muir-Smith was the umpire for the race, for which Oxford were "heavily favoured". They won the toss and elected to start from the Surrey station. A good start from the Light Blues saw them a length ahead by

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 ...

and passing the Mile Post one second ahead of Oxford. From

Harrods Furniture Depository The Harrods Furniture Depository buildings flank the south bank of the River Thames near Hammersmith Bridge in Barnes, London, built on the site of an old soap factory in 1894 as a storage centre for the larger items that could not be taken into ...

, Oxford fought their way back into contention with cox Brown forcing her counterpart Bernstein to steer towards the centre of the river. Both crews shot

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 ...

a second apart, with Oxford quickly gaining a length's lead and a clear water advantage. Cambridge were nine seconds down by Chiswick Steps and a further second behind 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 ...

. Oxford passed the finishing post eleven seconds and lengths ahead of Cambridge, in a time of 18 minutes 21 seconds, to record their seventh consecutive victory. In the reserve race, Isis beat Goldie by lengths and five seconds in a time of 18 minutes 43 seconds to record their third consecutive victory. In the 37th running of the

, Cambridge triumphed, their first win in three years.

Reaction

Rankov, who became the first rower to win five consecutive Boat Races (C. R. W. Tottenham had won five as a cox in the 1860s), admitted, "The beginning was all right. We expected them to be up on us before Hammersmith. But the burn we did there was exhausting. It was really hard just to keep in front for the rest of the way." Defeated Cambridge cox Bernstein said, "I can't wait to get back at them next year", while his stroke Simon Harris stated, "we will have six of this crew left next year. That's a good base". The Clays became the first twins to win a Boat Race.

References

Notes Bibliography *

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boat Race 1982 The Boat Race 1982 in English sport 1982 in rowing March 1982 sports events in the United Kingdom 1982 sports events in London