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 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 ...

; Oxford also won the Women's race.

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 an annual competition between 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 ...

. First held in 1829, the competition is a race 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 ...

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 Aberdeen Asset Management was an international investment management group, managing assets for both institutions and private investors from offices around the world. Its head office was in Aberdeen, Scotland. The company was listed on the Lon ...

for the third consecutive year. 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. 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

Despite weighing just over less per man than their opponents, Cambridge were the pre-race favourites. 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 St Paul's Girls' School is an independent day school for girls, aged 11 to 18, located in Brook Green, Hammersmith, in West London, England. History St Paul's Girls' School was founded by the Worshipful Company of Mercers in 1904, using part o ...

, so both were familiar with the course. Oxford's crew contained two American international rowers in Dan Perkins and Luke McGee, and Gerritjan Eggenkamp, 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. With a stroke rate of 51, Oxford took an early lead, but Cambridge pulled level as the crews passed

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 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 br ...

said of the race "it truly was amazing". Cambridge coach

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...

was generous in defeat: "Credit to Oxford. They did an awesome job and took their chance. It was a fantastic race", while Oxford's coach Sean Bowden said "I believed that if we could get through Barnes Bridge well we could still do it. They were rowing so well and I knew how much they wanted it."

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 ''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 ...

'' 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