The Women's Boat Race is an annual
rowing
Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...
race between
Cambridge University Women's Boat Club
Cambridge University Women's Boat Club (CUWBC) was the rowing club for women at the University of Cambridge. CUWBC fielded both a lightweight eight that races against Oxford at the Henley Boat Races, and two openweight eights that race at the W ...
and
Oxford University Women's Boat Club
Oxford University Women's Boat Club (OUWBC) is the rowing club for female rowers (and coxes of either sex) who are students at the University of Oxford. The club was founded in 1926 and is now based in Wallingford at the Fleming Boat Hous ...
. First rowed in 1927, the race has taken place annually since 1964. Since the
2015 race it has been rowed on the same day and course as the men's Boat Race on 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 London, taking place around Easter, and since 2018 the name "
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 ...
" has been applied to the combined event. The race is rowed in
eights and the cox can be of any
gender
Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures u ...
.
The course
The Course were a dance music act from the Netherlands. It consisted of DJ/producer Vincent Hendriks and vocalists Dewi Lopulalan and Irma Derby. 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 paris ...
to
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 centu ...
. Members of both crews are traditionally known as ''
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 ...
'' and each boat as a "
Blue Boat
The Blue Boat is the highest level boat representing the University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge in the universities' annual rowing races on the River Thames, The Boat Race and Women's Boat Race. As of 2016, the women's first VIII ...
", with Cambridge in light blue and Oxford dark blue. As of 2021 Cambridge have won the race 45 times and Oxford 30 times. Cambridge has led Oxford in cumulative wins since 1966. 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.
The
2019 race was won by Cambridge by five lengths.
History
Early years
The
first women's rowing event between Oxford and Cambridge was held on 15 March 1927 on
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 Middle ...
in Oxford.
This was not solely a race in the years up to 1935, the two boats were not on the river together and were judged on both their speed and their "steadiness, finish, rhythm and other matters of style". ''The Times'' reported that "large and hostile crowds gathered on the towpath" and ''The New York Times'' stated "a crowd of fully five thousand persons was on hand as a willing cheering section".
The race covered a distance of approximately over which the crews were judged on their style while rowing downstream and their speed while rowing back upstream.
Reports differ as to the judges' opinions on style: one suggests they failed to agree on a winner,
[ another indicates that they deemed the style of each crew to be equal.] As a result, the judges based their decision on speed:[ the race was won by Oxford in a time of 3 minutes 36 seconds, beating Cambridge by 15 seconds.]
The next event
Next may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film
* Next (1990 film), ''Next'' (1990 film), an animated short about William Shakespeare
* Next (2007 film), ''Next'' (2007 film), a sci-fi film starring Nicolas Cage
* ''Next: A Primer on Urban Paintin ...
in 1929 took place 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 ...
in London.[ At the 1935 race, after two intervening events, the crews took to the river together for the first time. Racing on the Thames in London Oxford's boat was sent off first with the Cambridge boat following thirty seconds later.] The 1936 race, held on The Isis, was the first to take place side by side.[ Later, the location alternated between 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 and The Isis, over a distance of about 1,000 yards. Unlike the men's race, the women's continued in most years through the Second World War.[
The Cambridge University Women's Boat Club was founded in 1941 when ]Girton College
Girton College is one of the Colleges of the University of Cambridge, 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college in Cambridge. In 1 ...
became the second women's college to cater for rowing. Until that year Cambridge was represented by Newnham College Boat Club
Newnham College Boat Club is the rowing club for members of Newnham College, Cambridge. The club has a year-round senior squad and invites all members of the college to learn to row by joining the novice squads during Michaelmas or Easter terms. ...
. The first ''blues'' were awarded in 1941 when CUWBC raced against Oxford University Women's Boat Club, which had been founded in 1926. All of the Cambridge rowers in 1941 were members of Newnham College
Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge.
The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicent ...
. The following year the first non-Newnham rower competed.
In training after the 1952 race, Oxford rowed over a weir
A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...
and was banned from the river. Both OUWBC and later CUWBC suffered from lack of funds and the race fell into abeyance. After a 12-year gap, the race restarted in 1964 and has been held annually since. The number of women rowers increased as more colleges started to admit women and reserve boats from each university began racing in 1966, the year after the men's reserve boats began racing. A second reserve race was run in 1968, and the reserves have raced annually since 1975. The women's reserve boats were later named Osiris (Oxford) and Blondie (Cambridge).
Henley Boat Races
In 1975 the men's lightweight race started 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 Buc ...
and the women's Boat race was relocated there in 1977 creating 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 ...
. At Henley the race took place over a distance of 2,000 metres.
The First VIII receive university blues
Melbourne University Football Club, often known simply as University, is an Australian rules football club based at the University of Melbourne. The club fields two teams, known as the "Blacks" and "Blues", who both compete in the Victorian Ama ...
, and is therefore more commonly known as the Blue Boat
The Blue Boat is the highest level boat representing the University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge in the universities' annual rowing races on the River Thames, The Boat Race and Women's Boat Race. As of 2016, the women's first VIII ...
, with Cambridge in light blue and Oxford dark blue. While the crew is all female, the cox can be male or female. The Second VIII receives university colours. The 2011 race was the first to be sponsored by Newton Investment Management, a subsidiary of 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 ...
. Previously the crews had no sponsorship and were self funded. Newton have remained the sponsor since then and increased the amount of funding significantly.[
For the 2013 race the entire Henley Boat Races was 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 Wi ...
because of flooding on the river, and they had also been moved in 2001, to the Holme Pierrepont National Watersports Centre
Holme Pierrepont Country Park, home of The National Water Sports Centre is located in the hamlet of Holme Pierrepont near Nottingham, England and on the River Trent. It is used for many different types of sports and has recently received sign ...
in Nottingham. Oxford won the 2014 race on the Henley course having beaten Cambridge by a distance of four boat lengths over two kilometres. A newly designed trophy, to replace the existing wooden shield, was awarded to the Oxford president by Olympic gold medallist Sophie Hosking
Sophie Hannah Marguerite Hosking MBE (born 25 January 1986) is a retired British rower.
Personal life
Hosking was born in 1986. The lightweight rower David Hosking is her father. She attended Kingston Grammar School in London, before completi ...
who had won the Women's lightweight double sculls at the 2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
.[
]
The Boat Races
On 11 April 2015 the 70th women's race was held 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 sport rowing, rowing races, particularly the The Boat Race, Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. The course ...
on the same day as the traditional male event for the first time. The course 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 paris ...
to 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 centu ...
.[ Rebranded as "The Boat Races", the combined event was broadcast on national television in UK, during which the audience for the women's race reached 4.8 million viewers.][ OUWBC won by six and half lengths that year.] The Reserves race also moved to the Championship Course in 2015, running on the day prior to the main race. In 2016 all four men's and women's boat races took place on the same day and course for the first time. 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 ...
were gifted the title sponsorship rights by BNY Mellon and Newton Investment Management, an arrangement which continued for the following two years. The 2016 race, again receiving national television coverage, was won by Oxford while the Cambridge boat nearly sank in the rough conditions.
The 2017 race took place on Sunday 2 April at 16:35 British Summer Time
During British Summer Time (BST), civil time in the United Kingdom is advanced one hour forward of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), in effect changing the time zone from UTC±00:00 to UTC+01:00, so that mornings have one hour less daylight, and ev ...
, an hour before the men's race. Cambridge won for the first time in five years after Oxford caught a crab at the start. They set a record on the new course, beating the time first set on this course in 2015 by over a minute. The time was faster, in different conditions, than the Cambridge men's Blue Boat in 2016 and the Oxford men's in 2014. Beginning with the 2018 race, the combined event was branded simply as "The Boat Race", consisting of "The Women's Boat Race" and "The Men's Boat Race". The 2019 race was Cambridge's third consecutive victory and the fourth consecutive victory for their reserve boat, Blondie.
The race has been won 45 times by Cambridge and 30 times by Oxford, with Cambridge leading Oxford in cumulative wins since 1966. The reserves race has been won 28 times by Cambridge and 20 times by Oxford, with Cambridge leading in cumulative wins since the inception of the race.
Results
Women's Boat Race
* Cambridge: 45 wins
* Oxford: 30 wins
Notes
– The events until 1935 were not run solely as races, but were also judged on style merit marks. The crews were not allowed to be on the river at the same time so each eight rowed separately downstream and were judged on style. They then rowed back upstream to record a time.
– The course was shortened in 2007 due to rough water during the Henley Boat Races. It was reduced from to less than with the start between the Upper Thames Rowing Club and Old Blades.
Women's Reserves (Osiris vs Blondie)
* Cambridge: 28 wins
* Oxford: 20 wins
Sources:
See also
* Oxford–Cambridge rivalry
Rivalry between the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge is a phenomenon going back many centuries. During most of that time, they were the only two universities in England and Wales, making the rivalry more intense than it is now.
The Universi ...
* Varsity match
A varsity match is a fixture (especially of a sporting event or team) between two university teams, particularly Oxford and Cambridge. The Scottish Varsity rugby match between the University of St Andrews and the University of Edinburgh at Murray ...
References
External links
*
The Boat Race course visualization on Google Earth/Maps
The Telegraph
The story of the women's race
BBC Sport video
1927 race footage
British Pathé
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boat Race
1927 establishments in England
Recurring sporting events established in 1927
Annual events in London
Rowing on the River Thames
Putney