The 69th

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 on 30 March 2014. The race, between crews representing

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 House ...

and

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 ...

, was umpired by Judith Packer. Cambridge's crew, the heavier of the two, was entirely British, while Oxford's boat included rowers from Canada, Switzerland and the United States. Oxford won by four lengths in a time of 5 minutes 50 seconds, their second consecutive win. The victory took the overall record in the event to 41–28 in Cambridge's favour. It was the last time the race would be conducted over a straight race 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 ...

Background

The

is a side-by-side rowing competition between eights from

and the

that has taken place since

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 * ...

. Oxford went into the race as champions, having won the previous year's race by one and three-quarter lengths; Cambridge led 41–27 overall. It was the last time the race would be conducted as part of the

, along a stretch of 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 ...

referred to as the Straight Course which is used for the

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It differs from the thre ...

since 1924. The 2015 race would be conducted 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 men's race. Cambridge's number five, Catherine Foot, remarked "After training, I step back and think 'wow, I'm part of this incredible tradition'. There is nothing else I'd rather be doing than training for this event", while Oxford's

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

Amber de Vere said "All the training has been leading up to this weekend. Next year is definitely exciting and it has added something to training, but as a crew, we're only thinking about Sunday." This year's race was umpired by Judith Packer and was sponsored by Newton Investment Management, a subsidiary of

The Bank of New York 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 Financ ...

, for the third successive year.

Crews

During the build-up to the race, the two universities sent trial boats to race on 19 December 2013. For the first time in the history of the competition, this 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 ...

on part of the Championship Course. The two Cambridge boats were named ''Nudge Nudge'' and ''Wink Wink'' (with a third reserve boat called ''Say No More''), while Oxford's trialists rowed in ''Cleopatra'' and ''Boudicca''. Both trials were overseen by Olympic bronze medallist

Sarah Winckless Sarah Katharine Winckless (born 18 October 1973) is a British former rower. She won a bronze medal in Double sculls with her partner Elise Laverick at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, and was twice world champion, in 2005 and 2006. Early life an ...

. The Cambridge crew weighed an average of per rower, more than their opponents. Three members of Oxford's 2013 crew returned to race in 2014: Alice Carrington-Windo, Maxie Scheske and Anastasia Chitty. Cambridge's boat included two double Blues in Caroline Reid and Holly Game, while four other members of the crew had taken part in the previous year's race. Every member of the Cambridge crew was British, while Oxford's boat included Canadian Elizabeth Fence, German/Britons Carrington-Windo and Scheske, Nadine Graedel Iberg from Switzerland and American Laura Savarese (who had rowed in the

Harvard–Yale Regatta The Harvard–Yale Regatta or Yale-Harvard Boat Race (often abbreviated The Race) is an annual rowing race between the men's heavyweight rowing crews of Harvard University and Yale University. First contested in 1852, it has been held annually s ...

for

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

on four occasions).

Race

Cambridge won the toss and elected to start from the

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

side, handing the

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

station to Oxford. At 3p.m., umpire Palmer dropped the flag to start the race. Both crews went off

rating A rating is an evaluation or assessment of something, in terms of quality, quantity, or some combination of both. Rating or ratings may also refer to: Business and economics * Credit rating, estimating the credit worthiness of an individual, c ...

40 strokes per minute and after the first Oxford were half a length ahead. By the time the crews passed the

Upper Thames Rowing Club Upper Thames Rowing Club is an English rowing club. It has a large clubhouse at Remenham in Berkshire, on the River Thames near the town of Henley-on-Thames and is set back by its lawn frontage from the first half of the course of Henley Royal ...

, Oxford's lead was over a length. Cambridge made a series of pushes; both crews were warned by the umpire to avoid a collision. Oxford continued to extend their lead to win by four lengths, the largest winning margin since the 2010 race. Their time was 5 minutes 50 seconds, six seconds slower than the record time set by Oxford in the 2006 race. The victory was Oxford's second consecutive win and their sixth in the last seven; it took the overall record in the event to 41–28 in Cambridge's favour. The former Oxford

cox Cox may refer to: * Cox (surname), including people with the name Companies * Cox Enterprises, a media and communications company ** Cox Communications, cable provider ** Cox Media Group, a company that owns television and radio stations ** ...

Rachel Quarrell, writing in ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' stated that the race "was won in storming style" and suggested the contest was over within the first two minutes. 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 ...

References

External links

Official websiteVideo of the race
{{The Boat Race Women's Boat Race

Boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on inl ...

2014 in English sport March 2014 sports events in the United Kingdom 2014 in women's rowing 2014 sports events in London

Background

Crews

Race

See also

References

External links