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 , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. The club was founded in 1926 and is now based in Wallingford at the Fleming Boat House, along with OUBC, OUWLRC and

OULRC Oxford University Lightweight Rowing Club (OULRC) is the university rowing club for lightweight men at the University of Oxford which selects crews to race against Cambridge University Boat Club in the Lightweight Boat Races at the end of ...

. The training season runs from September through to July, with the major event, the Women's Boat Race against

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 ...

(CUWBC), happening in March or April. Up until 2015 the Women's Boat Race had taken place over 2000m as part of the Henley Boat Races on the Henley Reach. In 2015, for the first time, the Women's Boat Race took place on the 6.8 km

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 ...

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 ...

, and was televised on the BBC alongside the Men's Boat Race.

History

The original challenge between the Oxford and Cambridge University boat clubs was issued in 1829. As a result, two men's eights raced on the river 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 Buckin ...

. In 1836 the race was moved to the

in London, and it has remained there ever since. At this time rowing was not seen as an appropriate sport for a lady. However, towards the end of the century attitudes began to change. The two universities caught onto the trend a few decades later and OUWBC was formed in May 1926. Following on from this the 'Ladies' Boat Race' was founded in 1927. The first races took place 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 and took the form of a time and style contest, since the Principals of the women's colleges disapproved of racing. The OUWBC was disbanded for financial reasons in 1953 but re-formed in 1964. The races were held alternately on The Isis and The Cam and in 1975 a 2nd VIII race was added. In 1977 the 'Women's Boat Race' was invited to join the men's lightweights at Henley and so the ' Henley Boat Races' were established. At this time, the women's reserve race crews were named 'Osiris' (Oxford) and 'Blondie' (Cambridge) to parallel the men's reserves 'Isis' and 'Goldie'. From 1977 to 2014 the Women's Boat Race continued to be held at

Henley Henley may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Henley, Dorset, a location * Henley, Gloucestershire, a location * Henley-on-Thames, a town in South Oxfordshire, England ** Henley (UK Parliament constituency) ** Henley Rural District, a former ru ...

over 2000m (excluding 2013 where the race 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 ...

due to flooding).

Sponsorship and the move to the Tideway

Following a sponsorship deal with Newton Investment Management, established shortly before the Women's Boat Race 2011, parent company

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 ...

announced in February that they would be sponsoring both the men's and women's boat races from the 2013 race. This sponsorship was key in enabling the Women's Boat Race to move to the Tideway in 2015. Since the 2012 race, Newton Investment Management has provided equal funding to OUWBC and CUWBC to enable the clubs to employ full time professional coaches and a support team to transition ‘from a student-run club to a pre-elite team’ on their road to the Tideway.

2015 Newton Women's Boat Race

In 2015, the Women's Boat Race took place on the Championship Course between the University stones at Putney and Mortlake on 11 April. The Reserve boat, Osiris, raced the Cambridge reserve boat, Blondie, on 10 April over the same course. OUWBCWeHORR

Osiris Honours

British champions

References

External links

OUWBC WebsiteHenley Boat RacesOxford University Rowing ClubsNewton Investment Management
{{United Kingdom rowing clubs Boat Club Sports clubs established in 1926 1926 establishments in England Women's Boat Race Rowing clubs in Oxfordshire Rowing clubs of the River Thames