The Boat Race#Notable races in recent years

Image:1841 Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race.jpg at centre-left]]

The tradition was started in 1829 by Charles Merivale, a student at St John's College, Cambridge, and his Old Harrovian school friend Charles Wordsworth who was studying at Christ Church, Oxford.{{cite web | url=http://theboatrace.org/men/origins | title=The Boat Race origins | publisher=The Boat Race Limited | access-date=12 October 2014 | archive-date=7 October 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007044923/http://theboatrace.org/men/origins | url-status=live }} The University of Cambridge challenged the University of Oxford to a race at Henley-on-Thames but Oxford won easily. Oxford raced in dark blue because five members of the crew, including the stroke, were from Christ Church, then Head of the River, whose colours were dark blue.{{cite web | url=http://www.bookofdaystales.com/boat-race/ | title=Book of Days Tales – The Boat Race | publisher=Book of Days Tales | access-date=12 October 2014 | author=Bosque, Juan Alejandro | date=10 June 2014 | archive-date=9 September 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140909214758/http://www.bookofdaystales.com/boat-race/ | url-status=live }}

The second race was in 1836, with the venue moved to a course from Westminster to Putney. Over the next two years, there was disagreement over where the race should be held, with Oxford preferring Henley and Cambridge preferring London. Following the official formation of the Oxford University Boat Club, racing between the two universities resumed in 1839 on the Tideway and the tradition continues to the present day, with the loser challenging the winner to a rematch annually.{{cite web | url=http://thames.me.uk/s00231a.htm | title=1829 Boat Race – WHERE THAMES SMOOTH WATERS GLIDE | publisher=thames.me.uk | access-date=12 October 2014 | archive-date=21 October 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021160351/http://thames.me.uk/s00231a.htm | url-status=live }}

Since 1856, the race has been held every year, except for the years 1915 to 1919 due to World War I, 1940 to 1945, due to World War II,{{Cite web | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rowing/2020/03/16/coronavirus-forces-first-boat-race-cancellation-outside-world/ | work = The Daily Telegraph | access-date = 3 September 2021 | date = 16 March 2020 | first = Rachel | last = Quarrell | title = Coronavirus forces first Boat Race cancellation outside of a world war | archive-date = 28 May 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210528112107/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rowing/2020/03/16/coronavirus-forces-first-boat-race-cancellation-outside-world/ | url-status = live }} and in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic policy.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rowing/51917462 |title=Boat Race cancelled because of coronavirus |author= |date=16 March 2020 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=11 April 2021 |archive-date=11 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411123306/https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rowing/51917462 |url-status=live }}

{{main|The Boat Race 1877}}

The race in 1877 was declared a dead heat. Both crews finished in a time of 24{{nbsp}}minutes and 8{{nbsp}}seconds in bad weather.{{cite web | url=http://thames.me.uk/s00231d.htm | title=1877 Boat Race – WHERE THAMES SMOOTH WATERS GLIDE | publisher=thames.me.uk | access-date=12 October 2014 | archive-date=21 October 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021174333/http://thames.me.uk/s00231d.htm | url-status=live }} The verdict of the race judge, John Phelps, is considered suspect because he was reportedly over 70 and blind in one eye.{{Cite web |url = http://www.espn.co.uk/onthisday/sport/story/99.html |title = Perfection from Torvill and Dean |publisher = ESPN |access-date = 12 October 2014 |archive-date = 12 October 2014 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141012013352/http://www.espn.co.uk/onthisday/sport/story/99.html |url-status = live }}{{cite web | url=http://theboatrace.org/men/report/start-of-the-annual-race | title=Start of the annual race | publisher=The Boat race Limited | access-date=12 October 2014 | archive-date=16 October 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016114647/http://theboatrace.org/men/report/start-of-the-annual-race | url-status=live }} Rowing historian Tim Koch, writing in the official 2014 Boat Race Programme, notes that there is "a very big and very entrenched lie" about the race, including the claim that Phelps had announced "Dead heat{{nbsp}}... to Oxford by six feet" (the distance supposedly mentioned by Phelps varies according to the telling).{{cite web |url=http://heartheboatsing.com/2014/04/17/lies-damned-lies-and-the-1877-boat-race/ |title=Oxford Won, Cambridge Too |last=Koch |first=Tim |publisher=Official Boat Race Programme |year=2014 |access-date=12 October 2014 |archive-date=18 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018010815/http://heartheboatsing.com/2014/04/17/lies-damned-lies-and-the-1877-boat-race/ |url-status=live }}

Phelps's nickname "Honest John" was not an ironic one, and he was not (as is sometimes claimed) drunk under a bush at the time of the finish. He did have to judge who had won without the assistance of finish posts (which were installed in time for the next year's race). Some newspapers had believed Oxford won a narrow victory but their viewpoint was from downstream; Phelps considered that the boats were essentially level with each surging forward during the stroke cycle. With no clear way to determine who had surged forward at the exact finish line, Phelps could only pronounce it a dead heat. Koch believes that the press and Oxford supporters made up the stories about Phelps later, which Phelps had no chance to refute.

Image:Dead heat finish 1877.jpg

{{blockquote|Oxford, partially disabled, were making effort after effort to hold their rapidly waning lead, while Cambridge, who, curiously enough, had settled together again, and were rowing almost as one man, were putting on a magnificent spurt at 40 strokes to the minute, with a view of catching their opponents before reaching the winning-post. Thus struggling over the remaining portion of the course, the two eights raced past the flag alongside one another, and the gun fired amid a scene of excitement rarely equalled and never exceeded. Cheers for one crew were succeeded by counter-cheers for the other, and it was impossible to tell what the result was until the Press boat backed down to the Judge and inquired the issue. John Phelps, the waterman, who officiated, replied that the noses of the boats passed the post strictly level, and that the result was a dead heat.{{cite news | title=The University Boat Race | work=The Times | date=26 March 1877 | pages=8}}|The Times}}

{{see also|List of The Boat Race results#Unofficial wartime races}}

Because of World War I and II, the race was completely cancelled in 1915–1919 and 1940–1945. On 12 January 1915, The Daily Telegraph announced that the annual race was completely cancelled due to men leaving for war, "for every available oarsman, either Fresher or Blue, has joined the colours."{{sfn|Daily Telegraph, 12 January,|1915|p=8}}

{{main|The Boat Race 1959}}

In 1959 some of the existing Oxford blues attempted to oust president Ronnie Howard and coach Jumbo Edwards.{{cite web | url=http://theboatrace.org/men/report/post-war-and-the-arrival-of-television | title=Post war and the arrival of television | publisher=The Boat Race Limited | access-date=12 October 2014 | archive-date=16 October 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016120444/http://theboatrace.org/men/report/post-war-and-the-arrival-of-television | url-status=live }} However, their attempt failed when Cambridge supported the president. Three of the dissidents returned and Oxford went on to win by six lengths.{{cite book | title=Battle of the Blues The Oxford & Cambridge Boat Race from 1829 | publisher=P to M Limited | last=Dodd | first=Christopher | author2=Marks, John | year=2004 | pages=72 | isbn=0-9547232-1-X}}

{{main|The Boat Race 1987}}

Image:Cambridge VIII at Stakeboat - 2009 Boat Race.jpg

Following defeat in the previous year's race, Oxford's first in eleven years, American Chris Clark was determined to gain revenge: "Next year we're gonna kick ass ... Cambridge's ass. Even if I have to go home and bring the whole US squad with me."{{Cite news | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/rowing/2310461/When-mutineers-hit-the-Thames.html | title = When mutineers hit the Thames | work = The Daily Telegraph | date = 6 April 2007 | first = Andrew | last = Baker | access-date = 11 August 2014 | archive-date = 20 October 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141020013854/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/rowing/2310461/When-mutineers-hit-the-Thames.html | url-status = live }} He recruited another four American post-graduates: three international-class rowers (Dan Lyons, Chris Huntington and Chris Penny) and a cox (Jonathan Fish),{{Cite web | url = http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20095697,00.html | work = People | title = Oxford's U.S. Rowers Jump Ship, Leaving the Varsity Without All Its Oars in the Water | first = William | last = Plummer | date = 23 February 1987 | access-date = 11 August 2014 | archive-date = 12 August 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140812211056/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20095697,00.html | url-status = live }}{{Cite web | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=HksEAAAAMBAJ&q=Chris+Huntington+rower&pg=PA57 | work = Rowing News | date = July 2007 | pages = 54–63 | first = Christopher | last = Dodd | title = Unnatural selection | access-date = 29 October 2020 | archive-date = 12 June 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210612004222/https://books.google.com/books?id=HksEAAAAMBAJ&q=Chris+Huntington+rower&pg=PA57 | url-status = live }} in an attempt to put together the fastest Boat Race crew in the history of the contest.{{Cite news | title = Mutiny in the boathouse | work = The Times | issue = 62728 | page = 11 | first = Glenys | last = Roberts | date = 28 March 1987}}

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Disagreements over the training regime of Dan Topolski, the Oxford coach ("He wanted us to spend more time training on land than water!", lamented Lyons), led to the crew walking out on at least one occasion, and resulted in the coach revising his approach. A fitness test between Clark and club president Donald Macdonald (in which Clark triumphed) resulted in a call for Macdonald's removal; it was accompanied with a threat that the Americans would refuse to row should Macdonald remain in the crew. As boat club president, Macdonald "had absolute power over selection", and when he announced that Clark would row on starboard, his weaker side, Macdonald would row on the port side and Tony Ward was to be dropped from the crew entirely, the American contingent mutinied. After considerable negotiation and debate, much of it conducted in the public eye, Clark, Penny, Huntington, Lyons and Fish were dropped and replaced by members of Oxford's reserve crew, Isis.

The race was won by Oxford by four{{nbsp}}lengths, despite Cambridge being favourites.{{Cite news | work = The Times | date = 28 March 1987 | page = 42 | issue = 62728 | title = Ill wind plagues Blues of 1987 | first = Jim | last = Railton}}

In 1989 Topolski and author Patrick Robinson's book about the events, True Blue: The Oxford Boat Race Mutiny, was published. Seven years later, a film based on the book was released. Alison Gill, the then-president of the Oxford University Women's Boat Club, wrote The Yanks at Oxford, in which she defended the Americans and claimed Topolski wrote True Blue in order to justify his own actions.{{Cite web| url = http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/mutiny-on-the-isis/91573.article| date = 25 November 1996| work = Times Higher Education| title = Mutiny on the Isis| access-date = 11 August 2014| first = Chris| last = Johnston| archive-date = 12 August 2014| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140812205853/http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/mutiny-on-the-isis/91573.article| url-status = live}} River and Rowing Museum founder Chris Dodd described True Blue as "particularly offensive" yet also wrote "[Oxford] lacked the power, the finesse—basically everything the pre-mutiny line-up had going for it."

{{main|The Boat Race 2012}}

In the 2012 race, after almost three-quarters of the course had been rowed, the race was halted for over 30 minutes when a lone protester, Australian Trenton Oldfield, entered the water from Chiswick Eyot and deliberately swam between the boats near Chiswick Pier with the intention of protesting against spending cuts, and what he saw as the erosion of civil liberties and a growing culture of elitism within British society.{{cite web | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/no-regrets-says-trenton-oldfield-man-who-ruined-the-boat-race--but-dont-worry-he-wont-be-back-8554617.html | title=No regrets, says Trenton Oldfield, man who ruined the boat race – but don't worry, he won't be back | work=The Independent | date=29 March 2013 | access-date=31 August 2014 | author=Peck, Tom | archive-date=20 December 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220183757/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/no-regrets-says-trenton-oldfield-man-who-ruined-the-boat-race--but-dont-worry-he-wont-be-back-8554617.html | url-status=live }} Once he was spotted by assistant umpire Sir Matthew Pinsent, both boats were required to stop for safety reasons. Once restarted, the boats clashed and the oar of Oxford crewman Hanno Wienhausen was broken in half with the blade snapped off. The race umpire John Garrett judged the clash to be Oxford's fault and allowed the race to continue. Cambridge quickly took the lead and went on to win the race. The Oxford crew entered a final appeal to the umpire which was quickly rejected; and Cambridge were confirmed as winners in the first race since 1849 that a crew had won the boat race without an official recorded winning time.{{cite web | url=http://theboatrace.org/results | title=The Boat Race Results | publisher=The Boat Race Limited | access-date=13 April 2012 | archive-date=11 April 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120411105410/http://theboatrace.org/results/ | url-status=live }} After the end of the race Oxford's bow man, Alex Woods, received emergency treatment after collapsing in the boat from exhaustion. Because of the circumstances, the post-race celebrations by the winning Cambridge crew were unusually muted and the planned award ceremony was cancelled.{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rowing/17645929 | title=Boat Race: Man charged over swimming incident | publisher=BBC Sport | access-date=10 April 2012 | date=8 April 2012 | archive-date=6 April 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140406152637/http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rowing/17645929 | url-status=live }}{{cite news | url=http://www.smh.com.au/sport/shock-and-oar-as-australian-protest-swimmer-wrecks-oxbridge-boat-race-20120408-1wiyt.html | title=Shock and oar as Australian protest swimmer wrecks Oxbridge boat race | work=Sydney Morning Herald | date=8 April 2012 | access-date=10 April 2012 | author=Millar, Paul | archive-date=9 April 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120409142828/http://www.smh.com.au/sport/shock-and-oar-as-australian-protest-swimmer-wrecks-oxbridge-boat-race-20120408-1wiyt.html | url-status=live }}{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2012/apr/07/alex-woods-oxford-boat-race?newsfeed=true | title=Oxford bow Alex Woods recovering in hospital after Boat Race collapse | work=The Observer | date=7 April 2012 | access-date=10 April 2012 | author=Bull, Andy | archive-date=23 October 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141023142618/http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2012/apr/07/alex-woods-oxford-boat-race?newsfeed=true | url-status=live }}{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-21975466 | title=Race: Royal Marines to help with security | work=BBC News | date=9 March 2013 | access-date=1 September 2014 | archive-date=29 May 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170529214425/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-21975466 | url-status=live }}

Like other sports events, the 2020 boat race was completely cancelled because of COVID-19 pandemic policy.{{cite web | url = https://www.theboatrace.org/homepage-news/the-boat-race-2020-cancelled | title = The Boat Race 2020 – cancelled | work = The Boat Race | date = 16 March 2020 | access-date = 30 March 2020 | publisher = The Boat Race Company Limited | archive-date = 21 March 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200321155519/https://www.theboatrace.org/homepage-news/the-boat-race-2020-cancelled | url-status = live }}

{{See also|The Boat Race 2021}}

The 2021 races were held on the Great Ouse at Ely in Cambridgeshire for the first time since the Second World War in 1944, over a shorter straight course of {{convert|4.9|km}}.{{Cite web | url = https://www.theboatrace.org/news/trialeightsraces | publisher = The Boat Race Company Limited | access-date = 31 December 2020 | title = Oxford and Cambridge Trial Eights Races | work = The Boat Race | date = 29 December 2020 | archive-date = 3 January 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210103175353/https://www.theboatrace.org/news/trialeightsraces | url-status = live }} This was due to the safety issues of Hammersmith Bridge, as well as restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic still being in force.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rowing/55086388 |title=Boat Race: 2021 races to be moved from the Thames to Ely over safety concerns |author= |date=26 November 2020 |website=BBC Sport |access-date=26 November 2020 |archive-date=16 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116131813/https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rowing/55086388 |url-status=live }}

The 2022 Boat Race returned to the Thames and the traditional course between Putney and Mortlake.{{cite web|title=The Boat Race 2022 Returns to Championship Course in London|url=https://www.theboatrace.org/news/the-boat-race-returns-to-london-in-2022|access-date=30 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220330104925/http://www.theboatrace.org/news/the-boat-race-returns-to-london-in-2022|archive-date=30 March 2022 |url-status=live}}

In the 1912 race, run in extremely poor weather and high winds, both crews sank. Oxford rowed into a significant early lead, but began taking on water, and made for the bank shortly after passing Hammersmith Bridge to empty the boat out: although they attempted to restart, the race was abandoned at this point because Cambridge had also sunk while passing the Harrods Depository.{{cite web | url=http://thames.me.uk/s00231h.htm | title=Boat Race – WHERE THE SMOOTH WATERS GLIDE | publisher=Thames.me.uk | access-date=31 August 2014 | archive-date=21 October 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021172915/http://thames.me.uk/s00231h.htm | url-status=live }}

Cambridge also sank in 1859 and in 1978, while Oxford did so in 1925,{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/boat_race_2003/2846799.stm | title=Rowing back the years | publisher=BBC Sport | date=31 March 2003 | access-date=19 April 2014 | archive-date=8 April 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408222351/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/boat_race_2003/2846799.stm | url-status=live }}{{cite web | url=http://www.ox.ac.uk/news-and-events/The-University-Year/The-Boat-Races | title=Oxford University – The Boat Races | publisher=University of Oxford | access-date=13 March 2016 | archive-date=14 March 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314074416/http://www.ox.ac.uk/news-and-events/The-University-Year/The-Boat-Races | url-status=live }}{{cite web | url=http://theboatrace.org/men/about-the-race | title=How it began | publisher=The Boat Race Limited | work=The Race History | access-date=31 August 2014 | year=2006 | archive-date=24 September 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924071853/http://theboatrace.org/men/about-the-race | url-status=live }} and again in 1951; the 1951 race was re-rowed on the following Monday.{{cite news | url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,,391039,00.html | title=The 10 worst mishaps in the history of sport | work=The Observer | date=5 November 2000 | access-date=22 March 2014 | archive-date=28 February 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120228093230/http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,,391039,00.html | url-status=live }} In 1984 the Cambridge boat sank after colliding with a barge before the start of the race, which was then rescheduled for the next day.{{cite web | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/17/newsid_2524000/2524153.stm | title=1984: Boat race halted before starting | work=BBC | date=17 March 2005 | access-date=10 April 2012 | archive-date=21 March 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321165158/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/17/newsid_2524000/2524153.stm | url-status=live }} In 2016, at Barnes Bridge, Cambridge women began to sink but gradually recovered to complete the race.{{Cite web | url = https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/mar/27/oxford-womens-boat-race-cambrige-sinking-boat | work = The Guardian | access-date = 3 September 2021 | date = 27 March 2016 | title = Oxford win Women's Boat Race as Cambridge struggle with sinking boat | agency = Press Association | archive-date = 8 April 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170408083435/https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/mar/27/oxford-womens-boat-race-cambrige-sinking-boat | url-status = live }}

{{Main|Women's Boat Race#History}}From the first women's event in 1927, the Women's Boat Race was run separately from the men's event until 2015. There was significant inequality between the two events.{{cite book|url=https://www.alumni.cam.ac.uk/benefits/book-shelf/cambridge-university-womens-boat-club-1941-2014-the-struggle-against-inequality|title=Cambridge University Women's Boat Club 1941–2014 – The Struggle Against Inequality|last1=Kingsbury|first1=Jane|last2=Williams|first2=Carol|publisher=Trireme|year=2015|isbn=9780993098291|access-date=8 April 2019|archive-date=8 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408114301/https://www.alumni.cam.ac.uk/benefits/book-shelf/cambridge-university-womens-boat-club-1941-2014-the-struggle-against-inequality|url-status=live}} Changes in recent years, arising significantly from the sponsorship of Newton Investment Management,{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/11515528/Helena-Morrissey-Tide-turns-in-favour-of-boat-race-women.html|title=Helena Morrissey: 'Tide turns in favour of boat race women'|last=Morrissey|first=Helena|date=4 April 2015|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=17 April 2015|archive-date=13 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150413062358/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/11515528/Helena-Morrissey-Tide-turns-in-favour-of-boat-race-women.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/11485347/Boat-Race-2015-Women-rowers-are-finally-being-recognised.-Heres-why.html|title=The real reason the women's Boat Race is closing in? Deep pockets|date=20 March 2015|work=The Telegraph|access-date=27 March 2016|archive-date=10 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410170939/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/11485347/Boat-Race-2015-Women-rowers-are-finally-being-recognised.-Heres-why.html|url-status=live}} have made the two races more equal: both events have been held together on The Tideway since 2015, and there are new training facilities for the women, comparable to those of the men, since 2016.{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rowing/2019/04/05/oxford-cambridge-women-admit-tide-has-finally-turned-favour/|title=Boat Race 2019: Oxford and Cambridge women admit tide has finally turned in their favour|last1=White|first1=Jim|date=5 April 2019|work=The Telegraph|access-date=8 April 2019|last2=Mills|first2=Emma|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235|last3=Robinson|first3=Danielle|last4=Saunders|first4=Toby|archive-date=8 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408114250/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rowing/2019/04/05/oxford-cambridge-women-admit-tide-has-finally-turned-favour/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/local-news/cambridge-university-set-open-new-12255154|title=Cambridge University set to open new boathouse in Ely|last=Savva|first=Anna|date=1 December 2016|website=cambridgenews|access-date=8 April 2019|archive-date=8 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408114309/https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/local-news/cambridge-university-set-open-new-12255154|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.sport.cam.ac.uk/news/rowing-opening-new-cambridge-university-boathouse-ely|title=ROWING – Opening of the new Cambridge University Boathouse at Ely|last=Thomas|first=Lauren|date=11 December 2016|website=www.sport.cam.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=8 April 2019|archive-date=8 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408114305/https://www.sport.cam.ac.uk/news/rowing-opening-new-cambridge-university-boathouse-ely|url-status=live}}

The 1st Boat Race took place at Henley-on-Thames in 1829 but the event was subsequently officially held along the Thames, mostly the Championship Course, except the 2021 race which was moved to the River Great Ouse due the COVID-19 pandemic and safety concerns under Hammersmith Bridge.{{Cite web | url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rowing/55086388 | publisher = BBC Sport | access-date = 29 December 2020 | title = Boat Race: 2021 races to be moved from the Thames to Ely over safety concerns | date = 26 November 2020 | archive-date = 16 January 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210116131813/https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rowing/55086388 | url-status = live }} Unofficial races were held during the Second World War at various locations.{{cite news | title=Rowing – The Boat Race | work=The Times | date=4 March 1940 | url=https://www.thetimes.com/tto/archive/article/1940-03-04/8/8.html#start%3D1940-03-04%26end%3D1940-03-04%26terms%3Drowing%26back%3D/tto/archive/find/rowing/w:1940-03-04/1%26next%3D/tto/archive/frame/goto/rowing/w:1940-03-04/2 | access-date=3 May 2015 | page=8 | archive-date=19 June 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210619144714/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/archive/article/1940-03-04/8/8.html#start%3D1940-03-04%26end%3D1940-03-04%26terms%3Drowing%26back%3D/tto/archive/find/rowing/w:1940-03-04/1%26next%3D/tto/archive/frame/goto/rowing/w:1940-03-04/2 | url-status=live }}{{subscription required}}{{cite news | title=A University Boat Race | work=The Times | date=15 February 1943 | access-date=2 May 2015 | page=2 | url=https://www.thetimes.com/tto/archive/article/1943-02-15/2/12.html#start%3D1943-02-15%26end%3D1943-02-15%26terms%3Dcambridge%26back%3D/tto/archive/find/cambridge/w:1943-02-15/1%26next%3D/tto/archive/frame/goto/cambridge/w:1943-02-15/2 | archive-date=19 June 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210619144716/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/archive/article/1943-02-15/2/12.html#start%3D1943-02-15%26end%3D1943-02-15%26terms%3Dcambridge%26back%3D/tto/archive/find/cambridge/w:1943-02-15/1%26next%3D/tto/archive/frame/goto/cambridge/w:1943-02-15/2 | url-status=live }}{{subscription required}}{{cite news | title=The Boat Race – Oxford's victory | work=The Times | date=28 February 1944 | access-date=2 May 2015 | page=2 | url=https://www.thetimes.com/tto/archive/article/1944-02-28/2/17.html#start%3D1944-02-28%26end%3D1944-02-28%26terms%3Dcambridge%26back%3D/tto/archive/find/cambridge/w:1944-02-28/1%26next%3D/tto/archive/frame/goto/cambridge/w:1944-02-28/2 | archive-date=19 June 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210619144718/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/archive/article/1944-02-28/2/17.html#start%3D1944-02-28%26end%3D1944-02-28%26terms%3Dcambridge%26back%3D/tto/archive/find/cambridge/w:1944-02-28/1%26next%3D/tto/archive/frame/goto/cambridge/w:1944-02-28/2 | url-status=live }}{{subscription required}}{{cite news | title=The Boat Race – Cambridge win | work=The Times | date=26 February 1945 | access-date=2 May 2015 | page=2 | url=https://www.thetimes.com/tto/archive/article/1945-02-26/2/25.html#start%3D1945-02-26%26end%3D1945-02-26%26terms%3Dcambridge%26back%3D/tto/archive/find/cambridge/w:1945-02-26/1%26prev%3D/tto/archive/frame/goto/cambridge/w:1945-02-26/1%26next%3D/tto/archive/frame/goto/cambridge/w:1945-02-26/3 | archive-date=19 June 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210619144721/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/archive/article/1945-02-26/2/25.html#start%3D1945-02-26%26end%3D1945-02-26%26terms%3Dcambridge%26back%3D/tto/archive/find/cambridge/w:1945-02-26/1%26prev%3D/tto/archive/frame/goto/cambridge/w:1945-02-26/1%26next%3D/tto/archive/frame/goto/cambridge/w:1945-02-26/3 | url-status=live }}{{subscription required}}

Image:University Boat Race Thames map.svg Tideway corresponding to the traditional English counties)]]

The Championship Course is 4 miles and 374 yards (6.779 km) from Putney to Mortlake,{{cite web | url=http://theboatrace.org/men/statistics | title=Statistics of The Boat Race | publisher=Boat Race Company Limited | access-date=18 March 2013 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007064520/http://theboatrace.org/men/statistics | archive-date=7 October 2014 | df=dmy-all }} passing Hammersmith and Barnes, following an S shape, east to west. The start and finish are marked by the University Boat Race Stones on the south bank. The clubs' presidents toss a coin (an 1829 gold sovereign) before the race for the right to choose which side of the river (station) they will row on: their decision is based on the weather, the speed of the flood tide, and how the three bends in the course might favour their crew's pace. The north station ('Middlesex') has the advantage of the first and last bends, and the south ('Surrey') station the other, longer bend.{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}}

During the race the coxes compete for the fastest current, which lies at the deepest part of the river, frequently leading to clashes of blades and warnings from the umpire. A crew that gets a lead of more than a boat's length can cut in front of their opponent, making it extremely difficult for the trailing crew to gain the lead. For this reason the tactics of the race are generally to go fast early on, and it is unusual for the leading crew to change after halfway (though this happened in 2003, 2007 and 2010).{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

Save for three Victorian instances, each race is rowed westwards, but starts during the incoming (known as flood) tide, so that the crews are rowing with, not against, the fast stream.{{cite web | url=http://www.theboatrace.org/therace/guide/thecourse/ | title=The Boat Race course | date=28 November 2006 | access-date=10 April 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061128162341/http://www.theboatrace.org/therace/guide/thecourse/ | archive-date=28 November 2006}} At the conclusion of the race, the boats come ashore at the shared shingle of the two boat clubs in Chiswick,{{cite web | url=http://maabc.com/events-and-regattas/boat-race/ | title=The Oxford v Cambridge Boat Race | publisher=maabc.com | access-date=12 April 2014 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130924031536/http://maabc.com/events-and-regattas/boat-race/ | archive-date=24 September 2013 | df=dmy-all }} a few metres west of Chiswick Bridge. Here, shortly after the race, the Boat Race trophy is presented to the winning crew. It is traditional for the winning side to throw their cox into the Thames to celebrate their achievement.{{Cite web | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/310447.stm | title = Cambridge give Oxford the blues | date = 2 April 1999 | access-date = 6 June 2021 | publisher = BBC Sport | archive-date = 28 July 2003 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20030728031633/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/310447.stm | url-status = live }}

In addition, there were four unofficial boat races held during the Second World War away from London.{{Cite web |date=2014-12-14 |title=1943: Not a Blue Race |url=https://heartheboatsing.com/2014/12/14/9398/ |access-date=2023-03-13 |website=Hear The Boat Sing |language=en-GB}} None of those competing were awarded blues, and these races are not included in the official list:

• 1940, 1945 – Henley-on-Thames {{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}
• 1943 – Sandford-on-Thames
• 1944 – River Great Ouse, Ely: Littleport to Queen Adelaide{{Cite web |title=Orange Aid: The Austerity Boat Race of 1944 |url=https://www.row2k.com/features/5542/orange-aid--the-austerity-boat-race-of-1944/ |access-date=2023-03-13 |website=row2k.com}}

During its early years, from 1927 to 1976 with several gaps, the Women's Boat Race alternated between The Isis in Oxford and the River Cam in Cambridge over a distance of about 1,000 yards.{{cite journal|title=Pulling Together|journal=Cambridge Alumni Magazine|issue=74 Lent 2015|page=12|url=http://www.alumni.cam.ac.uk/magazine/cam-74|access-date=19 March 2015|archive-date=25 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150325224343/http://www.alumni.cam.ac.uk/magazine/cam-74|url-status=live}}{{cite news | title = Nine girls in a boat beat Oxford | work = The Times | first = Philip | last = Howard| page = 4 | date = 13 March 1973}}{{cite news | title = Most exciting Boat Race for a decade| work = The Times | first = Jim | last = Railton| page = 13 | date = 15 March 1974}} On two occasions, in 1929 and 1935, the race was held on the Tideway in London.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/boat-race/11466047/Boat-Race-2015-A-brief-history-of-the-Oxford-Cambridge-Varsity-event-from-the-perspective-of-women.html|title=A brief history of the Oxford-Cambridge Varsity event – from the perspective of women|publisher=The Telegraph|access-date=11 April 2015|date=13 March 2015|archive-date=15 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415022534/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/boat-race/11466047/Boat-Race-2015-A-brief-history-of-the-Oxford-Cambridge-Varsity-event-from-the-perspective-of-women.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite news | title = University women's race women's success| work = The Times | date= 18 March 1935 |page=6}} Unlike the men's race, the official women's race continued in most years through the Second World War.

From 1977 to 2014, the Women's Boat Race was held on a 2000-metre course as part of the Henley Boat Races. The crews raced Henley Royal Regatta course downstream—the opposite direction to that of the Regatta (which was a completely separate event)—finishing halfway down Temple Island.{{cite web |title=Henley Boat Races - Course Map |url=http://www.culrc.org.uk/?page_id=380 |access-date=26 March 2017 |publisher=Cambridge University Lightweight Rowing Club}} However, the entire Henley Boat Races were moved in 2001 to the Holme Pierrepont National Watersports Centre in Nottingham,{{cite web |title=Rowing Service Reports |url=http://www.total.rowing.org.uk/henraces01.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050422051517/http://www.total.rowing.org.uk/henraces01.html |archive-date=22 April 2005 |access-date=3 December 2020 |website=www.total.rowing.org.uk}} and in 2013 to Dorney Lake due to rough water at Henley.{{cite web|url=http://henleyboatraces.com/history|title=History|access-date=15 April 2015|publisher=Henley Boat Races|archive-date=8 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141008131504/http://henleyboatraces.com/history|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Henley Boat Races 2007|url=http://www.cuwbc.org.uk/2007/04/02/henley-boat-races-2007|publisher=CUWBC|access-date=18 April 2015|date=2 April 2007|archive-date=19 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150419072726/http://www.cuwbc.org.uk/2007/04/02/henley-boat-races-2007|url-status=live}}

Since 2015, the women's boat race has taken place on the Championship course; except in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the race was held on the River Great Ouse from Ely, Cambridgeshire, along with the men's race.{{cite web |title=The Boat Race 2021 to be raced at Ely, Cambridgeshire. |url=https://www.theboatrace.org/news/the-boat-race-2021-to-be-raced-at-ely-cambridgeshire |website=The Boat Race |access-date=26 November 2020 |date=26 November 2020 |archive-date=21 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121075536/https://www.theboatrace.org/news/the-boat-race-2021-to-be-raced-at-ely-cambridgeshire |url-status=live}}

The race first appeared in a short film of the 1895 race entitled The Oxford and Cambridge University Boat Race, directed and produced by Birt Acres. Consisting of a single shot of around a minute, it was the first film to be commercially screened in the UK outside London.{{Cite web| url=http://www.learnaboutmovieposters.com/newsite/INDEX/COUNTRIES/UK/BritishFilmHistory.asp| title=Overview of British Film History| work=Learn about movie posters.com| access-date=7 April 2007| archive-date=24 October 2006| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061024151701/http://www.learnaboutmovieposters.com/newsite/INDEX/COUNTRIES/UK/BritishFilmHistory.asp| url-status=live}} The event is now a British national institution, and is televised live each year. 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.{{cite news|title=Boat race viewing figures delight BBC as 4.8m watch women's event|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/apr/12/boat-race-viewing-figures|access-date=7 April 2016|work=The Guardian|date=12 April 2015|archive-date=29 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160329120959/http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/apr/12/boat-race-viewing-figures|url-status=live}}{{cite news|title=Women's Boat Race 2015: equality will be true winner of historic meeting|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/apr/10/womens-boat-race-2015-equality-oxford-cambridge|access-date=27 March 2016|work=The Guardian|date=10 April 2015|archive-date=28 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328164846/http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/apr/10/womens-boat-race-2015-equality-oxford-cambridge|url-status=live}}{{cite news|title=The real reason the women's Boat Race is closing in? Deep pockets|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/11485347/Boat-Race-2015-Women-rowers-are-finally-being-recognised.-Heres-why.html|access-date=27 March 2016|work=The Telegraph|date=20 March 2015|archive-date=10 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410170939/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/11485347/Boat-Race-2015-Women-rowers-are-finally-being-recognised.-Heres-why.html|url-status=live}} BBC Television first covered the men's race in 1938, the BBC having covered it on radio since 1927. For the 2005 to 2009 races, the BBC lost the television rights to ITV, after 66 years, but it returned to the corporation in 2010.{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7773097.stm | title=ITV drops Boat Race for football | work=BBC News | date=9 December 2008 | access-date=19 August 2014 | archive-date=22 March 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090322203531/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7773097.stm | url-status=live }} Ethnographer Mark de Rond described the training, selection, and victory of the 2007 Cambridge crew in The Last Amateurs: To Hell and Back with the Cambridge Boat Race Crew.{{cite book | title=The Last Amateurs: To Hell and Back with the Cambridge Boat Race Crew | author=de Rond, Mark; Redgrave, Steven| id={{ASIN|1848310153|country=uk}} }}

{{main|List of Oxford University Boat Race crews|List of Cambridge University Boat Race crews}}

Many notable individuals have participated in the Boat Race, including those of an Olympic standard. Four-time Olympic gold medallist Sir Matthew Pinsent, rowed for Oxford in 1990, 1991, and 1993. Olympic gold medallists from 2000 – James Cracknell (Cambridge 2019), Tim Foster (Oxford 1997), Luka Grubor (Oxford 1997), Andrew Lindsay (Oxford 1997, 1998, 1999) and Kieran West (Cambridge 1999, 2001, 2006, 2007), 2004 – Ed Coode (Oxford 1998), and 2008 – Jake Wetzel (Oxford 2006) and Malcolm Howard (Oxford 2013, 2014) have also rowed for their university.

Other famous participants include Andrew Irvine (Oxford 1922, 1923), Lord Snowdon (Cambridge 1950), Colin Moynihan (Oxford 1977), actor Hugh Laurie (Cambridge 1980), TV presenter Dan Snow (Oxford 1999, 2000, 2001) and Conspicuous Gallantry Cross recipient Robin Bourne-Taylor (Oxford 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005).{{cite web | url=http://theboatrace.org/men/personalities | title=The Boat Race – Personalities | publisher=The Boat Race Company Limited | access-date=31 August 2014| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140329034346/http://theboatrace.org/men/personalities | archivedate = 29 March 2014 | url-status=dead}}

Oxford University does not offer sport scholarships at entry; student-athletes are not admitted differently to any other students and must meet the academic requirements of the university, with sport not affecting any application.{{cite web |url=http://www.sport.ox.ac.uk/student-sport/sports-federation/faq/ |title=Oxford University Sport: FAQ |publisher=University of Oxford |access-date=17 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141106081818/http://www.sport.ox.ac.uk/student-sport/sports-federation/faq/ |archive-date=6 November 2014 }} There are sports bursaries and scholarship opportunities at the University of Cambridge, open only to students who have already been admitted to the university on academic merit.{{cite web | title=Performance Sport | website=Sport at Cambridge|publisher=Universityof Cambridge| url=https://www.sport.cam.ac.uk/performance-sport | access-date=13 April 2025}}

In order to protect the status of the race as a competition between genuine students, the Cambridge University Blues Committee in July 2007 refused to award recognition as a blue to 2006 and 2007 Cambridge oarsman Thorsten Engelmann after he had been a member of the winning team, as he later did not complete his academic course and instead returned to the German national rowing team to prepare for the Beijing Olympics.{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/rowing/6903124.stm | title=Engelmann punished for early exit | work=BBC | date=17 July 2007 | access-date=5 June 2009 | archive-date=3 March 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080303220412/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/rowing/6903124.stm | url-status=live }}{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/mihirbose/2007/07/choppy_waters_ahead_for_boat_r.html | title=Choppy waters ahead for Boat Race |last=Bose|first=Mihir| publisher=BBC | date=20 July 2007 | archive-date=7 March 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307220009/http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/mihirbose/2007/07/choppy_waters_ahead_for_boat_r.html | url-status=live }} This caused a debate about a change of rules; one suggestion was that only students who are enrolled in courses lasting at least two years should be eligible to race.

According to British Olympic gold medallist Martin Cross, Boat Race crews of the early 1980s were viewed as "a bit of a joke" by some international-level rowers of the time. However, their standard has improved substantially since then.{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/apr/09/rowing-trenton-oldfield-boat-race | title=Rowing is elitist, but not in the way Trenton Oldfield thinks | work=The Guardian | date=9 April 2012 | access-date=10 April 2012 | author=Cross, Martin | archive-date=11 December 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211073807/http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/apr/09/rowing-trenton-oldfield-boat-race | url-status=live }} In 2007 Cambridge were entered in the London Head of the River Race, where they should have been measured directly against the best crews in Britain and beyond. However, the event was called off after several crews were sunk or swamped in rough conditions. Cambridge were fastest of the few crews who did complete the course.{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=A1YourView&xml=/sport/2007/04/01/soboat01.xml | title=Boat Race: Cambridge confidence gets big boost | work=The Daily Telegraph | date=1 April 2007 | access-date=25 May 2010 | author=Quarrell, Rachel | location=London}}{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

The men's race has been sponsored since 1976, with the money spent mainly on equipment and travel during the training period. The sponsors do not have their logos on the boats, but now tend to have their logo on kit during the race. They also provide branded training gear and have some naming rights. Boat Race sponsors have included Ladbrokes, Beefeater Gin, Aberdeen Asset Management, and the business process outsourcing company Xchanging for a few years until 2012.{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12888300 | title=Boat Race sponsor Xchanging to end contract | work=BBC News | date=29 March 2011 | access-date=1 September 2014 | archive-date=23 October 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023231910/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12888300 | url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=http://www.theboatrace.org/article/newsandmedia/20102011news/xchangings |title=Xchanging sponsorship of The Boat Race draws to a close |publisher=Xchanging |date=29 March 2011 |access-date=1 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110420033853/http://theboatrace.org/article/newsandmedia/20102011news/xchangings |archive-date=20 April 2011 |url-status=dead }} Since 2010 the deal has included the crews agreeing to wear the logo on their race kit for more funding.{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/rowing/6608733/University-Boat-Race-to-have-title-sponsorship-from-2010-onwards.html | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130505053531/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/rowing/6608733/University-Boat-Race-to-have-title-sponsorship-from-2010-onwards.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=5 May 2013 | title=University Boat Race to have title sponsorship from 2010 onwards | work=The Daily Telegraph | date=20 November 2009 | access-date=1 September 2014 | author=Quarrell, Rachel | location=London}} Prior to this, all sponsorship marks had been scrupulously discarded on boating for the competition, on amateurist, 'Corinthian' values but perhaps also as before televised races a single sponsor for both crews was unlikely. The sponsor has extended to being a "title sponsor" (titular, official race name) since such a longer name of the race was founded in 2010, the first three of which thus becoming The Xchanging Boat Race.{{cite web | url=http://theboatrace.org/men/news-article/12/umpires-announced-for-the-2012-xchanging-boat-race | title=Xchanging becomes title sponsor of The Boat Race | publisher=The Boat Race Limited | access-date=20 November 2009 | archive-date=14 July 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714221536/http://theboatrace.org/men/news-article/12/umpires-announced-for-the-2012-xchanging-boat-race | url-status=live }}

The women's crews had no sponsorship and were self funded until the Women's Boat Race 2011 when Newton Investment Management, a subsidiary of BNY Mellon, stepped in as a sponsor of both women's crews. Over subsequent years, Newton increased the amount of funding for the women's race significantly.

BNY Mellon took over sponsorship of the men's race in 2013 and it became the BNY Mellon Boat Race.{{cite web | url=http://theboatrace.org/men/news-article/12/umpires-announced-for-the-2012-xchanging-boat-race | title=Boat Race – BNY Mellon announced as new Boat Race Title Sponsor | publisher=The Boat Race Limited | access-date=1 September 2014 | date=6 September 2011 | archive-date=14 July 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714221536/http://theboatrace.org/men/news-article/12/umpires-announced-for-the-2012-xchanging-boat-race | url-status=live }} From 2016 to 2018, BNY Mellon and Newton Investment management donated the title sponsorship to Cancer Research UK,{{cite web|url=http://theboatraces.org/news-article/246/the-boat-races-sponsors-bny-mellon-amp-amp-newton-pull-together-for-cancer-research-uk|title=The Boat Races Sponsors BNY Mellon & Newton Pull Together For Cancer Research UK – The Boat Race|date=19 January 2016|access-date=19 January 2016|archive-date=31 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131205740/http://theboatraces.org/news-article/246/the-boat-races-sponsors-bny-mellon-amp-amp-newton-pull-together-for-cancer-research-uk|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/2016/03/21/boat-race-2016-which-tv-channel-and-will-oxford-or-cambridge-win/|title=The Boat Race 2016: Cambridge win the Boat Race against Oxford but their women's boat nearly sinks|first=Alan|last=Tyers|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=21 March 2016|via=www.telegraph.co.uk|access-date=3 April 2018|archive-date=11 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911125130/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/2016/03/21/boat-race-2016-which-tv-channel-and-will-oxford-or-cambridge-win/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.bnymellon.com/emea/en/_locale-assets/pdf/who-we-are/bny-mellon-newton-pull-together-for-cancer-research-uk.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160404093455/https://www.bnymellon.com/emea/en/_locale-assets/pdf/who-we-are/bny-mellon-newton-pull-together-for-cancer-research-uk.pdf|url-status=dead|title=BNY Mellon and Cancer Research UK Boat Race sponsorship details|archivedate=4 April 2016}} and, from 2019 until 2021, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).{{Cite web |title=RNLI |url=https://www.theboatrace.org/partners/rnli |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407074703/https://www.theboatrace.org/partners/rnli |archive-date=7 April 2019 |access-date=2019-04-08 |website=The Boat Race |language=en-GB}}

The men's and women's races came under the same sponsorship for the first time in 2021; Gemini, a cryptocurrency exchange founded by 2010 Oxford Blues Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, took over as title sponsor and it became the Gemini Boat Race.{{cite web |date=25 March 2021 |title=Partners |url=https://www.theboatrace.org/the-gemini-boat-race |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210404165559/https://www.theboatrace.org/the-gemini-boat-race |archive-date=4 April 2021 |access-date=5 April 2021 |work=The Boat Race}}

French luxury brand Chanel and The Boat Race Company Ltd announced the signing of a long-term partnership in 2024 with Chanel as Title Sponsor and official Timekeeping Partner.{{Cite news |last=Isaac-Goizé |first=Tina |date=2024-12-10 |title=After 114 Years, Chanel Gets Into Sports Sponsorship |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/10/fashion/chanel-j12-watch-oxford-cambridge-boat-race.html |access-date=2025-04-14 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |date=2024-10-22 |title=Chanel to Sponsor Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race |url=https://www.businessoffashion.com/news/luxury/chanel-to-sponsor-oxford-cambridge-boat-race/ |access-date=2025-04-14 |website=The Business of Fashion |language=en |postscript=none}}; {{Cite web |date=2025-04-03 |title=The Logic Behind Chanel’s Boat Race Deal |url=https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/luxury/the-logic-behind-chanels-boat-race-deal/ |access-date=2025-04-14 |website=The Business of Fashion |language=en}} The 2025 event will become The Chanel J12 Boat Race.{{Cite news |last=Pithers |first=Ellie |date=2025-04-04 |title=Why Chanel fell for the Boat Race |url=https://www.ft.com/content/386fffdf-fde7-49d2-b4fa-e23fb2093984 |access-date=2025-04-14 |work=Financial Times}}{{Cite web |last=David |first=Weatherby |date=2024-10-22 |title=CHANEL and The Boat Race announce long-term partnership |url=https://www.theboatrace.org/news/chanel-and-the-boat-race-announce-long-term-partnership |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=The Boat Race |language=en}}

Although the Boat Race crews are the best-known, the universities both field reserve crews. The reserves race takes place on the same day as the main race. The Oxford men's reserve crew is called Isis (after the Isis, a section of the River Thames which passes through Oxford), and the Cambridge reserve men's crew is called Goldie (the name comes from rower and Boat Club president John Goldie, 1849–1896, after whom the Goldie Boathouse is named). The women's reserve crews are Osiris (Oxford) and Blondie (Cambridge).{{Cite web | url = https://cubc.org.uk/the-boat-races/ | publisher = Cambridge University Boat Club | access-date = 3 September 2021 | title = The Boat Races | archive-date = 26 February 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210226043035/https://cubc.org.uk/the-boat-races/ | url-status = live }} A veterans' boat race, usually held on a weekday before the main Boat Race, takes place on the Thames between Putney and Hammersmith.{{Cite web | url = https://www.theboatrace.org/homepage-news/the-veterans-boat-race | title = The Veterans Boat Race | access-date = 3 September 2021 | date = 5 April 2019 | publisher = The Boat Race Company Limited | archive-date = 28 January 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210128124817/https://www.theboatrace.org/homepage-news/the-veterans-boat-race | url-status = live }}

The two universities also field lightweight men's and women's crews. These squads race each other in eights as part of the Lightweight Boat Races. The first men's race took place in 1975, being joined by a women's race in 1984. Both races are currently held on the {{convert|4.2|mi|km|adj=on}} Championship Course from Putney to Mortlake, although they previously formed part of the Henley Boat Races, along with various other rowing races between the two universities including the openweight women's Boat Race until 2015. Competitors in the event have gone on to compete at international and Olympic levels, as well as represent their universities at openweight level.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/annabelvernon/2010/03/the_other_boat_race.html |title=The Other Boat Race |work=BBC Sport |date=30 March 2010 |access-date=3 April 2016 |archive-date=8 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508210948/http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/annabelvernon/2010/03/the_other_boat_race.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=CULRC |url=http://www.culrc.org.uk/?p=1 |publisher=CULRC Cambridge University Lightweight Rowing Club |access-date=27 March 2017 |date=20 October 2014 |archive-date=2 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170702035819/http://www.culrc.org.uk/?p=1 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=Men's Lightweight Rowing Club |url=http://www.sport.ox.ac.uk/sport/mens-lightweight-rowing/ |publisher=Oxford University Sport |access-date=26 March 2017 |archive-date=27 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170327080539/http://www.sport.ox.ac.uk/sport/mens-lightweight-rowing/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=International Success |url=http://www.ouwlrc.org.uk/about-the-club/international/ |publisher=Oxford University Women's Lightweight Rowing Club |access-date=26 March 2017 |archive-date=27 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170327081133/http://www.ouwlrc.org.uk/about-the-club/international/ |url-status=live }} For the men's race the average weight of the crew must be {{convert|70|kg|lb stlb|1}}, with no rower weighing over {{convert|72.5|kg|lb stlb|1}}. For the women's race no rower can exceed {{convert|59|kg|lb stlb|1}}. At Oxford, both the men's and women's lightweight boats are awarded a full blue. At Cambridge the women's boat is awarded a full blue, whereas the men's boat receives a half-blue.{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}}

Boat race became such a popular phrase that it was incorporated into Cockney rhyming slang, for "face".{{cite web|last1=Kemmer|first1=Suzanne|title=Cockney Rhyming Slang|url=http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kemmer/Words04/usage/slang_cockney.html|website=Words in English|access-date=19 December 2017|archive-date=1 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180101030749/http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kemmer/Words04/usage/slang_cockney.html|url-status=live}}

In the stories of P. G. Wodehouse, several characters allude to Boat Race night as a time of riotous celebration (presumably after the victory of the character's alma mater). This frequently sees the participants in trouble with the authorities. In Piccadilly Jim, it is mentioned that Lord Datchett was thrown out of the Empire Music Hall every year on Boat Race night while he was an undergraduate.{{Cite book |last=Wodehouse |first=P. G |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1043488367 |title=Picadilly Jim. |date=1918 |publisher=Herbert Jenkins |location=London |language=English |oclc=1043488367 |quote=Every one knows that young Lord Datchet was ejected from the Empire Music-Hall on Boat-Race night every year during his residence at Oxford University, but nobody minds. The family treats it as a joke. |access-date=15 February 2022 |archive-date=15 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220215222118/https://www.worldcat.org/title/picadilly-jim/oclc/1043488367 |url-status=live }} Bertie Wooster mentions he is "rather apt to let myself go a bit" on Boat Race night{{cite book | last= Wodehouse | first= P. G. | author-link= P. G. Wodehouse| title= Carry On, Jeeves| publisher=Arrow Books|date=2008 | oclc=819281833|quote=Abstemious cove though I am as a general thing, there is one night in the year when, putting all other engagements aside, I am rather apt to let myself go a bit and renew my lost youth, as it were. The night to which I allude is the one following the annual aquatic contest between the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge; or, putting it another way, Boat-Race Night. Then, if ever, you will see Bertram under the influence. And on this occasion, I freely admit, I had been doing myself rather juicily| orig-year=1925| location= London | isbn=978-0099513698| edition= Reprinted|pages=169–172 }} and several times describes being fined five pounds at "Bosher Street" (possibly a reference to Bow Street Magistrates' Court) for stealing a policeman's helmet one year; the beginning of the first episode of the television series Jeeves and Wooster shows his court appearance on this occasion.{{cite episode |series=Jeeves and Wooster|title=Jeeves Takes Charge|airdate=22 April 1990 |season=1|number=1 |minutes=1 }} In the short story Jeeves and the Chump Cyril, he describes having to repeatedly bail out of jail a friend who is arrested every year on Boat Race night.{{Cite journal|last=Wodehouse|first=P. G.|author-link=P. G. Wodehouse|date=August 1918|title=Jeeves and the Chump Cyril|url=https://archive.org/details/TheStrandMagazineAnIllustratedMonthly/TheStrandMagazine1918bVol.LviJul-dec/page/n139/|journal=The Strand Magazine|volume=56|issue=312|pages=126–134|quote=When I was up at Oxford, I used to have a regular job bailing out a pal of mine who never failed to get pinched every Boat-Race night, and he always looked like something that had been dug up by the roots.|quote-page=127}}

In Missee Lee by Arthur Ransome (one of the Swallows and Amazons series of children's books) Captain Flint (who had dropped out of Oxford) tells Missee Lee he was in gaol once on Boat-race night. High spirits. A fancy for policemen's helmets. When Missee Lee says Camblidge won and evellybody happy he replies Not that year, ma'am. We were the happy ones that year.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3qAMBAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Camblidge+won+and+evellybody+happy%22&pg=PT192 |title=Missee Lee chapter 16 |isbn=9781448191079 |access-date=7 October 2021 |archive-date=4 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220404021322/https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Missee_Lee/3qAMBAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Camblidge+won+and+evellybody+happy%22&pg=PT192&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live |last1=Ransome |first1=Arthur |date=2 October 2014 |publisher=Random House }} In the Jennings books by Anthony Buckeridge the protagonist's teacher Mr Wilkins is a former Cambridge rowing blue.{{cite book |last1=Buckeridge |first1=Anthony |title=Jennings and Darbyshire |date=1952 |publisher=Collins |at=Ch 24}}

The 1969 film The Magic Christian features the Boat Race, as Sir Guy makes use of the Oxford crew in one of his elaborate pranks.{{Cite web | url = http://www.twrc.rowing.org.uk/movies/magicchristian.htm | publisher = Twickenham Rowing Club | title = The Magic Christian | access-date = 3 September 2021 | archive-date = 17 January 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200117092231/http://www.twrc.rowing.org.uk/movies/magicchristian.htm | url-status = live }}

Actor and comedian Matt Berry wrote and narrated an irreverent, alternative history of the Boat Race for the BBC in 2015.{{Cite web|title=BBC Two - Comedy Shorts, Matt Berry Does..., The Boat Race|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02mwfcg|access-date=2022-02-24|website=BBC|date=5 April 2015 |language=en-GB|archive-date=24 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220224144028/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02mwfcg|url-status=live}}

{{multiple image

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| image1 = Équipe d'Oxford en 1890.jpg

| alt1 = Oxford crew in 1890

| caption1 = Oxford in 1890 (winner)

| image2 = Équipe de Cambridge en 1890.jpg

| alt2 = Cambridge crew in 1890

| caption2 = Cambridge in 1890

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Men's race

• Number of wins: Cambridge, 87; Oxford, 81 (1 dead heat)
• Most consecutive victories: Cambridge, 13 (1924–36)
• Course record: Cambridge, 1998 – 16 min 19 sec; average speed {{convert|24.9|km/h|mph}}
• Narrowest winning margin, excluding the dead heat: 1 foot (Oxford, 2003)
• Largest winning margin: 35 lengths (Cambridge, 1839)

Women's race

• Number of wins: Cambridge, 46; Oxford, 30
• Course record: Cambridge, 2022 – 18 min 22 sec (faster, in different conditions, than the Cambridge men's Blue Boat in 2016 and the Oxford men's in 2014){{cite news|title=Boat Races: Oxford triumph in men's race after Cambridge women win|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rowing/39473528|access-date=2 April 2017|work=BBC Sport|date=2 April 2017|archive-date=2 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170402211954/http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rowing/39473528|url-status=live}}{{Cite web | url = https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/apr/03/boat-race-oxford-men-cambridge-women-report | work = The Guardian | access-date = 3 April 2022 | date = 3 April 2022 | title = Oxford triumph in men's Boat Race as Cambridge set record in women's event | first = Luke | last = McLaughlin | archive-date = 3 April 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220403200839/https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/apr/03/boat-race-oxford-men-cambridge-women-report | url-status = live }}
• Reserve wins: Cambridge (Blondie), 27; Oxford (Osiris), 20

{{The_Boat_Race_cumulative_results.svg}}

;Men's race

{{main|List of The Boat Race results}}

There have been 169 official races in 195 years.

Source:{{cite web|url=http://theboatrace.org/men/results |title=The Boat Race yearly results – men |publisher=The Boat Race Limited |access-date=19 August 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924062736/http://theboatrace.org/men/results |archive-date=24 September 2014 }}

;Women's race

{{Main|Women's Boat Race#Results}}There have been 75 races in 94 years.

• Oxford–Cambridge rivalry
• The Boat Race of the North – a similar event in Northern England between Durham University and Newcastle University
• Harvard–Yale Regatta – a similar event in the United States between Harvard University and Yale University
• Scottish Boat Race – a similar event in Scotland between University of Glasgow and University of Edinburgh
• Varsity match
• The Welsh Boat Race – a similar event in Wales between Swansea University and Cardiff University
• York and Lancaster Universities Roses Race - a boat race between University of York and Lancaster University
• Great River Race - an annual 22 mile race on the River Thames between Millwall and Richmond

{{notelist}}

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• {{cite news |ref={{SfnRef|Daily Telegraph, 12 January,|1915}}|date= 2020|title= Boat Race Cancelled|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11336276/Daily-Telegraph-January-12-1915.html|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|issn=0307-1235|oclc=49632006|pages= 1–16|access-date= 12 January 2020 }}

{{commons category}}

• {{official website|http://theboatraces.org/ }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090511131254/http://www.itvtheboatrace.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Video/0,,12539,00.html Watch the 2007 Boat Race]
• [http://gnss-info.blogspot.com/2012/04/boat-race-su-google-earth.html The Boat Race course visualization on Google Earth/Maps] {{in lang|it}}

{{The Boat Race}}

{{Rowing (sport)}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boat Race}}

Category:1829 establishments in England

Category:Annual events in London

Category:Mortlake, London

Category:Putney

Category:Recurring sporting events established in 1829

Category:Rowing on the River Thames

Category:Regattas on the River Thames

Category:University rowing competitions in the United Kingdom

Category:Annual sporting events in the United Kingdom

Category:Sports competitions in London