The Boat Race 1954

The Boat Race is a side-by-side rowing competition between the University of Oxford (sometimes referred to as the "Dark Blues"){{Cite web | url = https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2003/apr/06/theobserver | work = The Observer | title = Dark Blues aim to punch above their weight | date = 6 April 2003 | access-date = 12 July 2014 }} and the University of Cambridge (sometimes referred to as the "Light Blues"). First held in 1829, the race takes place on the {{convert|4.2|mi|km|adj=on}} Championship Course on the River Thames in southwest London.{{Cite web | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/uk/london/10719622/University-Boat-Race-2014-spectators-guide.html | work = The Daily Telegraph | access-date = 12 July 2014 | date = 25 March 2014 |title = University Boat Race 2014: spectators' guide | first = Oliver |last =Smith}} The rivalry is a major point of honour between the two universities; it is followed throughout the United Kingdom and, as of 2014, broadcast worldwide.{{cite news|title=Former Winnipegger in winning Oxford–Cambridge Boat Race crew|date=6 April 2014|publisher=CBC News|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/former-winnipegger-in-winning-oxford-cambridge-boat-race-crew-1.2600176|access-date=9 July 2014}}{{Cite web | url = http://theboatraces.org/tv-and-radio | title = TV and radio | publisher = The Boat Race Company Limited | access-date = 12 July 2014 | archive-date = 8 August 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160808043710/http://theboatraces.org/tv-and-radio | url-status = dead }} Cambridge went into the race as reigning champions, having won the 1953 race by eight lengths, and led overall with 54 victories to Oxford's 44 (excluding the "dead heat" of 1877).{{Cite web | url = http://theboatraces.org/results| publisher =The Boat Race Company Limited | title = Boat Race – Results| access-date = 12 July 2014}}{{Cite web | url= http://theboatraces.org/classic-moments-the-1877-dead-heat | publisher = The Boat Race Company Limited | title = Classic moments – the 1877 dead heat | access-date = 12 July 2014| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141028142809/http://theboatraces.org/classic-moments-the-1877-dead-heat | archive-date= 28 October 2014}}

Cambridge were coached by N. B. M. Clack (who had rowed in the 1952 race), James Crowden (who had represented Cambridge in the 1951 and 1952 races) and R. H. H. Symonds (who had rowed in the 1931 race). Oxford's coaches were Hugh "Jumbo" Edwards (a Blue in 1926 and 1930), W. J. Llewellyn-Jones, J. H. Page and A. D. Rowe (who had represented Oxford in the 1948 and 1949 races).Burnell, pp. 110–111 The race was umpired for the fourth time by the former British Olympian Kenneth Payne, who had rowed for Cambridge in the 1932 and 1934 races.Burnell, pp. 49, 74{{Cite web | url = https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/pa/kenneth-payne-1.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200418042641/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/pa/kenneth-payne-1.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 18 April 2020 | publisher = Sports Reference | title = Kenneth Payne Bio, Stats, and Results| access-date = 10 February 2015}}

During the build-up to the race, the rowing correspondent for The Times had suggested that "until three weeks ago a Cambridge victory seemed almost certain" but practice rows had proved disappointing. The Oxford crew had been struck down by influenza in training, and had to reshuffle their order a month before the race. Although the new order "seemed weak", they made better progress in training than Cambridge, yet the Light Blues, who were described as "well drilled" but with "erratic timekeeping" nevertheless remained "precarious favourites".

The Cambridge crew weighed an average of 12 st 9.5 lb (80.3 kg), {{convert|5|lb|kg|1}} per rower more than their opponents. The Oxford crew saw two members return to the boat, including the cox W. R. Marsh and their boat club president H. M. C. Quick, who was making his third consecutive appearance. Cambridge's crew contained a single participant with Boat Race experience in their stroke and boat club president J. A. N. Wallis. According to the rowing correspondent for The Times, "perhaps the crews have never been more closely matched".{{Cite news | title = Cambridge weight may be decisive | work = The Times | page = 7 | date = 3 April 1954 | issue = 52897}} Oxford's crew contained four non-British participants, all of them Australian, in E. V. Vine, J. A. Gobbo, J. G. McLeod and Edward Pain.Burnell, p. 39

File:University Boat Race Thames map.svg along which the Boat Race is contested]]

Oxford won the toss and elected to start from the Surrey station, handing the Middlesex side of the river to Cambridge.Burnell, p. 78 In a stiff south-westerly wind, umpire Payne started the race at 12:45 p.m.{{Cite news | title = Oxford win the Boat Race| work = The Times | date = 5 April 1954 | page = 5 | issue = 52898}} Oxford made a quick start, and according to the rowing correspondent of The Times "literally leaped away, seemingly to row two strokes almost before Cambridge had begun". By the end of the first minute, the Dark Blues were a few feet ahead but with the bend in the river favouring Cambridge, the crews were level by Craven Steps. Despite a push from Cambridge's stroke M. J. Marshall, the Light Blues could not gain any advantage and both crews passed the Mile Post level.

Although rating slightly lower than their opposition, Oxford made the best of the bend in the river at Harrods Furniture Depository to lead by about a canvas-length by the time they passed below Hammersmith Bridge. A strong headwind faced both crews as they rowed into Chiswick Reach and Cambridge struggled in the rough water in the middle of the river. Oxford, whose cox W. R. Marsh had steered towards the shelter of the Surrey shore, gained a length in half a minute, extending out to almost four lengths by Barnes Bridge. Oxford won by {{frac|4|1|2}} lengths in a time of 20 minutes 23 seconds, for their second victory in eight years.

Notes

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Bibliography

• {{Cite book | title = One Hundred and Fifty Years of the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race | first = Richard | last = Burnell | author-link = Dickie Burnell | year=1979| isbn= 0950063878 | publisher = Precision Press}}
• {{Cite book | title = The Oxford & Cambridge Boat Race | first = Christopher| last = Dodd | isbn= 0091513405 | publisher =Stanley Paul |year= 1983}}

• [http://theboatraces.org/ Official website]

{{The Boat Race}}

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Category:1954 in English sport

Category:1954 in rowing

Category:The Boat Race

Category:April 1954 sports events in the United Kingdom

Category:1954 in sport in London