The Oxford and Cambridge Boat race is an annual boat race between the two universities in England, Oxford and Cambridge. The idea came about in early 1829 by two friends, Charles Merivale and Charles Wordsworth who were attending the two universities at the time. In March of 1829, Cambridge university invited Oxford university to a challenge, and ever since then the boat races have been a tradition for the two well established educational institutions.

The very first boat race was held on the River Thames in Henley, Oxfordshire and according to the local newspapers, 20,000 spectators attended to watch the two teams compete. There was a false start that year and the two teams had to row back for a restart. Oxford won the first race well ahead of Cambridge. Because of the popularity of the race, the citizens of Henley subsequently founded the Henley Royal Regatta which is now another annual boat racing event.

In 1836, the next boat races were held in Westminster in London, where it was held over the next 15 years. The next races didn’t take place until 1845, and the crowds had become so large that the location could no longer cater for such a high number of spectators and so the races were held in Putney, not far from Westminster. In 1856 races then became an annual event as it was so popular among spectators.

In 1859, the races were very interesting for everyone watching as the Cambridge boat sank, and so the race was a draw – i.e it was not won by any of the teams. In 1873, for the first time the race was rowed by teams in boats with sliding seats – a new modern ‘technology’ for boat racing. In 1898, the Cambridge team’s boat almost sank a second time when it began leaking water, but they did manage to finish the race in the end. Of course, they were unable to win due to their difficult rowing conditions.

Two years later, Cambridge managed to win the race and did so by 20 lengths. In 1912, coincidentally the same year that the Titanic set sail and sank, the race had to be rescheduled because both boats sank in March, so the race was postponed until 1st April that year. Then from 1915-1919 the boat races were cancelled as World War I was underway.

In 1925, Oxford’s boat sank and so once again the race was not completed and was a tie. In 1927, the boat races were broadcast by the BBC for the first time, and then 1945 saw Oxford sink again. The 100th boat race was celebrated in 1954 when Cambridge won the race, and 1976 saw the first sponsored race, sponsored by Ladbrokes Bookmakers. 1981 was the year that the first woman entered the boat races and her team (Oxford) won. It wasn’t until 1985 that we saw the first female racer from Cambridge.

From 2004-2009 Oxford won 4 of 5 races, but Cambridge took the title back last year winning by 1 1/3 lengths.