Arcadia England

Every year around Easter time Londoners, and to a certain extent the rest of the UK, take sides cheering for the rowing teams of this country’s elite universities Oxford and Cambridge.  Known simply as ‘The Boat Race’, the two universities’ top men’s rowing VIIIs meet in London and race the four miles between Putney Bridge and Chiswick Bridge. This year they will do so on Sunday April 6, for the 160th time.

The race is uniquely historical and grueling.  First raced in 1829, ‘The Boat Race’ is one of the world’s oldest sporting events. At three times the traditional and Olympic race length of 2 kilometers it is a spectacle of athleticism.  Almost more unique is the British populace’s interest in this event because rowing in general does not get much national sporting coverage and only a small percentage of UK residents are alumni of either educational institution.

For Americans, where rowing is associated with elite east coast universities, the widespread popularity of rowing in Britain might intrigue. Team GB won 9 medals, 3 of them gold, in the rowing events of London 2012 Olympics.  Before and since Britain has also dominated the World Rowing Championships.  But, it is not just at an elite level that this sport is part of British culture.  Along the waterways of the Thames valley and other major rivers local rowing clubs are an important part of social life and recreation.  British Rowing, the organizing body for these clubs, has over 30,000 members!

The sports teams that represent the universities in inter-university sport and their athletes are called ‘blues’ because they wear Cambridge’s ‘light blue’ (really more of an aqua) or Oxford’s ‘dark blue’ as their team colors.  These blues represent the best athletes of each university’s many colleges.  Everyday-students are unlikely to know many blues athletes well because they must spend so much of their time training. This is even more explicitly the case for the rowing teams, which are highly competitive and require a serious commitment to training from their student athletes.  Training every day, twice a day, up at 5 AM to fit a training session before class and another in the afternoon.  When combined with the serious academic load these athletes carry it becomes clear just how exceptionally hard they have been working for the past nine months. 

The stakes are high—the boat that comes in second is also last—and each team member has made sacrifices and demonstrated serious dedication which makes this event a thrill to watch even if you are not affiliated with either university, and even if you do not know much about rowing! So plan on joining in on this British cultural event this Sunday and watch the Boat Race!

Where to Watch:

For those of you in London, it’s easy to join the throngs of spectators along the Thames estuary between Putney Bridge and Chiswick Bridge.  Exciting (and packed) at the start in Putney, or the finish at Chiswick, but in the middle of the race, for example at Hammersmith Bridge you can view the action just as well.  Because the race is so long, and the river has so many bends it is not possible to see the start and the finish.  Therefore, race sponsors also broadcast live footage of the race on giant screens making almost anywhere a good place to view.

Since even those in London are watching a portion of the race on video, it can be just as fun to watch the coverage of the event on the BBC. This broadcast usually has useful overview of the crews, the race, and the sport to help new-comers get invested in the event.  You can also watch the race after the fact via BBC iplayer!

What to watch out for:

Many an exciting and controversial thing has happened in these races over the past 159 Sisyphean pairings. For one, there has been newsworthy concern about the make-up of each training squad. Some viewers have questioned whether the rowers accurately represent British student life, either because the boat is composed of international students, graduate students, or students who seem to have taken up study in order to do the boat race.  Races have been controversially stopped and restarted based on umpires’ safety concerns and aggressive steering by the boats’ coxes.  Most recently, a protester swam into the racing line to draw attention to the elitism upheld by these universities, causing outrage and a sudden stop to the event when it was well underway.

Make a day of it:

If you are going to the river on race day, even though the start is not until 5:55 PM, there is a reserve boat race at 3:55 PM, and much festivity along the river banks. There are several good pubs along the river; especially tasty are The Duke’s Head (at the start), The Blue Anchor (midway, by hammersmith), The Dove (also Hammersmith), and The Ship (for the finish!).

If you can’t get down to the river, try organizing a viewing on TV with some friends and snacks.  Along with planning a meal, you can plan some trivia games or hijinks with the ‘Which Blue are You?’ App.

Make a night of it:

If you can’t get enough rowing once the race is over, check out the classic, and cheesy, boat race films of True Blue (1996) or Oxford Blues (1984).

Useful links:

THE BNY MELLON BOAT RACE

Boat Race - How To Enjoy The London Boat Race

Thanks to Stephanie Solywoda, our Oxford office staff, for this fantastic post.