Another year, another Easter vac, another boat race. For the 160th time 8 big people and 1 small person from Oxford will pit their oars against 8 big people and 1 small person from the Other Place. Expect drama, expect rivalry, expect Pimm’s. Here’s all you need to know:
The History
- This is the 160th boat race. The first was in 1829 (and Oxford won)
- Cambridge are winning overall, with 81 victories to Oxford’s 77
- Oxford won last year
- There has only ever been one dead heat, in 1877. There probably won’t be a dead heat this year
The Crews
The Valiant Oxford Warriors:
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Oxford Storming to Victory
- Bow: Storm Uru (29 / 190cm / 80.4kg / Keble)
- 2: Tom Watson (25 / 181cm / 72.1kg / Brasenose)
- 3: Karl Hudspith (26 / 199.5cm / 91kg / St Peters)
- 4: Tom Swartz (24 / 189 / 81.2kg / Christ Church
- 5: Malcolm Howard (31 / 200cm / 108.2kg / Oriel)
- 6: Michael Di Santo (24 / 184cm / 89.2kg / Trinity)
- 7: Sam O’Connor (26 / 185cm / 88.8kg / Christ Church)
- Stroke: Constantine Louloudis (22 / 190cm / 93.6kg / Trinity)
- Cox: Laurence Harvey (20 / 174cm / 54.8kg / St. Hugh’s)
The Cambridge Team:
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Cambridge looking worried
- Bow: Mike Thorp (23 / 194cm / 88kg / Homerton)
- 2: Luke Juckett (23 / 186 / 84.2 / St. Edmund’s)
- 3: Ivo Dawkins (20 / 203cm / 89.2kg / Gonville & Caius)
- 4: Steve Dudek (25 / 203cm / 101kg / St. Edmund’s)
- 5: Helge Gruetjen (26 / 204cm / 96.6kg / Magdalene)
- 6: Matthew Jackson (23 / 198 / 94.4kg / St. Edmund’s)
- 7: Joshua Hooper (25 / 194cm / 92kg / St. Edmund’s)
- 8: Henry Hoffstot (23 / 195cm / 89.6kg / Hughes Hall)
- Stroke: Ian Middleton (18 / 173cm / 53.6kg / Queen’s)
Oxford are slightly lighter than their Cambridge counterparts (and the heavier crew has won 9 of the last 12 races), but are slightly more experienced with an average age of 26 compared to the Light Blues’ 24.
It’s not all about Sunday…
Whilst the men’s race on Sunday afternoon gets all the glitz and glamour, blue lycra has seen the light of day on a few occasions recently:
- The women have already raced and Oxford won (for the sixth time in seven years), this time by 4 lengths
- Oxford also won the women’s reserves by ½ length
- Cambridge men’s lightweights proved too good for Oxford, winning by 3 ½ lengths
- But the women’s lightweights tipped the balance back in Oxford’s favour with a 3 ½ lengths victory themselves
- Earlier today, the veteran’s battled it out on the Thames, with a victory for Cambridge by 1¼ length. Might well be a consolation prize for tomorrow.
Who’s gonna win?
- According to the bookies, Oxford. Bet365 has Oxford at 3/10 and Cambridge at 5/2 at the time of publishing. They offer odds of 100/1 for a dead heat if you’re feeling brave.
- James Cracknell said in The Telegraph that he didn’t know who was going to win
- Pippa Middleton also told The Telegraph that she’s supporting Cambridge, so it’s anyone’s race
What about the goats?
It wouldn’t be The Boat Race without The Goat Race. Two goats (one representing Oxford and one representing Cambridge) will go head to head sometime between 2 and 5 (depending on the goats). It’s at Spitalfields City Farm, but (understandably) tickets have sold out for this year. Aspiring news reporter Rowan Borchers (@RowanBorchers) will be keeping us up to date.
Where can I keep up to date?
We’ll be running a liveblog, don’t you know. So Tweet us, email us, Vine us, Instagram us etc. and we’ll feature the best throughout the day.
The race starts at 17.55, but we’ll be getting underway at noon. Join us here then!
