The Boat Race 1976

The 122nd Boat Race, an annual side-by-side rowing race between crews from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge along the River Thames, took place on 20 March 1976 and was won by Oxford by six-and-a-half lengths in 16 minutes 58 seconds, the fastest time in the history of the race. The race was umpired by former Cambridge rower Farn Carpmael. It was the first race in the event for which an official weigh-in was held, and featured the heaviest rower ever in Steve Plunkett.

Oxford's Isis won the 12th running of the reserve race against Cambridge's Goldie, in a record time of 17 minutes 37 seconds. In the 31st Women's Boat Race, Oxford defeated Cambridge.

Background

The Boat Race is a side-by-side rowing competition between the University of Oxford (sometimes referred to as the "Dark Blues")^[1] and the University of Cambridge (sometimes referred to as the "Light Blues").^[1] The race was first held in 1829, and since 1845 has taken place on the 4.2-mile (6.8 km) Championship Course on the River Thames in southwest London.^[2][3] The rivalry is a "hotly contested point of honour" between the two universities.^[4] Cambridge went into the race as reigning champions, having won the 1975 race by five-and-a-half lengths,^[5] and led overall with 68 victories to Oxford's 52 (excluding the "dead heat" of 1877).^[6] The umpire for the race was Farn Carpmael, who had rowed for Cambridge in 1930 and 1931 races.^[7]

The first Women's Boat Race took place in 1927, but did not become an annual fixture until the 1960s. Up until 2014, the contest was conducted as part of the Henley Boat Races, but as of the 2015 race, it is held on the River Thames, on the same day as the men's main and reserve races.^[8] The reserve race, contested between Oxford's Isis boat and Cambridge's Goldie boat has been held since 1965. It usually takes place on the Tideway, prior to the main Boat Race.^[5]

By invitation from the Oxford boat club president Graham Innes,^[9] Oxford were coached by former Blue Dan Topolski while Cambridge were led by Czechoslovakian former international rower Bohumil Janoušek (more commonly known as Bob Janousek).^[10] Preparations during the week before the race were underwhelming for both crews. Oxford's performance against a University of London crew was described by Jim Railton of The Times as "abysmal" while Cambridge "disgraced themselves" in a subsequent two-and-a-half-length defeat by their own reserve crew, Goldie.^[11] Both crews had faced the "Lubrication Laboratory" crew from Imperial College London, a "hotbed of rowing",^[12] in the lead-up to the official race, but changes in personnel and differences in conditions and race lengths did not demonstrate a clear favourite.^[13]

The day before the race, British bookmaking company Ladbrokes announced that they would sponsor the race from the following year. From 1977, each boat club would be awarded £10,000 and would compete for The Ladbroke Cup.^[14]

Crews

For the first time in the history of the event, an official weigh-in was held, organised by The Sunday Times and weighing machine manufacturers W & T Avery Ltd.^[15] Oxford's crew was the heaviest of all time, at an average of just under 14 st 1 lb (89.0 kg) per rower, 4.5 pounds (2.0 kg) more than their opposition,^[11] and the first time in the race history, a crew weighed more than an average of 14 st (88.7 kg).^[16] The Dark Blue crew also included Steve Plunkett who, at 16 st 5 lb (103.6 kg) was the heaviest rower in the history of the race.^[11] The Cambridge crew were inexperienced, their only Blue being the Cambridge University Boat Club president Henry Clay who had rowed in the 1975 race. In contrast, Oxford welcomed back five of their 1975 crew including cox Ashton Calvert, and also included two from the victorious 1975 Isis crew.^[11] Two non-British rowers participated, Americans Dick Cashin (of Harvard) for Cambridge and Ken Brown (of Cornell) for Oxford.^[17]

Seat	Oxford			Cambridge
	Name	College	Weight	Name	College	Weight
Bow	D. R. H. Beak	Oriel	13 st 6 lb	D. J. Searle	St Catharine's	12 st 7 lb
2	G. S. Innes (P)	Oriel	13 st 10 lb	R. R. A. Breare	Pembroke	14 st 6 lb
3	A. D. Edwards	St Peters	13 st 0 lb	M. R. Gritten	Queens'	14 st 0 lb
4	R. S. Mason	Keble	13 st 6 lb	M. P. Wells	Selwyn	14 st 12 lb
5	S. G. H. Plunkett	Queen's	16 st 3 lb	P. B. Davies	1st & 3rd Trinity	14 st 1 lb
6	K. C. Brown	Christ Church	14 st 5 lb	R. M. Cashin	1st & 3rd Trinity	14 st 12 lb
7	A. J. Wiggins	Keble	13 st 5 lb	J. H. Clay (P)	Pembroke	12 st 11 lb
Stroke	A. G. H. Baird	Christ Church	12 st 10 lb	R. Harpum	Jesus	12 st 4 lb
Cox	J. N. Calvert	St Edmund Hall	9 st 4 lb	J. P. Manser	Sidney Sussex	9 st 5 lb
Source:[11] (P) – boat club president[18]

Race

The Championship Course along which the Boat Race is contested

Oxford won the toss and elected to start from the Surrey station.^[19] Leading from the outset, and in calm river conditions, Oxford were a length ahead within a minute. Four lengths up by the Mile Post, which they reached in a record 3 minutes 35 seconds,^[20] the Dark Blues reduced their rating.^[21] Further milestone records were broken at Hammersmith Bridge, Chiswick Steps and Barnes Bridge.^[20] Oxford reduced their rating but still extended their lead to six lengths by the finishing post, in a record-breaking time of 16 minutes 58 seconds, 37 seconds quicker than their 1974 colleagues who had previously held the record.^[21] Although Cambridge also beat the existing record, they finished a distant 22 seconds and six-and-a-half lengths behind.^[20]

Reaction

Oxford coach Topolski said of his successful crew: "they got three [lengths] up, then they really sat on it and cruised. The enjoyed the row. It's a natural thing when the other crew is so far behind."^[20] He was critical of the Cambridge crew: "They didn't really have a lot of talent."^[20]

The official winning distance caused controversy. A discrepancy between the official margin (six-and-a-half lengths) and those reported in various British newspapers, including The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Times resulted in a delay in bookmakers paying out on winning bets.^[22]

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Burnell, Richard (1979). One Hundred and Fifty Years of the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. Precision Press. ISBN 0950063878. 
• Dodd, Christopher (1983). The Oxford & Cambridge Boat Race. Stanley Paul. ISBN 0091513405. 

External links

• Official website

The Boat Race
	Oxford University Boat Club (crews) Oxford University Women's Boat Club Cambridge University Boat Club (crews) Cambridge University Women's Boat Club
	The Championship Course Results Blue Boat Goldie Stones
	Henley Boat Races OU Lightweight Rowing Club OU Women's Lightweight Rowing Club CU Lightweight Rowing Club CU Women's Lightweights
	The Boat Race 1829 1836 1839 1840 1841 1842 1845 1846 1849 1849 1852 1854 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
	Women's Boat Race 1927 1929 1930 1934 1935 1936 1939 1941 1973 1974 1975 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1993 1994 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
	The Boat Races 2015 2016 2017
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