The Boat Race 2001

The 147th Boat Race was won by Cambridge by two-and-a-half lengths. It was the first time in the history of the event that the race was stopped and restarted, following a clash of blades.

In the reserve race Goldie beat Isis; Cambridge also won the Women's race.

Background

The Boat Race is an annual competition between the boat clubs of the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. First held in 1829, the competition is a 4.2-mile (6.8 km) race along the River Thames in southwest London.^[1] The rivalry is a major point of honour between the two universities and followed throughout the United Kingdom and worldwide.^[2] Oxford went into the race as reigning champions, having won the 2000 race by three lengths,^[3] but Cambridge led overall with 76 victories to Oxford's 69 (excluding the "dead heat" of 1877).^[4][5] The race was sponsored by Aberdeen Asset Management for the second consecutive year.^[6]

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.^[7] 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.^[3]

Crews

The Oxford crew (sometimes referred to as the "Dark Blues")^[6] consisted of seven Britons, an American and a Norwegian, while the Cambridge crew (sometimes referred to as the "Light Blues")^[6] was composed of six Britons, a German, an Australian and a British/American. The Cambridge crew weighed, on average, 4.5 pounds (2.0 kg) more than their rivals, while Josh West, Cambridge's number five, was the tallest rower, at 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m).^[8]

Seat	Oxford			Cambridge
	Name	Nationality	Age	Name	Nationality	Age
Bow	R E G Bourne-Taylor	British	19	C J C Swainson	British	23
2	M F Bonham	British	20	L P Hirst	Australian	28
3	E B Lilledahl	Norwegian	27	T M Edwards-Moss	British	20
4	I R W Weighell	British	25	R C E C Dunn	British	24
5	D R Snow (P)	British	22	A J West	British/American	23
6	B J Burch	British	21	K M West (P)	British	23
7	B T Palm	American	27	T A Stallard	British	22
Stroke	M J Smith	British	19	T Wooge	German	28
Cox	J C Moncrieff	British	19	C A Cormack	British	24
Sources:[9][10] (P) – boat club president

Race

Cambridge held a two length lead at Barnes Bridge.

Boat club presidents Kieran West and Dan Snow met on the banks of the Thames at Putney for the coin toss at soon after noon on 24 March 2001. Cambridge won the toss and elected to start from the Surrey station.^[11] While the river was calm, rain began to fall just prior the start of the race.^[11] Oxford took an early lead, but both coxes were given warnings by race umpire Rupert Obholzer. A clash of blades ensued, with Cambridge's bow Colin Swainson losing his oar; this resulted in Obholzer called for a restart for the first time in the history of the race.^[12] Once again, Oxford took the lead and held a two-second lead at Hammersmith Bridge.^[11] Although rating the same, Cambridge took the lead, to be ahead by half-a-length at the Surrey bend, and seven seconds ahead by Chiswick Steps. Extending their lead to more than two lengths by Barnes Bridge, Cambridge passed the finishing post in a time of 19 minutes 59 seconds.^[11] It was Cambridge's eighth win in nine races, and took their overall lead to 77 victories to Oxford's 69.^[3]

In the reserve race Goldie beat Isis by six lengths in a time of 19 minutes, 36 seconds.^[3] Cambridge also won the Women's race by three feet.^[3]

Reaction

Race umpire Obholzer stated "I could have disqualified Oxford but both sides were responsible".^[13] Cambridge president and number six West said "Both teams had a good row but we had good rhythm and pushed really hard",^[13] while Oxford president Snow remarked "The Boat Race is not fair... six months' work to be screwed by the system. We have got to deal with that".^[12] BBC commentator and former Light Blue president Richard Phelps believed that Cambridge "deserved" the win and that "it was the superior power and application of it that saw Cambridge slowly pull clear of Oxford".^[14] Cambridge coach Robin Williams said "It was a brave, quick decision by the umpire", while former Dark Blue and Olympic gold medallist Matthew Pinsent suggested the clash was simply a racing incident and that the race could have been allowed to continue. He added: "There is no yellow card offence between a warning and disqualification".^[12] Oxford coach Sean Bowden blamed the defeat on the restart: "We rowed with a lot of courage ... but having to restart after that great first take-off really hurt us. It just put us at a disadvantage from then on".^[15]

References

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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