The Boat Race 2004

The 150th Boat Race took place on 28 March 2004. Cambridge won by six lengths after a race with several clashes of oars. Oxford's appeal for a re-row upon the conclusion of the race was rejected by umpire James Behrens. The event was sponsored for the final time by Aberdeen Asset Management and broadcast in the United Kingdom by the BBC.

In the reserve race Isis beat Goldie; Oxford also won the Women's Boat Race.

Background

The Boat Race is a side-by-side rowing competition between 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 Championship Course on 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 2003 race by 1 foot (0.30 m),^[3] with Cambridge leading overall with 77 victories to Oxford's 71 (excluding the "dead heat" of 1877).^[4][5] The race was sponsored by Aberdeen Asset Management for the fifth and final time.^[6] It was also the BBC's 50th anniversary of live broadcast of the event.^[7]

The first Women's Boat Race took place in 1927, but did not become an annual fixture until the 1960s. 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.^[3]

Crews

The Championship Course along which the crews row during the Boat Race

The Cambridge crew (sometimes referred to as the "Light Blues")^[9] weighed an average of 1 pound (0.45 kg) per rower more than their opponents,^[10] and had an average age of 24 while Oxford's crew (sometimes referred to as the "Dark Blues")^[9] averaged 23. The Oxford crew featured seven Britons and two Americans, while the Cambridge crew consisted of three Britons, a British/American, a German/French, a German, an American and an Australian.^[11][12]

Seat	Cambridge			Oxford
	Name	Nationality	Age	Name	Nationality	Age
Bow	Christopher Le Neve Foster	British	22	Chris Kennelly	American	23
2	Kris Coventry	Australian	26	Basil Dixon	British	22
3	Hugo Mallinson	British/American	24	Andrew Stubbs	British	23
4	Sebastian Mayer	German/French	29	Joel Scrogin	American	26
5	Andrew Shannon	British	24	Peter Reed	British	22
6	Steffen Buschbacher	German	26	David Livingston	British	20
7	Wayne Pommen	Canadian	24	Henry Morris	British	21
Stroke	Nate Kirk	American	23	Colin Smith	British	20
Cox	Kenelm Richardson	British	19	Acer Nethercott	British	26

Race description

The flotilla following the two University crews towards Chiswick Bridge

Oxford were considered to be pre-race favourites by many.^[13] Cambridge won the coin toss and elected to start from the northern bank (the "Middlesex side") of the Thames. Conditions were described as "fairly calm".^[13]

Oxford made the better start, pulling away to a lead of half a length, but following a number of oar clashes, the Oxford bowman lost his seating, causing his boat to slow.^[4] Cambridge took the lead and with clear water behind them, pulled away to win. Cambridge finished with a time of 18 minutes, 47 seconds, Oxford finishing six lengths behind.^[3][13] It was Cambridge's first victory since 2001 and brought the overall result to 78–71 in Cambridge's favour.^[3] Oxford's cox Nethercott made an appeal to the umpire but the result stood.^[13] At the finish, following tradition, the Cambridge crew threw their cox, Kenelm Richardson, into the water in celebration.^[14]

In the reserve race, Oxford's Isis beat Cambridge's Goldie. Earlier at Henley, Oxford won the 59th Women's Boat Race by four lengths.^[3]

Reaction

Oxford cox Acer Nethercott said "Our bowman came off his seat and could not continue properly – it was race over after that."^[4] Regarding the rejected appeal, he claimed that the umpire "had laid down to both coxes before the race that there was a way he wanted to conduct the race. And then he did something completely different in the race."^[15] Kennelly, the bowman, claimed he was "100 per cent confident that if what happened didn't happen we would have won" while Cambridge cox Kenelm Richardson stated "The umpire was very good and told me to hold my line, so I knew I was exactly where I needed to be".^[16]

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
Category Commons