The Boat Race 1983

The 129th Boat Race took place on 2 April 1983. Held annually, the event is a side-by-side rowing race between crews from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge along the River Thames. The pre-race preparation saw Cambridge threaten to boycott the race for the first time, following the inclusion of Boris Rankov in the Oxford boat. The crews were the two heaviest in the history of the event, and featured ten former Boat Race competitors. Oxford won the race by four-and-a-half lengths.

Isis won the reserve race, while Cambridge were victorious in the Women's Boat Race.

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] First held in 1829, the race takes place on the 4.2 miles (6.8 km) Championship Course on the River Thames in southwest London.^[2] The rivalry is a major point of honour between the two universities and followed throughout the United Kingdom and broadcast worldwide.^[3][4] Oxford were the reigning champions, having beaten Cambridge by three-and-a-quarter lengths in the previous year's race. However, Cambridge held the overall lead, with 68 victories to Oxford's 59. The race was sponsored by Ladbrokes;^[5] the winner was awarded the Ladbrokes Trophy.^[6]

On 7 March 1983, Cambridge issued a statement suggesting that they might boycott the race following a dispute over Oxford's selection of Boris Rankov as a member of their crew.^[5] Veteran of the previous five Boat Races, all of which were Dark Blue victories, Cambridge argued Rankov was ineligible for inclusion as he was a lecturer at the university.^[7] Coach David Townsend of the University of London offered the services of his crew to provide an opponent for Oxford, should Cambridge refuse to participate.^[8] Rankov himself had offered to withdraw from the race, but the Dark Blues' committee rejected this.^[8] Cambridge finally agreed to race after they reached an agreement with Oxford to discuss and possibly tighten the eligibility criteria.^[7] This ultimately led to establishment of the so-called "Rankov Rule", which states that oarsmen will compete in the race no more than four times as an undergraduate and no more than four times as a graduate.^[9]

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.^[10] 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.^[11]

Crews

The two crews were the heaviest in Boat Race history, Oxford averaging 14 stone 8 lbs (92.3 kg) per rower, nearly 7 pounds (3.2 kg) a man heavier than the Cambridge crew, and were pre-race favourites to win an eighth consecutive race.^[12] Cambridge's crew featured six unsuccessful Blues, while Oxford's boat contained four Blues with ten Boat Race victories between them.^[12] While seven of the Oxford rowers were international post-graduates, Cambridge's crew included seven undergraduates.^[13] The average age of the Oxford crew was 25, four years more than Cambridge.^[8]

Seat	Oxford			Cambridge
	Name	College	Weight	Name	College	Weight
Bow	W J Lang	Magdalen	14 st 13 lb	E MD Pearson	Jesus	12 st 10 lb
2	H E Clay	Magdalen	14 st 6 lb	A R Knight	Clare	12 st 9 lb
3	H P Yonge	New College	14 st 8 lb	B M Philp	Downing	15 st 5 lb
4	G R D Jones	New College	14 st 5 lb	C D Heard	Lady Margaret Boat Club	15 st 7 lb
5	N B Rankov	St Hugh's	15 st 5 lb	S W Berger	1st Trinity	15 st 5 lb
6	J M Evans	University	14 st 6 lb	P R W Sheppard	Lady Margaret Boat Club	15 st 11 lb
7	W M Evans	University	14 st 6 lb	J L Garrett	Lady Margaret Boat Club	14 st 7 lb
Stroke	J L Bland	Merton	14 st 4 lb	S A Harris	Queens'	?
Cox	S E Higgins	Exeter	8 st 0 lb	I Bernstein	Emmanuel	7 st 10 lb
Source:[12]

Race

The Championship Course along which the Boat Race is contested

Cambridge won the toss and elected to start from the Surrey station.^[6] Oxford, rowing at a higher rate, took an early lead and were clear of Cambridge by the Mile Post. Extending their lead to six seconds by Hammersmith Bridge, Oxford pushed on to lead by nine seconds at Chiswick Steps.^[6] Despite trying to keep in touch, Cambridge were four lengths behind at Barnes Bridge and trailed by 13 seconds as Oxford passed the finishing post.^[6] Oxford won by four-and-a-half lengths in a time of 19 minutes 7 seconds.^[11]

This was Oxford's eighth consecutive victory, and their ninth in ten years, and took the overall record to 68–60 in favour of Cambridge.^[11] The race was watched by 14 million television viewers.^[13]

In the reserve race, Oxford's Isis beat Cambridge's Goldie by six-and-a-half lengths,^[6] while Cambridge won the 38th Women's Boat Race.^[11]

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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