The Boat Race 2022

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The Boat Race 2022
Date3 April 2022
← 2021 →

The Boat Race 2022 will take place on 3 April 2022. Usually held annually, The Boat Race is a side-by-side rowing race between crews from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge and is typically held along a 4.2-mile (6.8 km) tidal stretch of the River Thames in south-west London. This will be the 76th women's race and the 167th men's race. The previous year's race had taken place on the River Great Ouse following the cancellation of the 2020 race, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.

Background[]

Map of the Championship Course
The Championship Course along which the races will be conducted

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 usually takes place on the 4.2-mile (6.8 km) Championship Course, between Putney and Mortlake on the River Thames in south-west London.[2] The rivalry is a major point of honour between the two universities; the race is followed throughout the United Kingdom and broadcast worldwide.[3][4] Cambridge will enter the race as champions, having won the 2021 race, held on the River Great Ouse, by a margin of almost one length,[5] and lead overall with 85 victories to Oxford's 80 (excluding the 1877 race, a dead heat).[6][7]

It will be the fifth time in the history of The Boat Race that men's and women's races were held on the same day and on the same course, this time along the Tideway. Before 2015, the women's race, which first took place in 1927, was usually held at the Henley Boat Races along the 2,000-metre (2,200 yd) course. However, on at least two occasions in the interwar period, the women competed on the Thames between Chiswick and Kew.[8] Cambridge's women were also victorious in 2021 on the River Great Ouse course, winning by just under a length, which took the overall record in the Women's Boat Race to 45–30 in their favour.[5]

The autumn reception, when the previous year's losing team challenges the winners to a rematch, was held on 18 November 2021. As Cambridge's women had won the previous year's race, it was Oxford's responsibility to offer the traditional challenge to Cambridge. To that end, Amelia Standing, President of Oxford University Women's Boat Club (OUWBC), laid down the gauntlet to Bronya Sykes, her Cambridge counterpart. Cambridge's victory in the men's race meant that Martin Barakso, President of Oxford University Boat Club (OUBC), challenged Charlie Marcus, President of Cambridge University Boat Club (CUBC).[9]

In October 2021, the BBC announced that they would continue to broadcast the Boat Race in the United Kingdom after agreeing a four-year extension to their existing contract.[10]

Coaches[]

Sean Bowden is the chief coach for OUBC, having been responsible for the senior men's crew since 1997, winning 12 from the last 18 races. He is a former Great Britain Olympic coach and coached the Light Blues in the 1993 and 1994 Boat Races. His assistant coach was Brendan Gliddon, a South African who formerly coached under-23 and FISU teams for both South Africa and Great Britain. Alex Bowmer was OUBC's physical therapist.[11] The OUWBC chief coach for the second year was Andy Nelder, who previously worked with Bowden and OUBC for eleven years. He was assisted by James Powell.[12]

The Cambridge men's crew coaching team was led by their chief coach, Rob Baker, who had previously coached Cambridge's women to victories in both the 2017 and 2018 races. Cambridge women's chief coach was Patrick Ryan who joined as CUBC's women's assistant coach in 2013. CUBC's assistant coaches included Bill Lucas, Autumn Mantell and Nick Acock, with Henry Fieldman as the coxing coach and Donald Legget performing a supporting role.[13]

Trials[]

Each year before Christmas, each squad stages a race between two of their eights over the Boat Race distance called Trial VIIIs.[14] To minimise the risk of COVID-19 transmission, the previous year's trials took place on the River Great Ouse without spectators,[14] but the trials for the 2022 race were restored to the Championship Course. Initially scheduled for 19 December 2021, the women's trials were postponed to January as a result of COVID cases in each squad, while the men's trials were unaffected.[15]

Men[]

The OUBC men's trial boats were named Gondor and Rohan, after two of the fictional kingdoms in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings.[16] The trial race took place at 1 p.m. on 19 December 2021 in clear and calm conditions, under the supervision of trials umpire Matt Smith,[17] with Rohan occupying the Middlesex station and Gondor taking the Surrey side of the river. Rohan held a one-third of a length lead which was extended to almost a length by Fulham flats following aggressive steering from their cox. Gondor began to close the gap as the crews passed below Hammersmith Bridge but a push from Rohan took their lead to more than a length which they held onto to take the victory.[18]

CUBC's men's trial also took place on 19 December 2021, starting 35 minutes after their Oxford counterparts. Burpees won the coin toss and took the Surrey station, leaving Mr Sleepy on the Middlesex side of the river. Following aggressive steering from their cox, Mr Sleepy took an early lead but Burpees were level before Smith was required to warn both crews for clashing oars. Burpees held a slight lead on the approach to Harrods Furniture Depository and after a further blade clash, extended their advantage to two lengths by Barnes Bridge which they maintained to secure the win.[17]

Women[]

CUBC's women's trial, umpired by 1984 and 1985 Light Blue John Garret, took place in calm conditions at 14:45 p.m. on 6 January 2022 between Woody and Buzz, named after Ryan's dogs. After an early clash of blades, Woody took a three-quarter length lead which they extended to nearly a length by the Mile Post. Buzz responded and by Hammersmith Bridge had reduced the deficit to one third of a length before Woody pushed on to restore a one-length lead by St Paul's School. Under Barnes Bridge, Buzz started to gain on Woody but the latter replied and sprinted to the finish to secure a victory of just under one length.[19][20]

The OUWBC women's trial was conducted between Speed and Style, named in tribute to the manner in which the inaugural women's race in 1927 was judged.[a][22] Speed took the Surrey station leaving the Middlesex side of the river to Style. Speed took an early lead but following warnings to both crews from the umpire to avoid a clash, Style held a one-third length lead by the Mile Post. At Chiswick Eyot, the lead was down to one quarter of a length but Speed recovered better from an oar clash to hold a one-length advantage by Barnes Bridge. Despite a late push from Style, Speed held their lead to win the trial by around a length.[22]

Build-up[]

The official fixtures to be conducted in advance of The Boat Race were announced on 27 January 2022.[23]

Men[]

Women[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ In the 1927 Women's Boat Race, the crews were forbidden from racing side-by-side, and the winners were judged "rowing down stream for style and back again for speed" along the course "from the Free Ferry from the top of Iffley Reach to the Keble barge".[21]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Dark Blues aim to punch above their weight". The Observer. 6 April 2003. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  2. ^ Smith, Oliver (25 March 2014). "University Boat Race 2014: spectators' guide". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 1 July 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  3. ^ "Former Winnipegger in winning Oxford–Cambridge Boat Race crew". CBC News. 6 April 2014. Archived from the original on 24 September 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  4. ^ "TV and radio". The Boat Race Company Limited. Archived from the original on 10 January 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  5. ^ a b "Boat Race – Results". The Boat Race Company Limited. Archived from the original on 12 July 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  6. ^ Higginson, Marc (6 April 2014). "Boat Race 2014: Oxford emphatically beat Cambridge". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 24 March 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  7. ^ "Classic moments – the 1877 dead heat". The Boat Race Company Limited. Archived from the original on 26 October 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  8. ^ Quarrell, Rachel (8 February 2012). "Boat Race becomes 'the Boat Races' as women and men's university events are combined for 2015". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 16 December 2014. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  9. ^ "Challenges made and accepted". The Boat Race Company Limited. 27 November 2021. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  10. ^ "Boat Race: BBC to broadcast annual contest between Oxford and Cambridge until 2025". BBC Sport. 29 October 2021. Archived from the original on 23 November 2021. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  11. ^ "Staff – OUBC". Oxford University Boat Club. Archived from the original on 2 March 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  12. ^ "Coaching Team". Oxford University Women's Boat Club. Archived from the original on 2 March 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  13. ^ "Coaches And Support". Cambridge University Boat Club. Archived from the original on 2 March 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  14. ^ a b The Boat Race 2020, pp. 54–56.
  15. ^ "Women's Trial VIIIs races postponed". The Boat Race Company Limited. 16 December 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  16. ^ "Jack pulls off masterstroke to win Boat Race trial race". Monmouthshire Beacon. 8 January 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  17. ^ a b "Cambridge University Boat Club – Men's Trial Race Review". The Boat Race Company Limited. 21 December 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  18. ^ "Oxford University Boat Club Trial Eights Review". The Boat Race Company Limited. 19 December 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  19. ^ "Cambridge Women's Trial VIIIs Report". The Boat Race Company Limited. 7 January 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  20. ^ Kline, Liam (6 January 2022). "'Woody' beat 'Buzz' in CUBC Women's Trial VIIIs race". Varsity. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  21. ^ "Boat Race Practice – An Oxford victory". The Times. 16 March 1927. p. 7.
  22. ^ a b "Oxford University Women's Boat Club Trial Race Report". The Boat Race Company Limited. 19 January 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  23. ^ "The Gemini Boat Race 2022 Fixture Series starts Sunday 30th January". The Boat Race Company Limited. Retrieved 2 March 2022.

Bibliography[]

  • The Boat Race. The Boat Race Company Limited. December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.

External links[]

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