The 151st Boat Race took place on 27 March 2005. Oxford won the race by two lengths in a time of 16 minutes 41 seconds. The race, umpired by the six-time Boat Race winner

Boris Rankov Nikolas Boris Rankov (born 9 August 1954) is a British professor of Roman history at Royal Holloway, University of London, Royal Holloway, University of London. He is a former rower and current umpire. Early life, education and family Rankov was ...

, featured seven Olympic rowers. It was the first time the event was broadcast in the United Kingdom on ITV. In the reserve race

Goldie Clifford Joseph Price MBE (born 19 September 1965), better known as Goldie, is an English music producer, DJ, and actor. Initially gaining exposure for his work as a graffiti artist, Goldie became well known for his pioneering role as a musi ...

beat Isis and Cambridge won the Women's race.

Background

The Boat Race The Boat Race is an annual set of rowing races between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club, traditionally rowed between open-weight eights on the River Thames in London, England. It is also known as the U ...

is an annual

rowing eight An eight, abbreviated as an 8+, is a racing shell used in competitive rowing (crew). It is designed for eight rowers, who propel the boat with sweep oars, and is steered by a coxswain, or "cox". Each of the eight rowers has one oar. The rowers ...

competition between the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

and the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. First held in 1829, the competition is a race along

The Championship Course The Championship Course is a stretch of the River Thames between Mortlake and Putney in London, England. It is a well-established course for rowing races, particularly the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. The course is on the tidal reaches of t ...

on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

in southwest London. The rivalry is a major point of honour between the two universities and followed throughout the United Kingdom and worldwide. Cambridge went into the race as reigning champions, having won the 2004 race by six lengths, and led overall with 78 victories to Oxford's 71 (excluding the "dead heat" of 1877). The race was sponsored by

Xchanging Xchanging is a business process and technology services provider and integrator, owned by DXC Technology, providing business services to the commercial insurance industry. In outsourcing, Xchanging will typically take over a customer's business ...

for the first time, and it was the first year the event was televised in the United Kingdom by ITV, following a £1.75 million pound five-year deal, therefore ending the 50-year relationship the event had with the BBC. The first

Women's Boat Race The Women's Boat Race is an annual rowing (sport), rowing race between Cambridge University Boat Club and Oxford University Women's Boat Club. First rowed in 1927, the race has taken place annually since 1964. Since the The Boat Races 2015, 20 ...

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 The Henley Boat Races were a series of annual rowing races between various crews representing the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. The event included the Lightweight Men's Boat Race from 1975 to 2018, the Women's Boat R ...

, 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. 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.

Crews

The Oxford crew (sometimes referred to as the "Dark Blues") was the heaviest in Boat Race history, with over a per crew member over the Cambridge crew (sometimes referred to as the "Light Blues"). Both crews had an average age of 25. The Oxford crew featured five Britons, three Americans and a Canadian while the Cambridge crew consisted of four Germans, three Britons, an American and an Australian. Seven of the rowers had represented their countries at the Olympic Games. In the Cambridge crew, Heidicker rowed for Germany at both the

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and Athens games, Briton Tom James, German Sebastian Schulte and American Luke Walton also rowed in Athens. Oxford's Olympians included Britons Andy Triggs Hodge and Robin Bourne-Taylor, and Canadian Barney Williams, all of whom competed in Athens. According to the BBC, the former Oxford coach Dan Topolski rated both crews as good enough to make an Olympic final.

Race description

Cambridge won the coin toss and elected to start from the northern bank (the "Middlesex side") of the Thames. At race time, conditions were cloudy and cool, with rain falling midway through. The race umpire was

, a six-time successful Oxford

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

. Cambridge made a poor start allowing Oxford to take the early lead, but warnings from umpire Rankov forced the Oxford cox Acer Nethercott to steer out of the racing line and relinquish the advantage. As they approached

Hammersmith Bridge Hammersmith Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the River Thames in west London. It links the southern part of Hammersmith in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, on the north side of the river, with Barnes in the London Boroug ...

, Oxford out-rated Cambridge and held a half-a-length lead. Taking a clear-water advantage before reaching Barnes Bridge, Oxford passed the finishing post two lengths ahead, with a time of 16 minutes, 41 seconds. It was their third victory in the previous four years and brought the overall result to 78–72 in Cambridge's favour. At the finish, following tradition, the Oxford crew threw their cox, Nethercott, into the water in celebration. In the reserve race, Cambridge's

beat Oxford's Isis. Earlier, Cambridge won the 60th

by lengths.

Reaction

Oxford's number two, Williams, had lost out on gold in the Athens Olympics by two inches, he said "I knew how much it was going to hurt to lose so half of me is just so glad we didn't lose". The departing Cambridge coach

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and comedie ...

said of his crew "They fought like tigers and should be proud of themselves". Cambridge's stroke Heidicker admitted "It was a bad start ... we never really established our own rhythm. Maybe we weren't cool enough in that situation."

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boat Race 2005 The Boat Race 2005 in rowing 2005 in sport in London March 2005 sports events in the United Kingdom