The 156th Boat Race took place on 3 April 2010. Held annually, the event is a side-by-side rowing race between crews from the Universities of

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

along 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 ...

. The race was won by Cambridge. Of the eighteen competitors in the race, six were British. Of the non-British rowers, the Oxford crew featured the American Olympic finalists, the Winklevoss twins. It was the first time the race had a title sponsor; it was also known as the "Xchanging Boat Race", having been 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 ...

. Oxford won the

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 ...

by four lengths while Cambridge's

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 Oxford's Isis in the reserve 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 a side-by-side rowing 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 ...

(sometimes referred to as the "Dark Blues") 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 ...

(sometimes referred to as the "Light Blues"). First held in 1829, the race takes place on 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 sport rowing, rowing races, particularly the The Boat Race, Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. The course ...

on the

in southwest London. The rivalry is a major point of honour between the two universities and followed throughout the United Kingdom and broadcast worldwide. Oxford went into the race as reigning champions, having won the 2009 race by lengths, while Cambridge led overall with 79 victories to Oxford's 75 (excluding the "dead heat" of 1877). The race was sponsored by

for the sixth consecutive year, but it was the first time in the 180-year history of the Boat Race that the title had been given over to sponsorship; as such it was referred to as the "Xchanging Boat Race". Prior to the race,

Oxford University Boat Club Oxford University Boat Club (OUBC) is the Rowing (sport), rowing club for the University of Oxford, England, located on the River Thames at Oxford. The club was founded in 1829. The prime constitutional aim of OUBC is to beat Cambridge Univers ...

president and Dutch international rower

Sjoerd Hamburger Sjoerd Hamburger (born 8 February 1983 in Oldeberkoop) is a rower from the Netherlands, who competes in the single scull. Hamburger was born and raised in Oldeberkoop, where he played korfball and was involved in training for triathlons. When ...

claimed "Last year we had an exceptional crew, power-wise, which we don't have this year, but we're starting to match the times we did last year, so I'm very pleased". His

counterpart, American Deaglan McEachern, responded: "we're faster".

Umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French , , and , : (as evidenced in cricke ...

and former Cambridge

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 ...

Simon Harris suggested that he did not anticipate any problems with the two coxes obeying his instructions: "I've been impressed by the coxes, how they've responded to the umpire's calls". The first

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

Cambridge's crew weighed an average of per rower more than Oxford. The Dark Blues were coached by Sean Bowden for the 13th time while the Light Blues saw Chris Nilsson act as chief coach for the second time. Cambridge's crew featured four Britons, three Americans and two Canadians, while Oxford's consisted of three Americans, two Britons, and rowers from Ireland, The Netherlands, Canada (dual nationality) and Germany. Oxford's crew included the Winklevoss twins ( Cameron and Tyler), who rowed in the

2008 Olympic Games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...

for the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in the men's coxless pair. Cambridge's bowman, Canadian international rower Robert Weitemeyer, had won the gold in the men's eight at the

World Rowing Cup The World Rowing Cup is an international rowing competition organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It began in 1997 and comprises three regattas (apart from in 2001 when there were four) held throughout early summer. In each ...

in 2007.

Race

Oxford were pre-race favourites, and won the toss, electing to start the race from the Surrey station. They took an early lead and were nearly half a length up on Cambridge by the time the crews passed the Harrods Furniture Depository. The boats closed in on one another and umpire Harris was forced to issue a number of warnings to both coxes as the crews came close to clashing oars. The Light Blues pulled themselves back into contention around the Chiswick Reach and took the lead into Corney Reach. Oxford attempted to find a quicker racing line and were still in touch, but Cambridge inched away from them, passing the finishing post lengths ahead in a time of 17 minutes 35 seconds. Oxford won the 65th Women's Boat Race by four lengths, their third consecutive victory. Cambridge's Goldie beat Oxford's Isis in the reserve race by two lengths, their first win in three years.

Reaction

Cambridge cox Randolph exclaimed "The whole way through I was thinking: 'We could win it, we could win it, we could win it". Race umpire Simon Harris declared "it was a fantastic race". Olympic medallist

Steve Redgrave Sir Steven Geoffrey Redgrave (born 23 March 1962) is a British retired rower who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000. He has also won three Commonwealth Games gold medals and nine World Rowing Championships golds ...

remarked "All credit to Oxford ... but all the way from the bend on there was only going to be one winner. It just took Cambridge a little while before they believed it was going to happen."

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boat Race 2010 The Boat Race 2010 in rowing 2010 in sport in London April 2010 sports events in the United Kingdom