The Boat Race 1912
69th Boat Race | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date | 30 March 1912 1 April 1912 | &||
Winner | Oxford | ||
Margin of victory | 6 lengths | ||
Winning time | 22 minutes 5 seconds | ||
Overall record (Cambridge–Oxford) | 30–38 | ||
Umpire | Frederick I. Pitman (Cambridge) | ||
|
The 69th Boat Race took place on 30 March 1912 with a re-row on 1 April. Held annually, the event is a side-by-side rowing race between crews from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge along the River Thames. Oxford went into the race as reigning champions, having won the previous year's race. Umpired by former Cambridge rower Frederick I. Pitman, this year's race ended with Cambridge sinking and Oxford waterlogged. Pitman declared the result as "No Race" and in the subsequent re-row on the following Monday, the race was won by Oxford by six lengths. Oxford's fourth consecutive victory took the overall record in the event to 38–30 in their favour.
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] The race was first held in 1829, and since 1845 has taken place on the 4.2-mile (6.8 km) Championship Course on the River Thames in southwest London.[2][3] The rivalry is a major point of honour between the two universities; it is followed throughout the United Kingdom and, as of 2014, broadcast worldwide.[4][5] Oxford went into the race as reigning champions, having won the previous year's race by 3+3⁄4 lengths. Oxford, however, held the overall lead with 37 victories to Cambridge's 30 (excluding the "dead heat" of 1877).[6][7]
Oxford's coaches were G. C. Bourne who had rowed for the university in the 1882 and 1883 races, Harcourt Gilbey Gold (Dark Blue president for the 1900 race and four-time Blue), and W. F. C. Holland who had rowed for Oxford four times between 1887 and 1890. Cambridge were coached by John Houghton Gibbon who rowed for the Light Blues in the 1899 and 1900 races.[8] For the ninth year the umpire was old Etonian Frederick I. Pitman who rowed for Cambridge in the 1884, 1885 and 1886 races.[9]
Author and former Oxford rower George Drinkwater noted that the Dark Blue crew was "by no means so quick in the water, but they possessed greater ease of movement".
Crews
The Oxford crew weighed an average of 12
Seat | Oxford |
Cambridge | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | College | Weight | Name | College | Weight | |
Bow |
F. A. H. Pitman | New College | 11 st 11.5 lb | R. W. M. Arbuthnot (P) | 3rd Trinity | 10 st 9 lb |
2 | C. E. Tinné | University | 12 st 4 lb | D. C. Collins | 1st Trinity | 11 st 7.75 lb |
3 | L. G. Wormald | Magdalen | 12 st 9 lb | H. M. Heyland | Pembroke | 12 st 4.25 lb |
4 | E. D. Horsfall | Magdalen | 12 st 6 lb | R. S. Shove | 1st Trinity | 12 st 6.5 lb |
5 | A. H. M. Wedderburn | Balliol | 13 st 11 lb | J. H. Goldsmith | Jesus | 12 st 13.5 lb |
6 | A. F. R. Wiggins | New College | 12 st 11 lb | C. R. le Blanc Smith | 3rd Trinity | 13 st 3 lb |
7 | C. W. B. Littlejohn | New College | 12 st 8 lb | L. S. Lloyd | 3rd Trinity | 10 st 5.5 lb |
Stroke |
R. C. Bourne (P) | New College | 11 st 0.5 lb | S. E. Swann | Trinity Hall | 11 st 6 lb |
Cox | H. Bensley Wells | Magdalen | 8 st 7 lb | C. A. Skinner | Jesus | 8 st 3 lb |
Source:[14] (P) – boat club president[15] |
Race
Oxford won the
According to Bensley-Wells "the weather on the Monday was again bad ... the wind was even stronger but ... had changed direction slightly."
References
Notes
- ^ a b "Dark Blues aim to punch above their weight". The Observer. 6 April 2003. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
- ^ Smith, Oliver (25 March 2014). "University Boat Race 2014: spectators' guide". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
- ^ "The Course". The Boat Race Company Limited. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
- ^ "Former Winnipegger in winning Oxford–Cambridge Boat Race crew". CBC News. 6 April 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
- ^ "TV and radio". The Boat Race Company Limited. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
- ^ "Classic moments – the 1877 dead heat". The Boat Race Company Limited. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
- ^ a b "Boat Race – Results". The Boat Race Company Limited. Archived from the original on 28 October 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
- ^ Burnell, pp. 110–111
- ^ Burnell, pp. 49, 108
- ^ Drinkwater, pp. 127–128
- ^ a b c d e Drinkwater, p. 128
- ^ a b Burnell, p. 70
- ^ Burnell, p. 39
- ^ Dodd, p. 320
- ^ a b Ross, p. 229
- ^ "100 years ago". The Boat Race Company Limited. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- ^ Ross, p. 95
- ^ Ross, p. 96
- ^ Dodd p. 149
- ^ Ross, p. 94
- ^ Drinkwater, p. 127
- ^ a b Ross, p. 97
- ^ Drinkwater, p. 129
- ^ Ross, p. 98
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-0-9500638-7-4.
- Dodd, Christopher (1983). The Oxford & Cambridge Boat Race. Stanley Paul. ISBN 0-09-151340-5.
- Drinkwater, G. C.; Sanders, T. R. B. (1929). The University Boat Race – Official Centenary History. Cassell & Company, Ltd.
- ISBN 978-0-333-42102-4.