The Boat Races 2017

The 2017 Boat Races (also known as The Cancer Research UK Boat Races for the purposes of sponsorship) will take place on 2 April 2017. Held annually, The Boat Race is a side-by-side rowing race between crews from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge along a 4.2-mile (6.8 km) tidal stretch of the River Thames in south-west London. For the second time in the history of the event, the men's, women's and both reserves' races will all be held on the Tideway on the same day.

Background

The Championship Course along which, for the second time in the history of the event, the men's, women's and both reserves' races were conducted on the same day.

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-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; it is followed throughout the United Kingdom and broadcast worldwide.^[3][4] Cambridge go into the race as champions, having won the 2016 race by a margin of two and a half lengths,^[5] and leading overall with 82 victories to Oxford's 79 (excluding the 1877 race, officially a dead heat though claimed as a victory by the Oxford crew).^[6][7]

It will be the second time in the history of The Boat Race that all four senior races – the men's, women's, men's reserves' and women's reserves' – are held on the same day and on the same course along the Tideway. Prior to 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] The Oxford women will go into the race as reigning champions, having won the 2016 race by 24 lengths, with Cambridge leading 41–30 overall.^[5] For the fifth year, the men's race will be sponsored by BNY Mellon while the women's race has BNY Mellon's subsidiary Newton Investment Management as sponsors.^[8] In January 2016, it was announced that the sponsors would be donating the title sponsorship to Cancer Research UK and that the 2016 event was retitled "The Cancer Research UK Boat Races".^[9] There is no monetary award for winning the race, as the journalist Roger Alton notes: "It's the last great amateur event: seven months of pain for no prize money".^[10]

On Sunday 2 April, the women's race is due to start at 4:35 p.m. British Summer Time and the men's race an hour later at 5:35 p.m.^[11]

The autumn reception was held at the Guildhall in London on 3 November 2016. As Oxford's women had won the previous year's race, it was Cambridge's responsibility to offer the traditional challenge to the OUWBC. To that end, Ashton Brown, President of Cambridge University Women's Boat Club, challenged Isabell Von Loga, her Oxford counterpart. Cambridge's victory in the men's race meant that Michael Di Santo, President of Oxford University Boat Club, challenged Lance Tredell, President of Cambridge University Boat Club.^[12]

The men's race will be umpired for the second time by Olympic gold medallist and former Oxford rower Matthew Pinsent who won the Boat Race himself in the 1990 and 1991 races before losing (as President) in the 1993 race. Pinsent was the assistant umpire in the 2012 race and umpired the OUBC victory in the 2013 race. The umpire for the women's race will be Sarah Winckless who will become the first woman to umpire a Boat Race on the Tideway. Winckless won a bronze medal in the women's double sculls at the 2004 Summer Olympics and umpired the men's reserve's race in 2016.^[13]

Coaches

Cambridge men's coach Steve Trapmore

The Cambridge men's crew coaching team is led by their Chief Coach Steve Trapmore.^[14] Trapmore, a gold medal-winning member of the men's eight at the 2000 Summer Olympics, was appointed to the post in 2010.^[15] He is assisted by Richard Chambers, silver medallist in the men's lightweight coxless four at the 2012 Summer Olympics.^[14] Donald Legget, who rowed for the Light Blues in the 1963 and 1964 races acted as a supporting coach, along with coxing coach Henry Fieldman (who steered Cambridge in the 2013 race) and the medical officer Simon Owens.^[14] Sean Bowden is Chief Coach for Oxford, having been responsible for the senior men's crew since 1997, winning 11 from 17 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 Andy Nelder who has coached the senior boat since 2006.^[16]

OUWBC's Chief Coach is the Canadian former international cox Abi Williams, her first year in the role having been the University of Alberta's head coach. She is assisted by Jamie Kirkwood.^[17] Cambridge's women are coached by former Goldie coach Rob Baker who was assisted by Paddy Ryan and Nick Acock, along with coxing coach and former Light Blue cox Peter Rudge.^[18]

Trials

Dates for the trials, where crews are able to simulate the race proper on the Championship Course, were announced on 16 November 2016.^[19] Oxford's two senior crews rowed on 30 November, while Cambridge's crews were to race on 12 December.^[19]

Women

Oxford's women's trials took place on The Championship Course on 30 November 2016, between the Oxford boats, Heather and Helen,^[20] named after the gold-medal-winning British Olympic pairing of Heather Stanning and Helen Glover.^[21]

Men

Oxford's men's trials took place on The Championship Course on 30 November 2016, between the Oxford boats, Acer and Daniel,^[20] named after former Oxford cox Acer Nethercott and long-term coach Daniel Topolski, both of whom had died from cancer.^[21]

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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