The Boat Race 1962

The 108th Boat Race took place on 7 April 1962. Held annually, the Boat Race is a side-by-side rowing race between crews from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge along the River Thames. Umpired by former Blue, Ran Laurie, it was won by Cambridge by five lengths in a time of 19 minutes 46 seconds. The race featured the heaviest oarsman since the 1829 race.

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] First held in 1829, the race takes place on the 4.2-mile (6.8 km) Championship Course on the River Thames in southwest London.^[2] 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.^[3][4] Cambridge went into the race as reigning champions, having won the 1961 race by four-and-a-quarter lengths,^[5] and led led overall with 58 victories to Oxford's 48 (excluding the "dead heat" of 1877).^[6]

Cambridge were coached by J. R. F. Best, James Crowden (who rowed twice for Cambridge, in the 1951 and 1952 races), Brian Lloyd (a three-time Blue, rowing in the 1949, 1950 and 1951 races) and Harold Rickett (who rowed in the 1930, 1931 and 1932 races). Oxford's coaches were Jumbo Edwards (who rowed for Oxford in the 1926 and 1930 races), Ronnie Howard (who represented Oxford in the 1957 and 1959 races) and Antony Rowe (who had rowed in the 1948 and 1949 races).^[7] Although the Cambridge crew were favourites on their arrival at Putney, and were reckoned to be "one of the best Boat Race crews for ten years", their early performances in practice did not impress the critics.^[8] However, in their final row before the race, Cambridge took four seconds off the record time from the Mile Post to Putney Bridge, covering the distance in 4 minutes 6 seconds.^[9]

The race was umpired by Ran Laurie who had rowed for Cambridge in the 1934, 1935 and 1936 races,^[10] and had gone on to win a gold medal for Great Britain at the 1948 Summer Olympics.^[11]

Crews

The Oxford crew weighed an average of 13 st 2.75 lb (83.6 kg), 2.75 pounds (1.2 kg) per rower more than their opponents.^[12] The Cambridge crew saw two former Blues return, bow R. Nicholson, and number four A. J. Collier. Similarly, Oxford's crew contained two rowers with Boat Race experience, including C. M. Davis who was rowing at stroke for the third consecutive year.^[13] Two non-British participants were registered in the race, both in the Cambridge crew: John Lecky, rowing at number five was a Canadian Olympic oarsman while American Harold Budd occupied the six seat.^[14] Budd, at 15 st 1 lb (95.5 kg) was the heaviest oarsman to feature in the Boat Race since J. J. Toogood who rowed for Oxford in the inaugural race in 1829.^[15]

Seat	Oxford			Cambridge
	Name	College	Weight	Name	College	Weight
Bow	N. D. Tinne	Keble	12 st 7 lb	R. G. Nicholson (P)	St Catharine's	12 st 4 lb
2	D. D. S. Skailes	Keble	13 st 4 lb	C. T. Davey	Jesus	11 st 6 lb
3	J. Y. Scarlett	Christ Church	13 st 10 lb	R. A. Napier	Lady Margaret Boat Club	13 st 0 lb
4	R. A. Morton	Keble	13 st 8 lb	A. J. Collier	Lady Margaret Boat Club	13 st 4 lb
5	J. C. D. Sherratt	St Edmund Hall	13 st 4 lb	J. M. S. Lecky	Jesus	14 st 1 lb
6	T. W. Tennant	New College	13 st 12 lb	H. B. Budd	1st & 3rd Trinity	15 st 1 lb
7	P. C. D. Burnell	Magdalen	12 st 13 lb	J. N. L. Tollemache	1st & 3rd Trinity	13 st 9 lb
Stroke	C. M. Davis (P)	Lincoln	12 st 6 lb	Lord Chewton	1st & 3rd Trinity	11 st 3 lb
Cox	C. M. Strong	Keble	8 st 6 lb	R. Walmsley	Queens'	9 st 0 lb
Source:[12] (P) – boat club president[16]

Race

The Championship Course, along which the race is conducted

Cambridge won the toss and elected to start from the Surrey station, handing the Middlesex side of the river to Oxford.^[12] The race commenced at 3.45pm,^[12] with the Dark Blues making a better start and quickly held the lead, as Cambridge had a "sticky second stroke".^[17] With both crews rating 34 strokes per minute, the Light Blues quickly restored parity before taking the lead and holding a one-length advantage by Craven Steps. A spurt from Oxford reduced the deficit to half a length but Cambridge began to pull away again, despite being outrated by the Dark Blues. Another spurt at the Crab Tree saw the two crews level by Harrods Furniture Depository, and as they passed below Hammersmith Bridge.^[17]

There, the Cambridge cox succeeded in forcing the Oxford boat wide and into rough water, and took advantage, drawing clear above Chiswick Eyot.^[18] To avoid the breaking waves, Oxford pulled in behind the Light Blue boat and as such, the race as a contest was effectively ended. Cambridge continued to pull away and passed the finishing post with a lead of five lengths in a time of 19 minutes 46 seconds, the slowest winning time since the 1954 race. It was Cambridge's second consecutive victory and their largest winning margin since the 1955 race.^[5] According to the rowing correspondent for The Times, "for Cambridge this was a most convincing though not unexpected victory".^[19]

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Burnell, Richard (1979). One Hundred and Fifty Years of the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. Precision Press. ISBN 0950063878. 

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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