The Boat Race 1972

The 118th Boat Race took place on 1 April 1972. 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. Umpired by former Cambridge Blue Philip Carpmael, the race was won by Cambridge, who passed the finishing post nine-and-a-half lengths ahead of Oxford in a time of 18 minutes and 36 seconds, their fifth consecutive victory. The win took the overall record since 1829 to 66–51 in favour of Cambridge.

The race was variously described as an "anti-climax" and "a bore" given the ease with which Cambridge secured the win. Their crew was the heaviest in Boat Race history and included siblings for the first time since 1935. In the reserve race, Cambridge's Goldie beat Oxford's Isis, and in the Women's Boat Race, Cambridge were victorious.

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 broadcast worldwide.^[3][4] Cambridge went into the race as reigning champions, having beaten Oxford by ten lengths in the previous year's race. Cambridge also held the overall lead with 65 victories to Oxford's 51 (excluding the "dead heat" of 1877).^[5][6]

The first Women's Boat Race 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, 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.^[7] 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.^[6]

Oxford were coached by Dick Fishlock who had coxed Great Britain in the men's eight in the 1960 Summer Olympics.^[8][9] He was assisted by John Langfield, John Peake, Peter Reynolds (who had coxed for the Dark Blues in the 1960 and 1961 races) and Peter Sutherland.^[10] Cambridge were being coached by Lou Barry for the fifth consecutive year, along with James Crowden (who had rowed for the Light Blues in the 1951 and 1952 races), David Jennens (who had represented the Cantabrigians three times between 1949 and the 1951 race, Donald Legget (who rowed in the 1963 and 1964 races, Mike Sweeney (who rowed in the 1965 and 1966 races) and Robin Winckless (who rowed in the 1967, 1968 and 1969 races).^[10][11][12] The umpire for the race was Philip Carpmael who had rowed for Cambridge in the 1930 and 1931 races.^[13][14]

Writing in The Times, Jim Railton suggested that Cambridge looked "invincible" before their arrival at the Thames, and former Oxford Blue and author Dickie Burnell suggested that the Light Blues were "reckoned to be unbeatable".^[15] However, Oxford rowed a number of record practice times, while Cambridge met with several "disasters" (including catching some "mammoth crabs" and experiencing outings "spoilt by shipwrecks").^[12]

Crews

The Cambridge crew weighed 8.5 pounds (3.9 kg) per rower more than their opponents, averaging just over 13 st 11 lb (75.6 kg), making them the heaviest crew in the history of the race.^[12] Both boats contained four Blues; Oxford saw Keith Bolshaw, D. d'A Willis, Andrew Hall and J. Hawkesley return, while Cambridge's crew included Chris Baillieu (whose grandfather had rowed in the 1913 race),^[16] Neil James, David Maxwell and Graham Hughes.^[17] American Olympic rower Gardiner Cadwalader (who finished fifth in the men's coxed four in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico)^[18] along with four British Olympic team candidates (Maxwell, Bailieu, Michael Hart and James)^[19] brought experience to the Light Blue boat.^[12] Cambridge's crew also contained brothers Michael and James Hart, the first time a pair of siblings had rowed for Cambridge since the Kingsford's in the 1935 race.^[20][21] Along with Cadwalader, Oxford cox Fred Yalouris was American, while the Dark Blue bow Michael Magarey was Australian; all the other participants were British.^[22]

Seat	Oxford			Cambridge
	Name	College	Weight	Name	College	Weight
Bow	M. A. Magerery	Magdalen	13 st 8 lb	R. J. S. Clarke	St Catharine's	13 st 1 lb
2	K. Bolshaw	Christ Church	12 st 11 lb	C. L. Baillieu	Jesus	13 st 13 lb
3	D. R. d'A Willis	St Peter's	14 st 12 lb	S. G. I. Kerruish	Fitzwilliam	12 st 10 lb
4	A. J. Hall (P)	Corpus Christi	15 st 13 lb	J. A. Hart	Fitzwilliam	13 st 5 lb
5	D. R. Payne	Balliol	12 st 10 lb	N. W. James	Jesus	14 st 0 lb
6	J. P. W. Hawksley	Balliol	12 st 12 lb	G. A. Cadwalader	Lady Margaret Boat Club	14 st 10 lb
7	Hon. P. D. E. M. Moncreiffe	Christ Church	11 st 6 lb	M. J. Hart	Peterhouse	14 st 2 lb
Stroke	M. G. C. T. Baines	Keble	12 st 3 lb	D. L. Maxwell	Jesus	14 st 6 lb
Cox	E. Yalouris	Merton	8 st 12 lb	N. G. Hughes (P)	Queens'	9 st 1 lb
Source:[23] (P) – Boat club president[12][24]

Race

The Championship Course along which the Boat Race is contested

Cambridge were pre-race favourites.^[12] Oxford won the toss and elected to start from the Surrey station, from which the previous ten winning crews had commenced, handing the Middlesex side of the river to the Light Blues.^[13] At the scheduled start time of 3:15 p.m., Cambridge were still practising downstream and hence the event was delayed.^[13] Fishlock remarked that he believed this to be "plain bad manners".^[8] Within a minute of the start, Cambridge held a lead of a canvas length and despite reducing their stroke rate, they continued to pull away from Oxford.^[13] At the Mile Post, the lead was seven seconds,^[15] and at Hammersmith Bridge the Light Blues held a lead of three lengths; they extended this to 21 seconds by Chiswick Steps, and 24 seconds by Barnes Bridge. By the finishing post, Cambridge were 34 seconds ahead, recording a nine-and-a-half length victory in a time of 18 minutes 36 seconds.^[13] Oxford's stroke, Mike Baines, collapsed at the end of the race.^[13] Railton wrote that "the race was once again an anti-climax, painful to watch, with a merciful release as Oxford crawled past the timber post marking the race finish."^[24] The Guardian report Mike Rodda described the race as "a bore".^[8]

In the tenth edition of the reserve race, Cambridge's Goldie beat Oxford's Isis by two-and-a-half lengths in a time of 19 minutes and 19 seconds, their sixth consecutive victory which made the overall record 6–2.^[6] In the 27th running of the Women's Boat Race, Cambridge triumphed, their tenth consecutive victory, and their fifteenth in eighteen years taking the overall record to 17–10 in their favour.^[6]

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Burnell, Richard (1979). One Hundred and Fifty Years of the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. Precision Press. ISBN 0-9500638-7-8. 
• Dodd, Christopher (1983). The Oxford & Cambridge Boat Race. Stanley Paul. ISBN 0-09-151340-5. 

External links

• Official website

The Boat Race Oxford University Boat Club (crews) Cambridge University Boat Club (crews) The Championship Course Results Oxford University Women's Boat Club Cambridge University Women's Boat Club Oxford University Lightweight Rowing Club Cambridge University Lightweight Rowing Club Goldie Stones Blue Boat Henley Boat Races Women's Boat Race 1927 1929 1930 1934 1935 1936 1939 1941 1973 1974 1975 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1994 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 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 2015 Category Commons