page_title: The Boat Race 1886
section_title: Race
hierarchical_section_title: The Boat Race 1886 / Race
caption_attribution_description: Barnes Railway Bridge from upstream, showing the original Locke span
context_page_description: The 43rd Boat Race took place on 3 April 1886. The Boat Race is an annual side-by-side rowing race between crews from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge along the River Thames. Repairs to Hammersmith Bridge restricted the crews to pass through a single arch. Umpired by Robert Lewis-Lloyd, Cambridge won the race by two-thirds of a length in a time of 22 minutes 30 seconds, becoming the first crew to come from behind at Barnes Bridge to win.
context_section_description: Oxford won the toss and elected to start from the Surrey station, handing the Middlesex station to Cambridge.  Commencing at 1.38 p.m., the Light Blues made the better start and by the time the crews passed Craven Cottage, they held just less than a half-length lead.  Oxford began to close the gap, and by the soap works, the boats were level.  On the approach to Hammersmith Bridge, the coxes "steered with such accuracy and nerve as they had never shown in practice" and both crews were able to shoot the bridge safely, with only a "few inches to spare".  Rowing into rough water, Oxford started to pull away and between Chiswick and Barnes Bridge, the lead increased to more than two lengths.  At the bridge, Cambridge made a push and increased their rating to 40 strokes per minute, sustaining the drive for three minutes and overtaking Oxford, passing the finishing post by a margin of two-thirds of a length.  The winning time was 22 minutes 30 seconds and the win was Cambridge's second victory in three years, taking the overall record to 23–19 in Oxford's favour.  
  It was the first time the winning crew had come from behind at Barnes Bridge to win. According to author and former Oxford rower George Drinkwater, "never in the whole history of the Boatrace (sic) has there been a contest more thrilling to watch or more sensational in its result."
caption: Cambridge became the first crew to come from behind at Barnes Bridge to win the Boat Race.
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