The Boat Races 2016

The **2016 Boat Races** (also known as the **Cancer Research UK Boat Races**) were a set of rowing races between students from the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. They took place on 27 March 2016 on the River Thames in London.

The event is usually called **The Boat Race**, and is one of the most famous sporting rivalries in England. It has been held almost every year since 1829. Oxford's rowers are nicknamed the "Dark Blues" and Cambridge's rowers are called the "Light Blues".

2016 was a special year for the event. For the first time ever, all four races — the men's, women's, and both reserve (second-team) races — were held on the same stretch of river on the same day.

## The races
### Summary of results
### Weather
The weather on race day was very bad. Before the races, a reporter described the conditions as "terrible... hail, thunder, lightning, the works." Although it calmed a little by the time the races started, the river was still rough and windy. Oxford's coach Sean Bowden said the conditions were "the worst I have ever seen," and former Olympic rower Matthew Pinsent called them "absolutely biblical."

## The women's race
Oxford won the women's race easily, finishing 24 lengths ahead of Cambridge — a huge margin. The race was dramatic because Cambridge's boat almost sank.

During the race, both boats took on water in the rough conditions. Cambridge steered towards the calmer water near the riverbank to try to escape the waves, but still took on a lot of water. By Barnes Bridge, the Cambridge boat had taken in so much water that it was beginning to sink. The cox (the person who steers the boat) was advised to pull over to the side, but she chose to keep going and finish the race. Oxford crossed the finish line in 21 minutes and 49 seconds.

It was Oxford's fourth women's race victory in a row, and their eighth win in the last nine races. Cambridge's coach said: "Our cox did exceptionally well and nearly got us back into the race. Then we sunk."

## The men's race
Cambridge won the men's race by two and a half lengths, finishing in 18 minutes and 38 seconds. It was their first win in four years — they had not beaten Oxford since 2012.

Oxford were actually late to the start line and were given a warning — one more false start would have meant they were disqualified. Cambridge took the lead early and kept it throughout the race, pulling further ahead as both crews hit rough water. As they passed under Barnes Bridge, Cambridge were nine seconds ahead. Oxford pushed hard near the end but could not close the gap.

Cambridge president Henry Hoffstot said he was "humbled" by the win. Oxford's president Morgan Gerlak admitted that Cambridge had "managed the conditions better."

The win took Cambridge's all-time lead in the men's race to 82 victories against Oxford's 79.

## The reserve races
Reserve races are held between each university's second-best crew. Oxford's reserve team is called **Isis** and Cambridge's is called **Goldie** (men's), and **Osiris** and **Blondie** (women's).

* In the '''men's reserve race''', Oxford's Isis beat Cambridge's Goldie by two lengths. It was Isis's sixth victory in a row.
* In the '''women's reserve race''', Cambridge's Blondie beat Oxford's Osiris by three lengths. It was Blondie's first win in five years, since 2011.

## The crews
### Men's crews
Cambridge's crew were slightly heavier on average than Oxford's — about 1.5 kilograms (3.3 lb) per rower. Both club presidents were American, which was a first in the history of the race. Cambridge's Henry Hoffstot was from New York, and Oxford's Morgan Gerlak was from Baltimore.

Cambridge named their boat **Kevin** in memory of Kevin Whyman, a cox who had helped them win the race in 1996 and 1997, and who died in an air display accident in August 2015. Oxford named their boat **Daniel** after their former coach Daniel Topolski, who had died in February 2015.

### Women's crews
Cambridge's women weighed an average of about 4.3 kilograms (9.5 lb) more per rower than Oxford's women. Cambridge's number two seat, Fiona Macklin, was following in the footsteps of her grandfather, who had rowed for Cambridge in 1951.

## A historic day
Before 2015, the women's race was usually held at a different location (Henley) on a different day. Moving all four races to the same place and day made 2016 the first time the full event had come together on the Tideway in one afternoon. About 250,000 spectators had been expected to line the riverbanks, though the bad weather and engineering works nearby meant fewer people attended than usual. The races were shown live on the BBC in the United Kingdom, and broadcast to many countries around the world.

## Related pages
* The Boat Race
* Women's Boat Race
* University of Oxford
* University of Cambridge
* River Thames
* Rowing (sport)

## References