History
The original challenge between Oxford University and Cambridge University was issued in 1829. As a result two men's VIII's raced on the river at Henley-on-Thames. In 1836 the race was moved to the Tideway in London, and it has remained there ever since. At this time rowing was not seen as an appropriate sport for a lady. However, towards the end of the century attitudes began to change.
The two universities caught onto the trend a few decades later and OUWBC was formed. Following on from this the 'Ladies Boat Race' was founded in 1927. The first races took place on the river Isis in Oxford and took the form of a time and style contest! In 1977 the 'Women's Boat Race' was invited to joint the men's lightweights at Henley and so the 'Henley Boat Races' were established. A reserve race between 'Osiris' (Oxford) and 'Blondie' (Cambridge) was then introduced to parallel the men's reserves 'Isis' and 'Goldie'. Finally, in 1984 a lightweight women's race was inaugurated.
Today
The standard of the race today over the 2km Henley stretch could not be any more different to the races held over 80 years ago. The women's training regime now mirrors that of the heavyweight men, in time, effort, professionalism and coaching. This involves twice-daily sessions, combining water work with land training in the gym and careful performance monitoring. Our athletes are expected to train up to a gruelling 30 hours a week on top of hectic academic schedules. However, the concept of it being a grudge match between the two oldest universities in England remains exactly the same, and as ever there is no second place, only first and last!
The Henley Boat Races now attract crowds of up to 10,000 each year and 2008 saw the first televised broadcast of the events. The Cambridge women were dominant during the 1990's, and to date the score is Cambridge 40 Oxford 24, but Oxford have been closing the margin since the new millennium. In 2008 Oxford won all but one of the seven boat races, with Osiris winning the women's reserve race for the 8th year in a row. This year saw Blondie put and end to this winning streak, however the Blue Boat won once again, continuing the fight to catch up with Cambridge.
