Oxford Boat Race
Rivalry between different Universities is hardly a well kept secret, with championships between the institutions a common activity amongst students. In the North of England, York take on Lancaster in the annual Roses tournament and in the South, the famous Oxford University take on Cambridge in the Boat Race. The most famous University tournament around, the event takes place on the river Thames in front of a worldwide audience between twenty and one hundred and twenty million viewers and in front of a more personal audience of a quarter of a million on the banks of the river.
The race originated in the nineteenth century, with the annual tradition commencing in 1856. The very first boat race, however, took place in 1829 when Cambridge student Charles Merivale challenged Oxford’s Charles Wordsworth to the competition. Since this time the venue has changed numerously, from Westminster to Putney.
Today, members of the Oxford University Boat Club and the Cambridge University Boat Club battle it out on the Thames in their familiar dark blue clothes of Oxford rowing against the light blue clothes of Cambridge. It is a tradition that is engraved in the traditions of both Oxbridge institutions and will likely continue for as long as the Universities themselves.