28th Boat Race | |||
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Date | 1 April 1871 | ||
Winner | Cambridge | ||
Margin of victory | 1 length | ||
Winning time | 23 minutes 10 seconds | ||
Overall record (Cambridge–Oxford) |
12–16 | ||
Umpire |
Joseph William Chitty (Oxford) |
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The 28th Boat Race between crews from the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge took place on the River Thames on the 1 April 1871. The race, umpired by Joseph William Chitty, was won by Cambridge by one length in a time of 23 minutes 10 seconds for their second consecutive victory.
The Boat Race is a side-by-side rowing competition between the University of Oxford (sometimes referred to as the "Dark Blues") and the University of Cambridge (sometimes referred to as the "Light Blues"). The race was first held in 1829, and since 1845 has taken place on the 4.2-mile (6.8 km) Championship Course on the River Thames in southwest London. Cambridge went into the race as reigning champions, having defeated Oxford by three lengths in the previous year's race, while Oxford led overall with sixteen wins to Cambridge's eleven.
Oxford were coached by W. D. Benson (their non-rowing president, who had rowed three times for the Dark Blues in the 1868, 1869 and 1870 races). Cambridge's coach was John Graham Chambers (who rowed in the 1862 and 1863 race, and was a non-rowing president for the 1865 race) and John Hilton Ridley (who rowed in the 1869 and 1870 races).
The race was umpired by Joseph William Chitty who had rowed for Oxford twice in 1849 (in the March and December races) and the 1852 race, while the starter was Edward Searle.