The Boat Race 1956
| 102nd Boat Race | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | 24 March 1956 | ||
| Winner | Cambridge | ||
| Margin of victory | 1 and ¼ lengths | ||
| Winning time | 18 minutes 36 seconds | ||
| Overall record (Cambridge–Oxford) |
56–45 | ||
| Umpire |
Kenneth Payne (Cambridge) |
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The 102nd Boat Race took place on 24 March 1956. Held annually, the Boat Race is a side-by-side rowing race between crews from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge along the River Thames. In a race umpired by former rower Kenneth Payne, Cambridge won by one-and-a-quarter lengths in a time of 18 minutes 36 seconds, the fourth-quickest time in the history of the event. The victory took the overall record to 56–45 in their favour.
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"). First held in 1829, the race takes place on the 4.2-mile (6.8 km) Championship Course on the River Thames in southwest London. The rivalry is a major point of honour between the two universities; it is followed throughout the United Kingdom and, as of 2014, broadcast worldwide. Cambridge went into the race as reigning champions, having won the 1955 race by sixteen lengths, and led overall with 55 victories to Oxford's 45 (excluding the "dead heat" of 1877).
Cambridge were coached by H. H. Almond (who had rowed for the Light Blues twice, in the 1950 and 1951 races), J. R. F. Best, C. B. M. Lloyd (three-time Light Blue between 1949 and 1951), J. R. Owen (who took part in the race in 1959 and 1960) and H. R. N. Rickett (who rowed three times between 1930 and 1932). Oxford's coaches were A. G. S. Bailey, T. R. M. Bristow, Hugh Edwards (who had rowed for Oxford in the 1926 and 1930 races), P. Gladstone (who rowed in 1950 and 1952) and A. D. Rowe (who represented the Dark Blues in the 1948 and 1949 races). The race was umpired for the fifth time by the former British Olympian Kenneth Payne, who had rowed for Cambridge in the 1932 and 1934 races.
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