110th Boat Race | |||
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Date | 28 March 1964 | ||
Winner | Cambridge | ||
Margin of victory | 6 and 1/2 lengths | ||
Winning time | 19 minutes 18 seconds | ||
Overall record (Cambridge–Oxford) |
61–48 | ||
Umpire |
K. M. Payne (Cambridge) |
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Other races | |||
Women's winner | Cambridge | ||
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The 110th Boat Race took place on 28 March 1964. Held annually, the event is a side-by-side rowing race between crews from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge along the River Thames. The Oxford crew was the heaviest in Boat Race history. The race was won by Cambridge by six-and-half lengths. Cambridge won the Women's Boat Race.
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. The rivalry is a major point of honour between the two universities, followed throughout the United Kingdom and broadcast worldwide. Oxford went into the race as reigning champions, having won the previous year's race by five lengths, while Cambridge led overall in the event with 60 victories to Oxford's 48 (excluding the "dead heat" of 1877).
The first Women's Boat Race took place in 1927, but did not become an annual fixture until the 1960s. Up until 2014, the contest was conducted as part of the Henley Boat Races, but as of the 2015 race, it is held on the River Thames, on the same day as the men's main and reserve races. This year's women's race was the first to be held since 1952.
Writing in the Financial Times, Joseph Mallalieu noted that the Boat Race was subsidised by The Varsity Match every year. Despite Oxford being "firm favourites" upon their arrival at the Tideway, Cambridge put in better performances in training, and by the time of the race were considered the favourites themselves. The main race was umpired for the eighth and final time by the former Olympian Kenneth Payne who had rowed for Cambridge in the 1932 and 1934 races.