, the previous president of the
Oxford University Boat Club, coached the Dark Blues for the 1910 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 rivalry is a major point of honour between the two universities; it is followed throughout the United Kingdom and, as of 2015, broadcast worldwide. Oxford went into the race as reigning champions, having won the
1909 race by lengths, and led overall with 35 victories to Cambridge's 30 (excluding the
"dead heat" of 1877). Oxford's coaches were G. C. Bourne who had rowed for the university in the
1882 and
1883 races,
Harcourt Gilbey Gold (Dark Blue president for the
1900 race and four-time Blue) and W. F. C. Holland who had rowed for Oxford four times between 1887 and 1890. Cambridge were coached by
William Dudley Ward (who had rowed in
1897,
1899 and 1900 races),
Raymond Etherington-Smith (who had rowed in 1898 and 1900) and David Alexander Wauchope (who had rowed in the
1895 race). For the seventh year the umpire was old
Etonian Frederick I. Pitman who rowed for Cambridge in the
1884,
1885 and
1886 races. According to author and former Oxford rower George Drinkwater, the Dark Blues "did not have any very promising new material from which to make up [their] crew" but was impressed by a "very stylish"
Philip Fleming who had been included as Oxford's number seven. Cambridge's coaches worked to re-introduce a more traditional style of rowing but like Oxford, "their material was not very good". Although they lost Eric Fairbairn late in the build-up to the race, Drinkwater considered them to be "a pretty, lively crew to look at". As a result of unfavourable tides, the race was scheduled to be held on the Wednesday of
Holy Week which, according to Drinkwater, "caused considerable controversy". ==Crews==