The Boat Race 2005

The Boat Race is an annual rowing eight competition between the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. First held in 1829, the competition is a race along The Championship Course on the River Thames in southwest London. The rivalry is a major point of honour between the two universities and followed throughout the United Kingdom and worldwide. Cambridge went into the race as reigning champions, having won the 2004 race by six lengths, and led overall with 78 victories to Oxford's 71 (excluding the "dead heat" of 1877). The race was sponsored by Xchanging for the first time, and it was the first year the event was televised in the United Kingdom by ITV, following a £1.75 million pound five-year deal, therefore ending the 50-year relationship the event had with the BBC. 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. The reserve race, contested between Oxford's Isis boat and Cambridge's Goldie boat, has been held since 1965. It typically takes place on the Tideway course shortly before the main Boat Race between the universities' first crews. ==Crews==

was Oxford's bowman. The Oxford crew (sometimes referred to as the "Dark Blues") was the heaviest in Boat Race history, with over a per crew member over the Cambridge crew (sometimes referred to as the "Light Blues"). Both crews had an average age of 25. The Oxford crew included five Britons, three Americans, and one Canadian, while the Cambridge crew was made up of four Germans, three Britons, one American, and one Australian. Seven of the rowers had represented their countries at the Olympic Games. ==Race description==

along which the Boat Race is run Cambridge won the coin toss and elected to start from the northern bank (the "Middlesex side") of the Thames. The race umpire was Boris Rankov, a six-time successful Oxford Blue. In the reserve race, Cambridge's Goldie beat Oxford's Isis. Earlier, Cambridge won the 60th Women's Boat Race by lengths. ==Reaction==

Oxford's number two, Williams, had lost out on gold in the Athens Olympics by two inches, he said "I knew how much it was going to hurt to lose so half of me is just so glad we didn't lose". Cambridge's stroke Heidicker admitted "It was a bad start ... we never really established our own rhythm. Maybe we weren't cool enough in that situation." ==References==