For the first time, both the men’s and women’s crews will race The Tideway in London on 11 April, upholding an 186 year-old tradition between England’s oldest universities.
The heavier Cambridge men’s boat will take on a younger Oxford boat. As well as weight, the Light Blues also have height and Boat Race experience on their side. Cambridge University Women’s Boat Club will take a marginal weight advantage into The 2015 Newton Women’s Boat Race, while Oxford University Women’s Boat Club hold a height advantage of a little over 3cm per athlete, boosted by Olympic Champion Caryn Davies at nearly 6’3.
Both Cambridge crews feature a range of international athletes: the women’s boat includes Canadian Ashton Brown, Americans Daphne Martschenko and Rosemary Ostfeld and Fanny Belais of France.
Britain’s Ian Middleton has once more secured his coxing seat in the Cambridge Men’s Blue Boat, joined by fellow Brit William Warr. Austria, the Netherlands, Australia and the USA are also represented.
Men’s president Alexander Leicher said: “We have a mentally strong crew with really strong cohesion. On paper, I think Oxford are the favourites: they have more internationally experienced rowers so it won’t be easy, but I think we can beat them.”
Women’s president Caroline Reid added: “This is a very exciting step for women’s rowing. It’ll open up our race to a wider audience and hopefully encourage more women to give rowing a go. I hope that we can spur on other sports to follow in our footsteps.”
:: Read the full interviews with both presidents in April’s Cambridge Edition ::
The 2015 BNY Mellon Boat Races will take place on 11 April 2015. The Newton Women’s Boat Race will take place at 4.50pm, followed by the BNY Mellon Boat Race at 5.50pm.
The Boat Races in numbers:
• 6.8 The length of the course in kilometres
• 9 The number of athletes in each boat (eight rowers, one cox)
• 16.19 The record time for completing the course, set by Cambridge’s men’s crew in 1998
• 78 The number of Oxford (men’s) victories
• 81 The number of Cambridge (men’s) victories
• 5000 The number of daily calories consumed by each of the men’s crew
• 1829 The year of the first Boat Race
• 1877 The only year the race has resulted in a dead heat
