No prizes for guessing which side I’m on…
I’m getting pretty excited about this year’s Boat Race, which is taking place on 31st March. For a start, exactly a week earlier I shall be racing the full four mile course (in reverse) for the first time myself, at the Vets’ Head (on the same day, incidentally, that the women’s Boat Race is taking place), so by the time the Boat Race rolls around I’ll know all about the pain and determination involved.
The other reason for my enthusiasm is that I’m unashamedly an Oxford supporter, dark blue to my core. I really, really want Oxford to lift the trophy this year, especially after last year’s shenanigans, and will be willing them on, stroke by stroke, for every agonising minute of the race.
For those of you who don’t know much about the Boat Race, here are a few key facts:
- It is an annual contest between crews from Oxford and Cambridge universities
- The course is a painful 6.8 km (4 miles) between Putney and Mortlake on the Tideway in London
- The first Boat Race took place in Henley in 1829
- There has only been one dead heat, in 1877
- Cambridge have won 81 times and Oxford 76 times
- Cambridge wear light blue and Oxford wear dark blue. That’s just how it is.
To help to motivate you, the sponsors of the event, BNY Mellon†, have kindly donated a Which Blue Are You? scarf (which I can vouch for it being fabulously cosy) to one of my readers. All you have to do is post below, or follow and tweet me at @girlontheriver, saying (a) which crew you are supporting and (b) why. Later in the week I will pick a winner at random and they will win a scarf of their choice – dark blue for Oxford and light blue for Cambridge.
If you’re not sure which to pick, there’s a handy quiz on the Which Blue Are You? website which will tell you whether you’re more Oxford or Cambridge in your soul (it got it right for me, so it must be accurate).
So, go on, get voting. Let the games begin.
† Official info from BNY Mellon:
BNY Mellon combines skills in Investment Management and Investment Services to deliver powerful investment solutions for our many clients around the world. We employ more than 49,000 staff worldwide and have over US$1.4 trillion in assets under management and US$26.2 trillion in assets under custody & administration, making us one of the largest financial services companies globally (data as at 31/12/12).
What’s more, we’re the oldest financial corporation in the United States, tracing our origins to the establishment of the Bank of New York in 1784 by Alexander Hamilton.
Learn more about BNY Mellon at www.bnymellon.com
