Oxbridge watersports: punting and rowing

The annual Oxford–Cambridge Boat Race sees the rowing elite clash on a stretch of the Thames in London; meanwhile there is plenty of opportunity for visitors to mess about on the river in those two great English seats of learning.

Punts: from historic workhorse to leisure craft

Long before the first student ever skipped lectures in favour of punting up the slow-flowing Cherwell (a tributory of the Thames that flows through Oxford), the punt played a vital part in the lives of watermen up and down the Thames. River dredging, fishing, ferrying, transporting and delivering were all duties once carried out by this humble craft.

Decline in river transport in the mid-19th century could have led to the disappearance of the punt altogether. Fortunately, the Victorians claimed it as their leisure craft. Punts were modified from broad pontoons that could carry cattle to the slender “saloon” comprising two back rests for passengers – a design still in use today.

Increased use of power craft on rivers has resulted in a sharp decrease in punting and it has survived as a feature almost unique to Oxford and Cambridge. As a Thames craft, the punt was not introduced to Cambridge until the early Edwardian era, when it was imported from Oxford. The Oxford tradition is to punt from the slope, stern first; in Cambridge, punting from the deck end is the norm. Punts have now come to embody the timeless romance of the privileged university world – the ideal way to spend a warm, sunny afternoon in either one of these magnificent seats of learning.

Rowing for a Blue

Numerically, rowing is by far the most popular sport among students in Oxford and Cambridge, and a large proportion of rowers are women. Each college has its own rowing society, with inter-collegiate races taking place throughout the year. These rowing societies are brought together under the umbrella of Oxford University Boating Club (OUBC), founded in 1839, and Cambridge University Boating Club (CUBC), founded in 1828.

By far the most glamorous event in the Oxbridge rowing calendar is the inter-Varsity race, first staged in 1829 and now always held around Easter. Oxford “dark blues” take on Cambridge “light blues” in the annual Putney-to-Mortlake race along the Thames in London. A prestigious "Blue" is awarded in rowing (and other sports) to those Oxford students competing in a university team against Cambridge, and vice versa.

For more details, see http://theboatrace.org/.