The Boat Race (the name comes from rower and Boat Club president John Goldie, 1849–1896, after whom the Goldie Boathouse is named). The women's reserve crews are "Osiris "(Oxford) and "Blondie "(Cambridge). The Henley Boat Races, usually held a week before the Boat Race, host the lightweight men's and women's races and their reserve races. There is also an intercollegiate men's and women's race. A veterans' boat race, usually held on a weekday before the main Boat Race, takes place on the Thames between Putney and Hammersmith. Training for the Boat Race officially begins in September, before the start of term. The first
The Boat Race 2003 as the "Light Blues"). First held in 1829, the race takes place on the Championship Course, between Putney and Mortlake on the River Thames in south-west London. The rivalry is a major point of honour between the two universities; it is followed throughout the United Kingdom and broadcast worldwide. Oxford went into the 2003 race as reigning champions, having won the previous year's race by three-quarters of a length, but Cambridge led overall with 77 victories to Oxford's 70 (excluding the "dead heat to Oxford by five feet" of 1877). The race was sponsored by Aberdeen Asset Management for the