Oxford and Cambridge Cup entry into the boat race. In 1956 New South Wales, 1963 Monash, 1966 Australian National and Newcastle, 1969 LaTrobe and 1973 Macquarie Universities gained entry. The Australian higher education reforms of the early 1990s opened the door for many former Technical Colleges and Colleges of Advanced Education to enter the boat race for the first time. 1968 was the last year that the race was held over the traditional 'Thames Putney Mortlake' equivalent course. Due to increasing pressure for a standardised course distance, fairer courses, and the increasing focus of state and national programs on the Olympic distance, delegates from
Mortlake, New South Wales 464 (to Ashfield railway station). Mortlake was originally known as Bottle Point. The suburb's name is derived from its namesake Mortlake, by the banks of the Thames in London. Parramatta River had been known as the 'Thames of the Antipodes' and other nearby suburbs were also named after Thames localities of Greenwich, Woolwich and Putney. Mortlake was notable as the site of the Australian Gas Light Company (AGL) gas works, which first purchased land here in 1883. Colliers from Newcastle brought coal to the gasworks site at Mortlake. When a new Gladesville Bridge was opened in 1964, it was built