text: the boat race 1933 the 85th boat race took place on 1 april 1933 . held annually , the boat race is a side - by - side rowing race between crews from the universities of oxford and cambridge along the river thames . umpired by the former rower herbert aylward game , cambridge won by two - and - a - quarter lengths in a time of 20 minutes 57 seconds . the record tenth consecutive victory took the overall record in the event to 44 – 40 in cambridge 's favour . background the boat race is a side - by - side rowing competition between the university of oxford ( sometimes referred to as the " dark blues " ) and the university of cambridge ( sometimes referred to as the " light blues " ) . the race was first held in 1829 , and since 1845 has taken place on the 4 . 2 - mile ( 6 . 8 km ) championship course on the river thames in southwest london . the rivalry is a major point of honour between the two universities ; it is followed throughout the united kingdom and , as of 2014 , broadcast worldwide . cambridge went into the race as reigning champions , having won the 1932 race by five lengths , and led overall with 43 victories to oxford 's 40 ( excluding the " dead heat " of 1877 ) . cambridge were coached by francis escombe , harold rickett ( who rowed three times between 1930 and 1932 ) , and peter haig - thomas ( four - time blue for cambridge between 1902 and 1905 ) . oxford 's coaches were john houghton gibbon ( who had participated in the 1899 and 1900 races , and umpired the 1931 race ) , p. johnson ( who had rowed for oxford in the 1927 race ) , a. e. kitchin ( who had rowed in the 1908 race ) and w. p. mellen ( who was a dark blue in 1923 and 1924 races ) . the race was umpired by former cambridge rower herbert aylward game who had represented the light blues in the 1895 and 1896 races . according to the rowing correspondent for the times , " no training in recent years has seen more changes in the comparative merits of the two crews . " oxford started well while cambridge took time to settle , but having done so " made astonishingly rapid progress " and " promised to be the best cambridge crew since 1900 . " oxford improved further once they had arrived at putney ; conversely the light blues suffered misfortune in losing lewis luxton , last year 's stroke ten days before the race . the dark blues continued to progress but by the time of the race , " there was very little to choose between the two crews . " crews the oxford crew weighed an average of 12 st 6 . 125 lb ( 78 . 8 kg ) , 1 . 125 pounds ( 0 . 5 kg ) per rower more than their opponents . cambridge saw three rowers return to the crew with boat race experience , including number five charles sergel who was making his third consecutive appearance . oxford 's crew also contained three rowers who had taken part in previous events , including w. d. c. erskine - crumb , appearing in his third consecutive race . two participants were registered as non - british : oxford cox c. - na - nagara was from thailand , while cambridge 's william sambell was australian . race cambridge won the toss and elected to start from the surrey station , handing the middlesex side of the river to oxford . the race was delayed as a result of the slowly rising tide and it was eventually started by umpire game at 4 : 02 p.m. cambridge made the quicker start and out - rated their opponents to hold a quarter - length lead by the end of the fulham wall . with the bend in the river favouring the middlesex station , oxford gained and the crews passed the mile post level . despite a spurt from cambridge 's stroke frame - thomson , oxford took the lead and responded to the push with one of their own . another spurt , this time minute - long , from the light blues , saw them pass below hammersmith bridge with a one third length advantage . making the most of the inside of the bend in the river , cambridge pushed on to be a length clear by the doves pub . as both crews rowed into chiswick reach , they were struck by the headwind and by chiswick steps , the light blues had extended their lead by half a length , rating two strokes per minute more than oxford . by the time they passed below barnes bridge , cambridge were seven seconds ahead . they passed the finishing post with a lead of two and a quarter lengths in a time of 20 minutes 57 seconds , taking the overall record in the event to 44 – 40 in their favour . it was the light blues ' tenth consecutive victory , a record streak in the history of the event . it was the slowest winning time since the 1925 race and the narrowest margin of victory since the 1930 race . writing in the observer , william beach thomas declared that " a good crew was beaten by a good crew after one of the finest races in the long chronicles " . according to the former oxford rower e. p. evans , " the features of the race were the superb stroking of the oxford crew by holdsworth and the extremely bad coxing of the cambridge boat ... although cambridge won , they were not really at their best . "