text: the boat race 1946 the 92nd boat race took place on 30 march 1946 . 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 in london . in a race umpired by former cambridge rower kenneth payne , oxford won by three lengths in a time of 19 minutes 54 seconds . the victory took the overall record in the event to 48 – 43 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 1939 race by four lengths , and led overall with 48 victories to oxford 's 42 ( excluding the " dead heat " of 1877 ) . no races were conducted between 1940 and 1945 as a result of the second world war . oxford were coached by r. e. eason ( who rowed for the dark blues in the 1924 race ) , d. t. raikes ( who represented oxford in the 1920 , 1921 and 1922 races ) , peter haig thomas ( a four - time light blue between 1902 and 1905 , who had also coached cambridge nine times between 1924 and 1934 ) and g. l. thomson . cambridge 's coaches were b. c. johnstone , sidney swann ( who had rowed for the light blues in the four races from 1911 to 1914 , and coached them in the 1920 , 1921 and 1922 races ) and claude waterhouse hearn taylor ( who rowed for cambridge three times between 1901 and 1903 , and coached them in the 1904 race ) . the race was umpired by the former british olympian kenneth payne , who had rowed for cambridge in the 1932 and 1934 races . during the build - up to the race , cambridge suffered misfortune in particular with regard to their number four . m. a. nicholson , the first choice , was taken ill and was replaced by p. a. g. dewar . just two days later dewar was forced to leave the boat suffering with blood poisoning from a septic boil . d. j. d. perrins was cambridge 's third and final choice . with a week to go , the light blue coach thomson stated " we took a day off yesterday because some of the crew were feeling off - colour ... they appear to be suffering from some internal trouble " . the rowing correspondent for the manchester guardian noted that the light blues were " not quite fast enough and are not particularly well together " yet showed promise . he also noted that while oxford had improved considerably , cambridge would most likely start as favourites . crews the cambridge crew weighed an average of 12 st 7 lb ( 79 . 2 kg ) , 8 . 75 pounds ( 4 . 0 kg ) per rower more than their opponents . as the event was forced to take a hiatus between 1940 and 1945 as a result of the second world war , none of the rowers had participated in the boat race prior this year . three of the cambridge crew were registered as non - british : j. g. gosse was australian , p. l. p. was canadian and stroke j. h. neame was american . race cambridge won the toss and elected to start from the surrey station , handing the middlesex side of the river to oxford . umpire payne started the race " in perfect conditions of a south - easterly breeze and with sun shining through a light mist " at 11 a.m in front of " a vast crowd , fully up to pre - war standards " . followed by six launches and a helicopter overhead , oxford led from the start , and were half a length clear of the light blues by the time they passed craven steps . marginally out - rating cambridge , oxford passed the mile post two and a half lengths ahead and allowed their stroke rate to drop , still maintaining their lead at hammersmith bridge . cambridge spurted at the doves pub and reduced the deficit marginally but by hms stork , the light blues were visibly tired and allowed oxford to draw away once more . leading by three lengths at chiswick steps , oxford reduced their stroke rate to " little more than a paddle " , yet still passed below barnes bridge with the same advantage . the dark blues passed the finishing post three lengths ahead in a time of 19 minutes 54 seconds . the victory , oxford 's third in the last four races , took the overall record in the event to 48 – 43 in cambridge 's favour . the special correspondent writing in the times stated that oxford won " in faultless style and without ever looking anything but an assured winning crew . " it was reported in the dundee evening telegraph that oxford 's win was " a triumph of team - work over individualism " . hugh dalton , the chancellor of the exchequer , announced that the race had made £ 700 from purchase tax .