3-071-146 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Universities' Boat-Race: the Oxford crew, 1881. Students taking part in the annual rowing race on the River Thames in London. 'A. R. Paterson (Trinity)...As the result of the Universities Boat-Race will he generally known before these lines appear, it is difficult to write anything of much interest concerning it. The practice of both crews was carried on under great difficulties last week, owing to the fearfully rough state of the river, and on Monday the Cambridge boat was very nearly swamped below Putney Bridge. Each crew has had several trials with scratch eights, and, on the whole, they can scarcely be said to have passed the ordeal favourably, as they have not been able to get away from their opponents until superior condition told its inevitable tale. The "light blue" [ie Cambridge] is certainly the prettier crew to look at, and has done the better times over the course; but the betting - an infallible guide in this race - points to the success of Oxford'. From "Illustrated London News", 1881.