This is the world's oldest organized college sport: In England every year since 1841, Oxford and Cambridge Universities have competed in which sport?

The famous Boat Race between England's two oldest universities is a tradition stretching back nearly two centuries. The first contest was born from a simple challenge between two friends, Charles Merivale of Cambridge and Charles Wordsworth of Oxford, in 1829. That inaugural race was held on the River Thames at Henley, with Oxford emerging as the victor. While the first few competitions were sporadic, the fierce but friendly rivalry quickly captured public imagination and laid the foundation for an enduring annual spectacle.

Since 1856, the race has been a near-constant annual event, paused only for the World Wars and the 2020 pandemic. Now held on a grueling 4.2-mile stretch of the Thames in London, from Putney to Mortlake, it is one of the world's oldest and most famous amateur sporting events. The race is a major fixture in the British sporting calendar, drawing hundreds of thousands of spectators to the riverbanks and millions of television viewers worldwide each spring.

The competing student-athletes, known as "blues," row in eight-oared boats, with Cambridge sporting light blue and Oxford a distinctive dark blue. The loser of the previous year's race formally challenges the winner to a rematch, continuing a cycle of competition that has become synonymous with British tradition and excellence. This historic rivalry has inspired other university competitions and even influenced the formation of international rowing federations and the modern Olympic Games.