The 81st Boat Race took place on 23 March 1929. 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. The event featured three Olympic medallists and included the first Danish rower ever to participate in the Boat Race. In a race umpired by former Oxford rower Charles Burnell, Cambridge won by seven lengths in a time of 19 minutes 24 seconds, the fastest winning time since the 1924 race. The victory, their sixth in a row and their tenth in the previous eleven years, levelled the overall record for the first time since 1863, at 40 wins each. 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 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 1928 race by ten lengths, with Oxford leading overall with 40 victories to Cambridge's 39 (excluding the "dead heat" of 1877). Cambridge were coached by Francis Escombe and P. Haig-Thomas (four-time Blue who had rowed between 1902 and 1905). Oxford's coaches were Harcourt Gilbey Gold (Dark Blue president for the 1900 race and four-time Blue), Guy Oliver Nickalls (who had rowed three times between 1921 and 1923) and Arthur Wiggins (who had rowed for Oxford in the 1912, 1913 and 1914 races). For the third year the umpire was Charles Burnell who had rowed for Oxford in the 1895, 1896, 1897 and 1898 races. Charles Kent, who rowed for Oxford in the 1891 race, was the finishing judge for the second consecutive year. Bad weather plagued the practice and build-up to the race: Heavy fog caused the postponement of at least one outing. The Times rowing correspondent described Cambridge's style as "so easy as to be almost sluggish" while Oxford were "lively to the point of punishing their boat". Crews The Cambridge crew weighed an average of 12 st 10 lb (80.5 kg), per rower more than their opponents. Oxford saw two rowers return in