 Boat club presidents Kieran West and Dan Snow met on the banks of the Thames at Putney for the coin toss at soon after noon on 24 March 2001 . Cambridge won the toss and elected to start from the Surrey station . While the river was calm , rain began to fall just prior the start of the race . Oxford took an early lead , but both coxes were given warnings by race umpire Rupert Obholzer . A clash of blades ensued , with Cambridge 's bow Colin Swainson losing his oar ; this resulted in Obholzer called for a restart for the first time in the history of the race . Once again , Oxford took the lead and held a two @-@ second lead at Hammersmith Bridge . Although rating the same , Cambridge took the lead , to be ahead by half @-@ a @-@ length at the Surrey bend , and seven seconds ahead by Chiswick Steps . Extending their lead to more than two lengths by Barnes Bridge , Cambridge passed the finishing post in a time of 19 minutes 59 seconds . It was Cambridge 's eighth win in nine races , and took their overall lead to 77 victories to Oxford 's 69 . 
