Boat Race Moments: Intruders, Cambridge sink and Oxford win by a foot

What are the most dramatic and memorable Boat Races?

A huge weekend of sport isn’t just about the FA Cup and the Grand National. The 165th Men’s Boat Race and the 74th Women’s Boat Race will also take place along the River Thames.

You can watch both races live on BBC One from 1:20pm on Sunday, with 1/3 shots Cambridge taken to prevail ahead of 9/4 chances Oxford in the Men’s contest.  But that’s all to come.

Here we look back on five of the most dramatic and memorable Boat Race Moments, starting with an unexpected intruder in 2012.

2012 – Someone in the water

One of the most dramatic boat races of all-time produced two huge incidents. First a protestor in the water caused a temporary pause to the race for only the second time in the history of the event.

Then once the race was restarted 30 minutes later one of the Oxford crewmen suffered irreparable damage to his blade following a clash of oars. Cambridge went on to win the race by 4½l.

2004 – Cambridge win the 150th running

The 2004 Boat Race was memorable for a number of reasons. It was the 150th running of the Men’s race, the 50th live broadcast by the BBC and it sparked complaints of a re-row from the Oxford crew.

They were unhappy following several clashes of oars throughout the race which reportedly impeded their progress. Umpire James Behrens wasn’t having any of it as Cambridge retained the 6l win.

2003 – Oxford win by a foot