First University Boat Race radio commentary anniversary

Engineers testing equipment before the broadcast of the Oxford and Cambridge boat race in 1928.

Eighty-five years ago today marks the first broadcast of a radio commentary from the University Boat Race.

That commentary was given by former rower Oliver Nickalls and cricketer Sir John Squire at the 1927 race. Writing about the event on the 80th anniversary in 2007, journalist Frank Keating quoted Nickalls' post-race account of the commentary experience with Squire:

"We stood on each other's foot when it was our turn to interrupt and simply poured excited words from start to finish, totally oblivious to being heard or not."

Exactly eleven years later, the BBC Television Service transmitted pictures from the boat race on television, although cameras were only on the finish line and the boat house.

The winning Oxford crew, bringing in their boat at Chiswick at the end of the 1938 race. This was the first television outside broadcast (OB) of the boat race. A camera can be seen on a small raised platform.

In March 2010, Head of BBC History Robert Seatter wrote on the About the BBC blog about early boat race commentator John Snagge:

He made his initial commentary in 1931 - and went on to do it for 37 years (the war years intervening), listened to by people all round the world. His Michael Fish moment, which stuck to him he said 'like a tin can tied to a dog's tail' was the famous occasion during the 1949 recording when the engine of the TV launch broke down, and poor Snagge was left saying: 'I don't know who is winning. It is either Oxford or Cambridge'.

This year, Clare Balding will present live coverage of the boat race on Saturday 8 April from 1.00-3.15pm on BBC One and BBC One HD.

There will be uninterrupted commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra from 2.00-3.00pm with updates on the race forming part of BBC Radio 5 Live's Saturday afternoon sports coverage.

The History of the BBC website has more detail about the first radio commentary in addition to other to other important BBC anniversaries in April.