Cambridge Challenges Oxford ? Britain's Boat Race

The biggest university boat race in the world is set to go this Sunday 28 March when Cambridge University takes on Oxford University for the 150th time.

Great Britain's River Thames is gearing up for crowds of around 250,000 to watch the 4 ¼ mile race that has been billed the ?world's longest surviving sporting challenge.? Oxford, despite weighing in slightly lighter than Cambridge, are the punters favourite going into this weekend's race. They won last year by a slight one-foot margin and will be hoping to continue their two-year winning streak. Known simply as the Boat Race, Oxford-Cambridge head-to-head contest began in 1829 when Cambridge sent a challenge to Oxford to race in the fixed seat boats of the day. The challenges became an annual affair in 1856 (breaking only for the war years) and the history is a wealth of bad weather stories, boat sinkings and a breeding ground for future Olympians. Current British national team members Matthew Pinsent (Oxford) and Josh West (Cambridge) are past participants and of Great Britain's 12 medallists at the 2000 Olympics, nearly half had been part of the race while they were at University.  This year the start time has been moved to 6pm and will be televised live on BBC Sport. An audience of 400 million is expected internationally and the race will also be available online at: www.theboatrace.org