Until Michaelmas term 1958, Oxford had held no formal races as part of their selection process though Cambridge from as long ago as 1835 had bumping races between the university (a crew selected by the President) and the college captains. Towards the end of 1858 in the selection of their 1859 crew Oxford introduced a trial VIII race for the first time. Although this took place under the control of the 1859 President, John Arkell, it is widely believed that it was instigated at the suggestion of the great Dr Edmond Warre, who had just gone down and been appointed to a fellowship at All Souls.

The Oxford coaching was undertaken by Warre and Arthur Lonsdale (Heywood Lonsdale) who had also just gone down and Warre was by no means averse to substituting in the boat if necessary. With the good coaching which they received, they turned into what at the time was described as a ‘very pretty crew to watch’. Robert Lewis-Lloyd was Cambridge President as he had been in 1858, but there is very little information about the coaching of the light blues at that period.

The weather was bad during March 1859 with a substantial number of gales and both crews had, perforce, quite a lot of experience of dealing with inclement weather conditions.

Both crews had new boats built by Matt Taylor. Oxford tried out several before being satisfied and the one that they eventually chose was berated in The Times for just about every possible fault. Cambridge on the other hand chose theirs more easily but it was thought to be too light for them.

The Race itself was a dramatic one and the account published in The Times on the Monday after the race gives a detailed description of it, also exemplifying the journalistic style of sports reporting of the time:

"It is not perhaps too much, even though we are speaking of London weather and Thames squalls, when we say that it would not have been easy to pitch on a more unfavourable day for an eight oared race than yesterday proved. The wind blew violently in raw gusty squalls from the north-west and raised an amount of broken water when it met the tide, that boded very ill indeed for the safety of the light racing cutters. The day too was intensely cold and every half hour was varied by a heavy storm of hail and snow.

Both the competing boats were made by the same builder at Newcastle but before Cambridge had got twelve yards from shore, it was apparent that their boat was too light for the rough water, besides which it appeared to have no stiffness, so it was hoped that they would change it at the last moment. Oxford won the choice of station and took the Middlesex side, which gave them considerable advantage in terms of wind and smoother water.

Soon after one o’clock the word was given, the oars flashed in the sun like polished steel and with a bound that seemed to lift them from the water, both boats were off at a tremendous pace. For a short distance until the way was on them, they kept together, stirring every nerve, but after the first two hundred or tree hundred yards, Oxford drew steadily ahead and gained so much that while their opponents were forcing by main strength their boat through the broken water that almost swept over it at the end of the first mile, Oxford was two or three lengths ahead.

As the boats flew past the fleet of steamers which lined the banks and were laden almost to the water’s edge with eager spectators fell in their wake and the race with all its fierce excitement commenced in earnest, the steamers rolling from side to side as though they must capsize and almost threatening to capsize the rival cutters, hemmed in so closely and with deafening cries and cheers stimulating the losers to greater efforts.

Their boat gained steadily but there were still two long lengths separating them and their opponents. The steamers, the boats and everything in great confusion flew pell mell under the suspension bridge. The steamers crowding one another were almost unmanageable in their overcrowded state, the rival cutters just able to keep ahead of their high pressure pursuers and almost jeopardise the lives of the rowing crews.

At Hammersmith the wind is violent and almost dead ahead in the teeth of the competitors with an ugly stretch of broken water for the Cambridge boat. As they labout through this it can be seen at once that some of their crew are sorely distressed with this last spurt and that the boat is ankle deep in water. For the latter evil there is no remedy and it gets worse each minute.

The Oxford boat is not too dry but the first and second oars in the Cambridge boat are almost hidden by water which broke completely over them and made the boat heavier with every stroke. While their antagonists were thus impeded, the Oxfords improved their distance and at last got considerably ahead and even the steamers, despite the shouts and signals of the umpires boat and in spite of all rules of fair play began to pass a little ahead of the poor Cantabs leaving them to contend as best they could with their trail of broken water.

Past Barnes railway bridge the water was very rough. Oxford now far ahead went through it gallantly, but not so Cambridge, whose boat was now almost completely waterlogged. Wave after wave broke into it, the track of steamers passing ahead made matters worse. Yet still, though their sinking condition was seen, the gallant crew pulled to the last and were in the act of rowing desperately when the boat sank under them.

In another minute and in a mass of straw hats, oars and flannel shirts they were all seen, just as manfully, striking out to gain the shore. Some were instantly picked up by boats, others swam to land and all escaped without any worse mishap than a ducking on a very cold day. The accident it must be said in no way influenced the result of the race. At Hammersmith the chance of Cambridge was hopeless.

After the accident, Oxford rowed the couple of hundred yards which still remained to be accomplished and came in winners amid tremendous cheering. There is no doubt that much of the blame for this mishap, such as it was, rests on the steamers and unless some precautions are taken to prevent a large number of those overcrowded and unmanageable vessels from pressing on the boats while rowing, it is not impossible that sooner or later some dreadful accident will happen.

For the record Oxford completed the course in 24 minutes 40 seconds.