Tamesis Regatta is a boat race in the University of Oxford, England, which is held annually during seventh week of Michaelmas term (late November), in which novice crews (of eight rowers with a cox) representing each college, compete against each other.[1][2] There are separate men's and women's races, with many colleges entering more than one crew. While the race used to be known as Christ Church Regatta, the regatta is now organised by whichever Oxford College club wins a competitive bidding process ran by OURCs.[2][3] The regatta has been run by Linacre College Boat Club since 2022 [4]
The competition is run over up to four days in total, from Wednesday of 7th week in Michaelmas Term to Saturday of 7th Week. Races are head-to-head[1] between two teams that are chosen at random. The winner of the race will progress to the next round of races. The loser may be knocked out so that they no longer race. However, the loser of a first round race will enter the repechage, meaning that they have the chance to stay in the competition. The knock-out rounds of the competition proceed until two crews are left to race against each other in the Final.[6]
A regatta of novice crews has potential problems, with crews catching crabs, clashing or stopping. If racing becomes dangerous the race will be stopped by klaxon. In 2012 deteriorating river conditions led to racing being suspended after a crew got into trouble while marshalling at the end of their race.[7] The regatta was cancelled in 2019 and 2023 due to high river conditions, and in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[8][9]
