University Boat Race silverware on show for the first time in Cambridge

  • Watch a report by ITV News Anglia's Emily Knight

For the first time in the history of The University Boat Race, the silver trophies awarded to both the men's and women's winning crews are going on public display at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.

Until now, the trophies have only been brought out on Race Day, but in 2020, it was decided that responsibility for the trophies between Boat Races should pass to the winning University.

This year it was Cambridge, with both teams winning by a length.

There is a surprising amount of detail on each of the trophies, in particular the men's, which shows the distance a team won by and even if they managed to finish at all.

Detail of the engraving for the 1859 boat race shows that the Cambridge Light Blues actually sank that year. Credit: ITV News Anglia

There are five trophies in total to see at the exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum.

Along with the men's and women's, there are two trophies for the reserve teams and the first-ever women's trophy presented in 1936.

  • Watch an extended interview with Dr Vicky Avery from the Fitzwilliam Museum

The Boat Race Trophies will be on show until next year's race, when they'll be taken to London to be awarded to the winning team for 2022.