Boat Race is promising to be oarsome

OXFORD and Cambridge may have the UK’s most famous university boat race.

However, Newcastle has its own version of the classic contest with a day of races on the Tyne featuring crews from Newcastle and Durham Universities.

Called the Boat Race of the North and sponsored by Siemens, the event will be held on Saturday.

Ten North East teams will compete for a range of coveted race titles.

All the action is centred around NE1’s Newcastle City Marina, with races taking place between the Gateshead Millennium and the Redheugh bridges.

Rowing teams from Durham and Newcastle Universities will take part alongside teams from Tyne Rowing Club.

Racing starts at 2.30 and events will be held every 10 minutes until 4.00.

The event was a feature on the river in the 90s, the first Race of the North held in 1997.

Newcastle University and NE1 were keen to see it return as an annual event and it was reinstated in 2015.

Colin Blackburn, Director of Sport at Newcastle University, said: “The Siemens Boat Race of the North will be a great spectacle for the public to enjoy.

“It is also a fantastic opportunity for our rowing teams to showcase their talents and hopefully bring back the Siemens Boat Race of the North title and trophy.

“We are grateful to both NE1 and Siemens for supporting the event and helping to bring it back to the Tyne.”