The first Harvard–Yale Boat Race—and the first…
February 1852 CE to 1863 CE
On May 24, 1843, with the arrival of the shell Whitehall in New Haven, Yale University had founded the first collegiate crew in the United States.
A year later, Harvard founded their boat club.
These boat clubs served primarily a social purpose, until Yale's 1852 issuance of a challenge to Harvard "to test the superiority of the oarsmen of the two colleges".
In this two-mile (3.2 km) contest, Harvard's Oneida prevailed over Yale's Shawmut by about two lengths, with Yale's Undine finishing third.
The first place prize is a pair of black walnut, silver-inscribed trophy oars.
The trophy oars are awarded to Harvard by General Franklin Pierce who in 1853 will become the fourteenth President of the United States of America.
Today the 1852 trophy oars are the oldest intercollegiate athletic prize in North America.
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