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HALF-BLUES AWARDS
History of the Blue

The man who began the Varsity match tradition was Charles Wordsworth of Christ Church College Oxford, who arranged a two-day cricket match against Cambridge at Lords in June 1827.
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The first Boat Race between the two universities was in 1829, and was rowed over 2 and a quarter miles between Hambleden Lock and Henley Bridge. The second Boat Race was not until 1836 which was rowed over more than double the distance, from Westminster Bridge upstream to Putney Bridge. It was in this race that one of the Cambridge oarsmen tied a light blue ribbon to the bows of the Cambridge boat (the colours of his school, Eton College).
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The colour dark blue was then ascribed to Oxford because it is the colour of Christchurch College, and the Oxford crew sported white jerseys with dark blue stripes during the race.
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These colours have remained over the years, and now exceptional players who have competed in a Varsity Match against Cambridge in a Blues sport are entitled to wear a dark blue "Blues Blazer".
Athletes at the University of Oxford may be awarded a "Full Blue" or a "Half Blue" for competing at the highest level of a university sport (depending on the Blues status of the team). American Football was awarded Half-Blue status in 2016 and the Oxford Lancers continue to build the legacy of American Football at Oxford in the hope of eventually joining the more traditional sports as a Full Blue team.
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2020-21 Half-Blue Recipients

Eric Hembling
#50 LB/OL
Exeter
DPhil Engineering Science

Jonathon Lee
#69 OL/DL
Linacre
MBA

Tal Jeffrey
#10 WR
Queen's
BA Biology

Kelechi Apakama
#87WR
St. Catherine's
BA Computer Science

Stefan Collins
#68 OL
Linacre
Teacher Education Maths

Nathaniel Carson
#71 OL
St Peter's
MBA

Victor Deprez
#85 WR/DL
St. Hugh's
Masters in Law and Finance

Oliver Townrow
#4 RB
Wadham
DPhil Inorganic Chemistry

Molayo Ogunde
#21 DB
St Hugh's
BA Human Sciences

Jon Vince
#45 DL
St. Catherine's
​DPhil Engineering Science
2019-20 Half-Blue Recipients

Arb Xhamëni
#9 WR
Balliol
Physics

Jamie Forsythe
#18 LB
Brasenose
Maths

Josh Hindley
#70 OL
St. Anne's
Ancient and Modern History

James Tufnell
#17 DL
Kellogg
Applied Landscape Archaeology

Nolan Whitcomb
#3 QB
Somerville
History and Economics

Ben Porter
#4 FS
Jesus
Social Data Science

Dom Reedy
#8 WR
Christ Church
Psychology

Cristobal Gomez
#45 DL
Wolfson
MBA

David Ojeabulu
#2 RB
St Anne's
Maths

George Newick
#44 DB
St John's
Ancient and Modern History
2018-19 Half-Blue Recipients

Jesse Rose
#85 WR/CB
Lady Margaret Hall
Biological Sciences

Stewart Humble
#52 OL/DL
Wolfson College
DPhil Biomedical Sciences

Blake Lewis
#8 LB
St. Hilda's College
BA Jurisprudence
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David Hansford
#55 OL/DL
Brasenose College
Engineering
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Jamie Fowler
#11 WR
New College
BA Biomedical Sciences
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Tom Rizvi
#87 DE
St. Catherine's College
BA Philosophy, Politics, and Economics
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Richard Matheson
#13 DB
Balliol College
BA Law
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Max Rumbol
#14 CB
New College
BFA Fine Art
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Leon Hughes
#6 DB
Mansfield College
BA History

Cedric Damein
#67 OL
Mansfield College
Msc of Mathematical and Computational Finance
2017-18 Half-Blue Recipients

Harvey Appleby
#54 LB
St Hilda's College
BA Jurisprudence

Richard Heit
#69 OL
Lady Margaret Hall
MBA

Lewis Morgan
#44 DB
St. Hilda's College
BA Chemistry

Lucas Stolle
#84 WR
Somerville College
MSci Biochemistry

Oscar Rahnama
#74 OL/DE
Linacre College
DPhil Engineering Science

William Osborn
#52 DE
St. Cross College
DPhil Business

Andrew Badger
#1 WR
Kellogg College
Diplomatic Studies Program

Will Szymanski
#12 QB
Brasenose College
BA Literae Humaniores

James Blackwell
#45 SS
Worcester College
MEng engineering

Rory Smith
#64 NT
Christ Church
BM Medicine
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2016-17 Half-Blue Recipients

Jonny Brooks
#38 DE/RB
Oriel College
DPhil Systems Biology Doctoral Training Centre

Rob Main
#68 OL/DL
St. Catherine's College
DPhil Classics/Ancient History

Joe Barker
#15 WR
Trinity College
BA Mathematics

Sam Smith
#70 OL
Trinity College
BA Philosophy, Politics, and Economics

Josh Allen
#33 DB
St Catherine's College
BA Human Sciences
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Connor Thompson
#5 RB
Lincoln College
BM Medicine

Joe Muse
#21 DB
University College
MA Maths and CompSci
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Guanze He
#72 OL
Linacre College
DPhil Material Science
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Chris Nowek
#81 DE/WR
New College
BM Medicine
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Matt Williamson
#55 LB
Brasenose College
DPhil Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics
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