The 36th Boat Race took place on 5 April 1879. The Boat Race is an annual side-by-side rowing race between crews from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge along the River Thames. Each crew contained four Blues. In a race umpired by former Oxford rower Joseph William Chitty, Cambridge led all the way, and won by a margin of three lengths in a time of 21 minutes 18 seconds. The victory took the overall record to 18–17 in Oxford's favour.

The 35th Boat Race took place on 13 April 1878. The Boat Race is an annual side-by-side rowing race between crews from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge along the River Thames. In total, ten former Blues took part in the contest. The race was umpired by former rower Joseph William Chitty and Oxford won by a margin of 10 lengths in a time of 22 minutes 15 seconds. The victory took the overall record to 18–16 in Oxford's favour.