LONDON — Hours after police removed an unexploded World War II-era bomb near the start of the course on the River Thames, Oxford reclaimed the boat race title from Cambridge on Sunday.



The bomb was discovered by a member of the public near Putney Bridge in southwest London, just meters (yards) from the starting line of the famous race between rowers from Oxford and Cambridge universities.



The submerged ordinance was removed by a marine policing unit, the London police force said.



Oxford won the 163rd boat race by a length and a quarter in 16 minutes, 59 seconds. The course is 4 miles, 374 yards (6.8 kilometers) long.



Cambridge was denied its first back-to-back victories since 1999 but still leads Oxford 82-80 overall after a dead-heat in 1877.