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First raced by crews from the two universities in 1829, the event is regularly attended by over 250,000 spectators at the banks of the river and watched by many millions more on television. Here is everything you need to know ahead of the race. The Boat Race is an annual event between crews from the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge.
The Men’s Boat Race was first raced in 1829 and the women’s Boat Race first took place in 1927. It is now one of the world’s oldest and most famous amateur sporting events. The esteemed sporting event between the UK’s two most prestigious universities now spans 185 years of rivalry.
Following wins by Cambridge in both races in 2024, the records currently stand as 87-81 in the favour of Cambridge Men and 48-30 in the favour of Cambridge Women. Cambridge University Boat Club wears the light ‘Duck Egg’ blue and the Oxford crews wear dark blue. There are eight crews competing, which will be made up of Olympians, World Champions alongside students who learned to row at Oxford and Cambridge.
The rowers and coxes on the teams come from all backgrounds with different levels of rowing experience. The men’s and women’s top crews are known as the Blue Boats after the award their universities give them for competing in The Boat Race. Both universities have reserve crews.
For the men, Oxford’s reserve boat is called Isis, Cambridge’s is called Goldie. The women’s reserve boats are called Osiris (Oxford) and Blondie (Cambridge). The Boat Race takes place in London on the famous Championship Course that stretches over 4.
25 miles of tidal Thames in West London between Putney and Mortlake. The Race starts downstream of Putney Bridge and passes under Hammersmith Bridge and Barnes Bridge before finishing just before Chiswick Bridge. Sunday, April 13.
The record time over the course in The Men’s Boat Race is 16 minutes 19 seconds, set by Cambridge in 1998 and for The Women’s Boat Race is 18 minutes 33 seconds set by Cambridge in 2017. BBC One will carry live coverage, starting at 12.45pm.
It will also be available to stream online via the BBC website and The Boat Race YouTube Channel..
