The build-up to this year’s Boat Race has been beset by controversy. Oxford insisted that Tom Ford, a gold-medal winner from last year’s Paris Olympics, was ineligible to row for Cambridge because he started his undergraduate degree more than 12 years ago. The dispute then expanded to include three other potential Cambridge rowers, all of whom are studying for PGCE qualifications, which Oxford say makes them ineligible to row too.
James Cracknell, writing exclusively for Telegraph Sport, said: “The situation does not surprise me because there is a bizarre level of pettiness between the two universities.”
In lighter news, the tradition of throwing the winning cox into the Thames will be revived. Last year the water was deemed too dirty to risk the stunt but a new £5 billion “super sewer” has cut the amount of sewage entering the river.
What date is the 2025 Boat Race?
Sunday, April 13, 2025. The date of the boat race changes every year dependent on tides, university calendars and major London events.
The men’s Boat Race was first raced in 1829 and now spans 196 years of rivalry. The women’s event first took place in 1927.
The 2025 Boat Race will be the 170th time that Oxford and Cambridge’s men have raced against each other and the 79th time the women’s crews have done so. In the men’s head-to-head, Cambridge lead Oxford 87-81. Cambridge women have won the race 48 times to Oxford’s 30.
What time does the race start?
The main events are as follows:
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1.21pm: 79th women’s Boat Race
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1.36pm: Women’s reserve race: Osiris v Blondie
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1.51pm: Men’s reserve race: Isis v Goldie
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2.21pm: 170th men’s Boat Race
What is the course?
The course stretches over 4.25 miles (6.8km) of tidal Thames from Putney to Mortlake, commonly referred to as the Championship Course. There is a coin toss before the race to determine which team gets to pick their station: either Middlesex or Surrey.
What TV channel is the Boat Race on?
More than 250,000 people will line the banks of the Thames to watch this year’s race, with many more following on television. 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. Coverage is broadcast in about 200 countries worldwide:
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China – Great Sports Media (Live)
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Europe – EBU (News Access)
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Israel – Charlton (Live)
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Pan Africa – SuperSport (Live)
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Spain – RTVE (Live)
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Turkey – Saran (Live)
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USA – ESPN+ (Live)
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Worldwide – Olympic Channel (Live – territories TBC)
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Worldwide – SNTV (News Access)
What are the crews for the 2025 Boat Race?
The Oxford and Cambridge crews were announced on Wednesday, March 26, at Battersea Power Station.
Oxford Men: Tobias Bernard (Cox), Nico Kohl (Stroke), Nick Rusher, Tom Mackintosh, Tass von Mueller, James Doran, Felix Rawlinson, Will O’Connell, Tom Sharrock (Bow)
Cambridge Men: Ollie Boyne (Cox), Douwe de Graaf (Stroke), Luca Ferraro, James Robson, George Bourne, Gabriel Mahler, Tom Macky, Noam Mouille, Simon Hatcher (Bow)
Oxford Women: Daniel Orton (Cox), Heidi Long (Stroke), Kyra Delray, Annie Anezakis, Sarah Marshall, Alexia Lowe, Tessa Haining, Lilli Freischem, Sarah Polson (Bow)
Cambridge Women: Jack Nicholas (Cox), Samy Morton (Stroke), Tash Morrice, Claire Collins, Carys Earl, Annie Wertheimer, Sophia Hahn, Gemma King, Katy Hempson (Bow)
Cambridge want ‘clear the air’ talks
The Cambridge women’s team president has called for clear-the-air talks with Oxford to avoid a repeat of the trainee teacher controversy.
Lucy Havard said she was looking forward to having “a proper discussion” with Oxford and the members of the independent interpretation panel that barred three Cambridge rowers from the event.
The development sparked an explosive row between Britain’s oldest universities after Matt Heywood, a former Under-23 world champion, Molly Foxell, a two-time reservist for the race, and 2024 lightweight cox Kate Crowley were blocked from competing.
“It’s definitely been difficult, I’m not going to lie about it,” Havard told Telegraph Sport. “There’s been a lot of frustration but ultimately everyone has just got on with it and focused on training. Molly, Kate and Matt are very much part of our squad and we’re doing our absolute best to support them.
“It is very difficult, but especially for them, going into the season believing that they could race, with the precedent of many PGCE students in the past having raced in the Boat Race and the understanding from the Faculty of Education and the Charter of Education for Cambridge that the PGCE is a degree-level qualification, which is exactly what’s stated in the joint agreement.
“But at the end of the day, there is an interpretation panel that is designed to make these decisions when there is a controversy between the clubs and we have to respect their decision. So we’re focusing on the race for now and we’re also looking forward to having a proper discussion with Oxford and the interpretation panel and just making sure this doesn’t happen again next year.”
Havard herself has been deemed ineligible to compete after falling foul of a 12-year rule designed to clamp down on ‘ringers’ taking part in the race, which has come into force this season. The regulation bars any rower who enrolled on a degree-level studies more than 12-years ago.
“From a personal perspective, I’m disappointed that I can’t row,” said Havard, who took over the Cambridge presidency last summer. “But at the end of the day, I’m still going to take so much away from this year.”
Who won the Boat Race in 2024?
Cambridge dominated an eventful Boat Race day, securing victories in both contests for the fifth time in six years. Yet their men nearly came unstuck when stroke-seat pace-setter Matt Edge blew up with around four minutes to go.
Images of Edge slumped almost helplessly in his seat, drooling and swaying from side to side, brought home what a brutally demanding event this is. Rowers in the blue boats have to sustain their pace for more than three times as far as their Olympic counterparts.
Happily for Cambridge, Edge continued to dip his blade rhythmically in the water, even if he was putting no work through his stroke. The worst-case scenario, which rowing aficionados will remember from the case of “Lay Down” Sally Robbins at the 2004 Olympics, involves an athlete collapsing completely and destroying the whole boat’s rhythm.
Later, Cambridge cox Ed Bracey explained that the team had inadvertently practised for this exact scenario during one of their build-up races.
“When we came past the [Chiswick] Pier, it was clear that he wasn’t feeling super hot,” said Bracey of Edge. “We had this back-up plan that if something happened to Matt, Luca [Ferraro], our No 7, was gonna start stroking the boat. It had happened in a fixture where Matt caught a handle in the ribs, and couldn’t breathe for a couple of minutes, so we needed someone else to take it up.
“But I think Matt went so f---ing deep in the first half of that race, you can see why that might have happened,” Bracey added. “He was sending it early on. He was pretty out from Barnes to the finish. He looked like he was really suffering. But it was also his power and his rhythm and his length that put us in the position to win the race.” Read full race report
What are the record times?
The record time in the men’s race is 16 minutes 19 seconds, set by Cambridge in 1998. The women’s record is 18 minutes 33 seconds, set by Cambridge in 2017.
What are the best odds?
Women
Men
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Cambridge men to win 7/4
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Oxford men to win 11/2
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Draw 100/1
Who sponsors the Boat Race?
The Boat Race is to be sponsored by a luxury watch as French fashion giant Chanel launches its first foray into sport. A multi-year partnership for the Oxford and Cambridge crews begins this year, with the contest rebranded as the “Chanel J12 Boat Race”.
Chanel replaces a controversial deal the event previously struck with cryptocurrency exchange firm Gemini, founded by the Winklevoss twins.
