Oxford vs. Cambridge Boat Race 2018: route, crews, winners and betting odds

Mar 23, 2018

The crews will battle for victory on a gruelling 4.2-mile course that starts in Putney and finishes in Mortlake

Warren Little/Getty Images

Oxford men’s crew celebrate winning last year’s Boat Race against Cambridge

More than 250,000 spectators will line the banks of the River Thames tomorrow for this year’s Boat Race.

Oxford University and Cambridge University will go head to head in the women’s and men’s races which start at Putney in south-west London and continue for 4.2 miles down the Thames before finishing in Mortlake.

Last year Oxford won the men’s race while Cambridge were victorious in the women’s.

Here we look at the history of the Boat Race, the past winners, this year’s crews and the latest betting odds.

2018 Boat Race guide

What time are the Oxford vs. Cambridge boat races?

The women’s race starts at 4.31pm and the men’s race takes place at 5.32pm.

The Boat Race course

Tomorrow’s race from Putney to Mortlake will cover a lung-bursting four miles and 374 yards – three times the distance of the longest Olympic race. In such circumstances the winner is likely to be whoever can endure the most physical punishment. Crews train for a total of 1,200 hours in preparation for the 600-stroke Championship Course, meaning that two hours of effort lie behind each stroke.

How many spectators will watch the race?

The London Evening Standard predicts that more than 250,000 people will line the banks of the River Thames to watch the 164th Boat Race.

What’s the weather forecast for the Boat Race?

The BBC forecasts thick cloud and light winds at 5pm tomorrow with a temperature of 9C.

Which TV channel will show it?

The BBC, which will present live TV coverage of both races tomorrow. It will be the 80th year since the BBC first televised the rowing event.

Any news on this year’s crews?

The crews for the men’s and women’s 2018 Boat Races have been announced. In the men’s race Cambridge will break a record when American James Letten becomes the tallest man ever to compete. Letten is 6ft 10in tall.

Oxford men’s crew

Bow: Claas Mertens
2: Vassilis Ragoussis
3: Will Cahill
4: Anders Weiss
5: Will Geffen
6: Benedict Aldous
7: Iain Mandale
Stroke: Felix Drinkall
Cox: Zachary Thomas Johnson

Oxford men’s crew averages

Height: 188.7cm (6ft 2in)
Weight: 85.6kg (13st 7lbs)

Cambridge men’s crew

Bow: Charles Fisher
2: Patrick Elwood
3: James Letten
4: Dara Alizadeh
5: Spencer Furey
6: Finn Meeks
7: Rob Hurn
Stroke: Freddie Davidson
Cox: Hugo Ramambason

Cambridge men’s crew averages

Height: 194.6cm (6ft 4in)
Weight: 89.8kg (14st 2lbs)

In the women’s race Jessica Buck is the cox for the Oxford women’s crew with Sophie Shapter the cox for Cambridge.

Oxford women’s crews

Bow: Renee Koolschijn
2: Katherine Erickson
3: Juliette Perry
4: Alice Roberts
5: Morgan McGovern
6: Sara Kushma
7: Abigail Killen
Stroke: Beth Bridgman
Cox: Jessica Buck

Oxford crew average

Height: 175.8cm (5ft 9in)
Weight: 70.9kg (11st 2lbs)

Cambridge women’s crew

Bow: Renee Koolschijn
2: Imogen Grant
3: Kelsey Barolak
4: Thea Zabell
5: Paula Wesselmann
6: Alice White
7: Myriam Goudet-Boukhatmi
Stroke: Olivia Coffey
Cox: Sophie Shapter

Cambridge crew averages

Height: 179.5cm (5ft 10in)
Weight: 72.9kg (11st 7lbs)
Making plans for next Saturday%u2019s @CR_UK Boat Race? Check out the Race Day timetable %uD83D%uDC47 to make sure you don%u2019t miss any of the action. #TheBoatRace2018 pic.twitter.com/5jiNjVXoQZ
— The Boat Race (@theboatraces) March 18, 2018

The history of the Boat Race

Devised by Charles Wordsworth and Charles Merivale, two former Harrovians studying at Oxford and Cambridge, the event first took place at Henley-on-Thames in 1829. Despite issuing the original challenge, Cambridge, dressed in pink rather than their contemporary light blue, lost the encounter by a heavy margin.

The second race in the series, rowed between Westminster and Putney, didn’t take place until 1836 and for the next 25 years contests between the two universities were irregular. One obstacle to regular competition was disagreement over the race venue, with Oxford preferring Henley and Cambridge favouring central London.

The race became an annual event in 1856, and moved to the stretch of the river between Putney and Mortlake in 1864.

There’s mutiny afoot

The history of the race is not without internal discord. The Oxford camp split over the election of their president in 1959 when a group of disenchanted oarsmen pushed for the formation of two separate crews. The plan was for these two crews to race against each other for the right to represent the university in that year’s race. The mutiny was put down by Oxford’s college captains. Three of the dissidents returned to the team for the race, which Oxford went on to win by six lengths.

Another dispute, also in the Oxford team, came in 1987 when a number of international rowers withdrew in an argument over selection methods which they said were unfair. Despite the disruption Oxford went on to win once again – with a race-day crew filled out by reserves.

Winner and losers

Oxford holds the men’s Boat Race trophy after last year’s victory but Cambridge still leads the series overall by 82-80. In the women’s race, Cambridge lead 42-30 after winning last year’s race by 11 lengths.