Boat Race Moves To Sundays: Why The Change?

The Boat Race is an annual rowing competition between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club. Traditionally, the race is held on the River Thames in London, UK, and has been a British tradition since 1829. The race usually takes place on a Saturday, but in recent years, it has been moved to a Sunday. For instance, in 2023, the race was held on a Sunday, and in 2025, it will be held on Sunday, April 13. The switch to Sunday is speculated to be due to a coincidence with Easter that year or to avoid a clash with The Grand National.

The Boat Race's return to the River Thames

The Boat Race is an annual rowing competition between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club. The men's race was first held in 1829 on the Thames at Henley, and the women's race in 1927. The race traditionally takes place on a Saturday afternoon in late March or early April and is four miles long, from Putney to Mortlake.

In 2020, the race was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in 2021, it was held without spectators on the River Great Ouse in Ely, Cambridgeshire. The Boat Race returned to the River Thames in London in 2022, and in 2023, it took place on a Sunday for the first time in several years.

The 2024 Boat Races will take place on Saturday, March 30, with the women's race starting at 2:46 pm and the men's at 3:46 pm. The 2025 race will be held on Sunday, April 13.

The race is traditionally held on a Saturday, but there have been exceptions over the years. In 2023, it took place on a Sunday, and in the past, it was sometimes held on Sundays in the afternoon. The switch to Sunday in 2023 may have been to avoid a clash with The Grand National, as this has been a factor in previous years.

The Boat Race is a well-known event, with a large audience on television, radio, and online. It is a British tradition and has become synonymous with excellence, attracting an international broadcast audience of 15 million viewers in 2014. It is also one of the world's oldest and most famous amateur sporting events.

The history of the Oxford-Cambridge rivalry

The Boat Race is an annual rowing competition between the men's senior boat clubs of the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. The race was first held in 1829 on a 2.25-mile stretch of the River Thames between Hambleden Lock and Henley Bridge.

The race was started by Charles Merivale, a student at St John's College, Cambridge, and his friend Charles Wordsworth, who was studying at Christ Church, Oxford. The University of Cambridge challenged the University of Oxford to a race at Henley-on-Thames, but Oxford won easily. The tradition has continued to the present day, with the loser challenging the winner to a rematch annually.

The race has been held annually since 1856, except during the First and Second World Wars and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The race usually takes place on a Saturday afternoon but has also been held on Sundays in the past. The Championship Course has hosted most races, covering a 4.2-mile stretch of the Thames in West London from Putney to Mortlake.

The rivalry is a major point of honour between the two universities and is followed throughout the United Kingdom and broadcast worldwide. Cambridge has historically been more successful, leading the overall competition with 87 victories to Oxford's 81 as of the 2024 race. The 1877 race was declared a dead heat, and Oxford won the first race "easily". Cambridge won the next five races and, since 1930, has led Oxford in cumulative wins.

The Boat Race has become synonymous with British tradition and excellence, attracting a large audience both in person and via international television broadcasts.

The Championship Course

The course follows an S shape, east to west, and is over three times the distance of an Olympic race. The start and finish are marked by the University Boat Race Stones on the south bank. The coxes compete for the fastest current, which lies at the deepest part of the river, and a crew that gets a lead of more than a boat's length can cut in front of their opponent, making it very difficult for the trailing crew to regain the lead.

The north station ('Middlesex') has the advantage of the first and last bends, and the south ('Surrey') station has the advantage of the other, longer bend. The clubs' presidents toss a coin (the 1829 sovereign) to decide which side of the river each crew will row on, with the decision based on the weather, the speed of the flood tide, and how the three bends in the course might favour their crew's pace.

The race usually takes place in the afternoon, with an average of over 250,000 people watching from the banks of the river, and is broadcast internationally on television.

The women's race

The Boat Race is an annual set of rowing races between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club. The 2023 race took place on Sunday 26 March, with the 77th Women's Race kicking off at 4 pm BST and the 168th Men's Race at 5 pm BST.

The Women's Boat Race has been an annual event since 1964, with Cambridge leading Oxford in cumulative wins since 1966. The 2023 race was Cambridge's fifth consecutive victory, with a record time of 18 minutes and 23 seconds. The 2024 race will take place on Saturday 30 March, with the women's race starting at 2:46 pm.

The race is traditionally held on a Saturday afternoon, but it has been moved to Sunday in recent years to avoid clashing with other sporting events, such as The Grand National. The race is held over a 4-mile course from Putney to Mortlake on the River Thames in London, attracting over 250,000 spectators along the river banks and millions of viewers on television worldwide.

The first Women's Boat Race took place in 1927, and since 2015, the women's race has taken place on the same day and course as the men's race. The race is a British tradition, with a rich history of rivalry between the two universities, attracting a huge audience on television, radio, and online.

The men's race

The Boat Race is an annual rowing competition between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club. The men's race was first held in 1829 and has been held annually since 1856, barring cancellations during the First and Second World Wars and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

The 168th Men's Race in 2023 was a tightly contested affair. Oxford pulled away at the start with their weight advantage, but Cambridge slowly hauled themselves back into the lead in the latter stages, ultimately winning by just over a length. This victory brought Cambridge's total wins to 86, with Oxford at 80, and one dead heat in 1877.

The 2024 Boat Race will take place on Saturday 30 March 2024, with the men's race starting at 15:46. The 2025 race will be held on Sunday 13 April 2025, marking a return to the traditional Sunday scheduling.

The race is typically held on the Championship Course, also known as the Tideway, covering a 4.2-mile stretch of the Thames from Putney to Mortlake. The starting place is upstream from Putney Bridge, and the finish is downstream of Chiswick Road Bridge. The course is over three times the distance of an Olympic race, and the average time taken to complete it is 20 minutes. The race is traditionally held on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon in late March or early April, with the specific date varying from year to year.

The Boat Race has become synonymous with British tradition and excellence, attracting a huge audience on television, radio, and online. It is one of the world's oldest and most famous amateur sporting events, with a rich history of rivalry between the two universities.

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