What time does the Boat Race 2026 start today? Oxford and Cambridge crews, TV channel and route map

The 2026 Boat Races between Oxford and Cambridge universities take place today in one of Britain’s most iconic sporting events.

Oxford will be out for revenge on the four-mile stretch on the River Thames with Cambridge having won both the men’s and women’s races in each of the past three years.

The Boat Race – one of the oldest amateur sporting contests in the world – will be contested by all four squads across the 6.8km course in west London with thousands expected to line the banks of the Thames.

And plenty more will be tuning in to watch it on TV, with this year’s edition the first to take place since the BBC decided to give up the rights to the event, which have subsequently been picked up by Channel 4.

What time does the the Boat Race start today?

The women’s race starts at 2.21pm, with the men’s race to follow at 3.21pm.

The start times have been specifically picked to coincide with high tide later in the day, which gives both teams the opportunity to row in the fastest water current.

Where does the Boat Race start and finish?

The Boat Race will take place on the Championship Course on the River Thames in London.

Crews will start at Putney Bridge and row upstream to the finish just before the Chiswick Bridge, passing notable landmarks like Craven Cottage stadium and Fuller’s Brewery.

This route has been used for every single Boat Race since 1845 aside from three occasions when the race was held in the opposite direction, and in 2021 when it was held on the River Great Ouse in Ely due to Covid restrictions.

The Boat Race route map

Oxford and Cambridge crews

Oxford’s crews – who compete in dark blue – are stacked with Olympians including Heidi Long who won bronze with Team GB in the women’s eight at Paris 2024, and Tom Mackintosh won gold in the men’s event for New Zealand at Tokyo 2020.

Cambridge’s crew – who compete in light blue – features several notable names from past victories including Gemma King who will compete in her eighth Boat Race, and three-time winners Noam Mouelle and Luca Ferraro.

How to watch The Boat Race on TV

The Boat Race will be available to watch live on TV on Channel 4.

The programming will get underway at 1.30pm and will run until 4.30pm.

Before this year, the BBC had shown the Boat Race on TV for the majority of the last 87 years, only losing the rights to ITV between 2005 and 2009.

Who has won the Boat Race the most?

There have been 170 Men’s Boat Races since the first event in 1829 with Cambridge winning 88 to Oxford’s 81, with the 1877 race the only to be declared a dead heat.

Since the first event in 1927, there have been 79 Women’s Boat Races, with Cambridge way ahead in the overall head-to-head score (49-30).

Cambridge have been the more successful team of late, winning five of the last six men’s races and the last eight women’s events.

For more stories like this, check our sport page.

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