4 March 2026

By Tim Koch

Tim Koch attempts to collate the results of the Boat Race Fixtures held so far.

The 2026 Boat Race Fixtures, races in which top crews from Britain and abroad race potential Oxford and Cambridge men’s and women’s Blue, reserve and lightweight crews over parts of the Putney to Mortlake course as part of the Oxbridge crews’ Boat Race Day preparations have this year been scheduled to run between 18 January and 22 March.

The crew announcements will be on 12 March so all crews are provisional until then – and, of course, can still change up to Boat Race Day itself, Saturday 4 April.

The results of the fixture races that have already taken place are easier to find for those involving Cambridge as CUBC posts such results online, they are generally more social media friendly. Oxford tends not to put much on its public socials and what results I have got for their fixtures came from posts by their opponents or by the photographers, AllMarkOne. 

I have only given the A and B crews results and only A crew race reports (where available).

Cambridge Women’s A v Thames Women’s A, 18 January 

Result: First piece to Cambridge by 1 1/2 lengths, second piece to Thames by 1 1/4 lengths

Race Report: Toni Galland, cubc.org

Our first fixture of the year was a great opportunity for us to implement the changes we have made since Trial Eights, during Training Camp… Up against Thames A, the Blue Boat raced two very competitive half-course pieces, from The Boat Race start to Eyot. Cambridge won the coin toss and chose the Surrey station for the first piece, the stations then switched the second time around.

Starting the first piece, Thames got out the blocks quickly getting ahead by half a length which they held for the first kilometre. In response, the Cambridge crew stayed internal and moved through Thames A by the Hammersmith bend, driving a long and steady rhythm that got them ahead after the bend. The final margin was a length and a half of open water, leaving the crew excited for the second piece.

The second piece began approximately 200m further down the course. Determined to hold Thames at the start this time around, the crew got off the blocks more quickly than previously. Thames had the inside bend at Hammersmith, moving very determinately through the choppy water. The Cambridge crew weren’t quite able to find the same rhythm they found in the first piece, with the piece ending with a lead for Thames of a length and a quarter.

Cambridge Women’s B v Thames Women’s B, 18 January

Result: First piece to Thames by 1 length, second piece to Thames by 2 seats

OUBC Women’s A v London Women’s A, 24 January

Result: Oxford won all four races.

OUBC Men’s A v London Men’s A, 31 January

Result: OUBC two wins, London two wins.

OUBC Men’s A v Leander Men’s A, 15 February

Result: First piece to Leander by about a length, the second piece was abandoned after a clash.

Race Report from leander.co.uk:

In the Blue Boat fixture, Leander… endured a shaky opening, with Oxford moving out to nearly a length lead after two minutes. Leander responded well, gradually moving back onto Oxford and rowing through to take an almost a length lead before Hammersmith Bridge. They maintained their advantage until the crews were called down at the Eyot.

The second piece saw Leander start more aggressively and begin to move on Oxford before a clash of blades resulted in an injury to seven-seat Jack Prior, forcing the race to be abandoned.

OUBC Men’s B v Leander Men’s B, 15 February

Result: Both pieces to Leander by two-lengths and three-lengths.

CUBC Men’s A v Oxford Brookes Men’s A, 21 February

Result: Cambridge by 7 lengths.

Race Report: Kyle Fram (“7”), cubc.org

We had a taste of the conditions on the far side of Putney bridge during our warmup, with a flood tide against a stiff headbreeze. The strong land water prevented racing beyond Barnes, so we forewent the standard two short-course piece format for a single shot Putney to Bandstand dual race. 

The race went off without a hitch, with us lining up on Middlesex and starting under quickstart, well administered by Umpire Sarah Winckless. We quickly jumped out to a small margin, and under repeated steering warnings surged to about a length by the Black Buoy, narrowly avoiding contact. Kudos to cox Sammy Houdaigui for great racing awareness.

Once we broke open water, our opponent swung hard to cut the Fulham corner. Without gaining or sacrificing significant margin from their manoeuvre, we continued to press a small lead down the Crabtree reach into a larger advantage. Conditions significantly worsened past Hammersmith and became quite choppy around St. Paul’s, but a healthy crowd on the bridge and banks spurred us to a reasonable 3-4 lengths of open water.

Sammy kept us composed down to the worst of the conditions past the Blue Doors and through Chiswick Eyot. Stroke Freddy Breuer continued to drive a steady rhythm and we managed to extend our margin through the latter half of the race. 

CUBC Men’s B v Oxford Brookes B, 21 February

Result: Cambridge by 6 lengths

I was interested to see that coach Rob Baker put the vastly Boat Race experienced trio of Matt Edge, Luke Beever and Noam Mouelle in his “B” crew. Of course, there could be lots of reasons for him doing this, most not related to who will end up in the Blue Boat on Boat Race Day.

CUBC Women’s A v Leander Women’s A, 22 February

Result: Cambridge by 2 lengths

Race report: Izzy Campbell (“2”), cubc.org

In our second fixture of the year, the Blue Boat raced a gutsy piece against Leander A from the Boat Race start to Chiswick Steps. Though Cambridge lost the coin toss, Leander kindly let Cambridge choose the Surrey station.

Right off the start, Leander jumped Cambridge and the boats were bow-to-stern. However, Cambridge was able to stay internal, drilling in the primary focuses and establishing a cohesive rhythm after 1500 meters. From there, Cambridge was able to walk back substantially and the 4.2km piece ended with the Blue Boat up by two lengths.

CUBC Women’s B v Leander Women’s B, 22 February

Result: Leander by 1/4 length

OUBC Women’s A v Molesey Women’s A, 22 February

Result: Oxford won.

OUBC Women’s B v Molesey Women’s B, 22 February

Result: Molesey won in two pieces over the first half of the course.

The A Crews’ Results Summary

Caution is needed in comparing results. The Oxbridge opponents may not be putting out their best people due to availability etc while the Blue coaches may be experimenting with different combinations, some of which may not work.

Cambridge Women

v Thames: Won first piece by 1.5 lengths, lost second piece by 1.25 lengths.

v Leander: Won by 2 lengths.

Cambridge should be very happy with these wins against clubs with perhaps the strongest women’s crews in the country. It will be interesting to see how they do against some young Dutch internationals on 8 March.

Oxford Women

I should also mention another sort of “fixture”, the Head of the Charles in Boston, Massachusetts, last October, when the Oxford Women’s A crew (stroked by Heidi Long) was placed 3rd in the Women’s Championship Eights with a time of 15:42, while the Cambridge Women’s A crew finished 9th with a time of 16:04. Is this a sign of things to come – or have Oxford peaked too soon?

v London: Won all four pieces.

v Molesey: Won.

Five wins, no losses, all good. However, the London and Molesey women are probably not as strong as those from Thames and Leander that Cambridge raced. Perhaps the more telling result will be when the Oxford Women race Leander on 21 March.

Cambridge Men

v Oxford Brookes: Won by 7 lengths

Not the great victory it once would have been. Brookes has suffered some well-publicised problems recently with the result that it is not the force that it was when it almost always beat both the Light and Dark Blues in fixture races. 

The result of the CUBC men’s race against a crew of young Dutch internationals on 8 March will be more telling. Also, another contest against Leander is set for 22 March.

Oxford Men

v London: Won two, lost two.

v Leander: Lost by 1 length.

Oxford should be pleased with these results. These days, the London men are a force to be reckoned with and losing to Leander by only one length (I do not know the distance) is no disgrace. A fixture against Brookes is set for 7 March.

The next Fixture Reports will be on CUBC on 8 March and OUBC on 21 March.