25 March 2026

By Tim Koch

Tim Koch has the bookmakers worried.

The 2026 Boat Race, still referred to in the singular, will see the 171st Men’s Race. Cambridge are the defending champions and they currently lead the results tally by 88-81 (with one dead heat in 1877). This year will be the 80th Women’s Boat Race with Cambridge as the defending champions. They lead the Blue Boat results by 49-30 but the score since the women’s race moved to the Tideway in 2015 is Oxford 2, Cambridge 7.

I recently reported on the results of the Oxford and Cambridge Men’s and Women’s A Crew results in their Fixture Races against top domestic and international crews up to 22 February. Since then, there have been more fixtures and a couple of significant events.

Below I reproduce the summary of the fixture results that I collected up to 22 February followed by relevant updates since then including results of fixtures held on 7/8 March and 21/22 March. 

First though, the crew announcements.

On 12 March, the crews were announced for what is officially called The CHANEL J12 Boat Race 2026. The crew lists and athlete profiles for what are no longer A Crews but rather Blue Boats are here.

The Results Summary – Caveats 

Caution is needed in comparing fixture results. 

Various opposition crews may not have been putting out their best people due to availability etc. I think that Leander and Molesey in particular sent mostly development crews. 

Defeating Oxford Brookes is not the great result that it would have been until recently. Brookes has suffered some well-publicised problems in the past couple of years 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 Oxbridge coaches would have been experimenting with different combinations and, naturally, some will have worked better than others. 

All clubs will not necessarily put out the same crews every time. 

Cambridge tend to publish their results, Oxford do not and I have to find theirs from other sources and do not always have race distances and finish lengths.

Cambridge Women

v Thames, 18 January: Won first piece by 1.5 lengths, lost second piece by 1.25 lengths.

v Leander, 22 February: Won by 2 lengths.

Update

v Dutch, 8 March: Lost the first piece by 2 lengths, lost the second piece by just over a length.

Possibly a useful lesson in humility for Cambridge, this must have been one of the stronger crews that the Dutch have sent over in recent years.

Results from the Women’s Head of the River Race held over the full Tideway Championship course on 14 March saw: CUBC A – 6th in a time of 18.43.4; CUBC B – 12th in a time of 19.00.4; CUBC D – 32nd in a time of 19.38.2; CUBC C – 35th in a time of 19.40.1. 

A crew racing as OUBC C was 80th in a time of 20.21.3 and another racing as OUBC A was 128th in a time of 20.59.2 but these were development crews, the Blues and reserves were racing in Amsterdam.

Oxford Women

In another sort of “fixture”, the Head of the Charles in Boston, Massachusetts, last October, the Oxford Women’s A crew 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. 

v London, 24 January: Won all four pieces.

v Molesey, 22 February: Won.

Update

In my recent report I wrote of the above: 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. However, the results from the Women’s Head on 14 March proved my comments ill informed as Leander was 1st, Molesey 3rd, Thames 4th and London 17th. Thus, Oxford’s wins on 24 January and 22 February were more significant than I first indicated – though their opposition were probably not Head crews.

v Leander, 21 March: Oxford won both half-course pieces by over a length.

On 16 March, the OUBC Facebook page announced: Another epic weekend of racing at the Heineken Cup (in Amsterdam). Some standout performances included a win in the Women’s Elite 8+, as well as 2nd place in the … Women’s Intermediate 8+. Oxford raced in Amsterdam in preference to taking part in the Women’s Head.

Cambridge Men

At October’s Head of the Charles, the Cambridge men were, for the second consecutive year, the fastest men’s eight. Oxford entered but did not race.

v Oxford Brookes, 21 February: Won by 7 lengths over the full course.

Update

v Dutch, 8 March: First piece won by 10 lengths, second by 5 lengths.

Such distances suggest that the Dutch crew was a hastily assembled affair.

v Leander, 22 March: Won by 3/4 length in half course race (on 15 February, Leander beat Oxford by 1 length, not sure of the distance).

The Leander crew was composed of athletes based at Caversham, the National Training Centre for the GB Senior Programme and included George Bourne, Douwe De Graaf and James Robson, World Champions from the 2025 Coxless Four.

Oxford Men

v London, 31 January: Won two, lost two.

v Leander, 15 February: Lost by 1 length.

Update

v Oxford Brookes, 7 March: Won first half course by approximately a length, lost second half course by clear water (on 21 February, Cambridge had beaten Brookes by seven lengths over the full course).

In the Heineken Cup in Amsterdam, Oxford were an impressive sounding second in the Men’s Elite 8+ behind the Dutch National Team.

During the Oxford Fixtures on 21 March, the men were not put against any opposition but did a training outing instead. 

Conclusions?

In the past, many of these two-horse races have been surprisingly difficult to predict. However, in an event with a long history of upsets, it would still be remarkable if the Oxford men were to win. 

In his Boat Race Review in the official programme Tom Ransley pulls no punches:

The Men’s Boat Race 2026 is a mismatch of monstrous proportions, as per one Oxford insider, who lamented: “If this were a boxing match it wouldn’t be sanctioned.”

As to the women, the Oxford Women’s Chief Coach, Allan French, has done an impressive job in the last year in particular. His squad, boosted by Olympians and national and international medalists, is on the way back and their results in fixtures and other events have shown their improvement.

It will run out one day but for now the Cambridge coaches seem to have a supply of magic fairy dust to sprinkle over their squads. Unfortunately for Oxford, they have to race a Cambridge that for several years has put out men’s and women’s crews that were greater than the sum of their parts.

For example, last year’s men’s race saw an Oxford crew with some impressive pedigrees lose by a humiliating five and a half lengths. In 2024, they were beaten by three and a half lengths by a Cambridge boat that lost its stroke man in the last few minutes.

There is little reason to suppose that this year will be much different. In his Final Thoughts piece in the official programme, the Oxford Men’s Chief Coach, Mark Fangen-Hall, admits, rather remarkably, Cambridge sets the current benchmark, and that is understood.

However, to put things in perspective, in this century the Oxford men and women have won thirteen races each and the Cambridge men and women have won twelve races each.

Though OUBC may currently find this difficult to believe, their turn to be the dominant club will come again. At present, some in Britain are predicting the death of the Royal Family, the Conservative Party and Oxford rowing. These people know nothing of history.