Boat Race 2024 live: Results, times and updates as Cambridge secure stunning double over Oxford
Relive all the action from two thrilling boat races between Cambridge and Oxford
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Cambridge produced two spectacular performances to secure a double win over Oxford in the 2024 Boat Race.
Both the men’s and women’s crews raced through to convincing wins over their old rivals on a sunny afternoon in the capital.
Much of the build-up to the races had been dominated by the condition of the water in the Thames, but once the day got underway it was the quality of the Cambridge racing that stole the show.
The women, led by cox Hannah Murphy, clawed back an early Oxford lead and roared ahead after a controversial incident in which the two boats nearly collided.
The men’s team, buoyed by a particularly inspiring shift from stroke Matt Edge, put in a similarly impressive performance, roaring to an early lead and maintaining it throughout the race to finish with a lead of three-and-a-half lengths.
Follow all the live action from the Thames in the blog below and get the latest odds and tips here.
A reminder of the women’s crews
Here are the respective teams ahead of the women’s race, which begins at 2.46pm.
Oxford Women
Coached by Allan French
Sarah Marshall (bow)
Ella Stadler (President)
Tessa Haining
Claire Aitken
Julia Lindsay
Annie Sharp
Lucy Edmunds
Annie Anezakis (stroke)
Joe Gellett (cox)
Cambridge Women
Coached by Paddy Ryan
Gemma King (bow)
Jo Matthews
Clare Hole
Jenna Armstrong (President)
Carina Graf
Carys Earl
Iris Powell
Megan Lee (stroke)
Hannah Murphy (cox)
Boat Race 2024: Oxford vs Cambridge
We’re now just under an hour until the women’s race and coverage will begin in a matter of minutes.
The conditions look great on the River Thames and it’s a bright and sunny day in London.
Boat Race 2024: Oxford vs Cambridge
Boat Race 2024: Oxford and Cambridge rowers warned to not enter water after E coli discovery
Boat Race organisers have warned rowers to not enter the water on safety grounds after high levels of E coli bacteria were found on the River Thames course.
The new safety guidance could see the end of the traditional celebration for the winning team, where team members jump into the river and the cox gets a ducking. The 78th women’s race and 169th men’s race are still due to take place this weekend.
Last year, Cambridge men’s cox Jasper Parish was thrown into the Thames at Mortlake, as is the tradition at the end of the race. But a repeat is now unlikely after the River Action campaign group found an average of 2,869 E coli colony-forming units (CFU) per 100ml of water in 16 tests around Hammersmith Bridge.
Boat Race rowers warned to not enter water after E coli discovery
A long-standing tradition of the annual race could be absent this year following safety guidance published after high levels of E coli were discovered in the Thames course
Boat Race 2024: Best places to watch Oxford vs Cambridge races on the Thames
Boat Race 2024: Coin toss for women’s race
Cambridge won the coin toss for the women’s race and cox Kate Crowley has chosen Middlesex.
Oxford will race on Surrey.
Boat Race 2024: Coin toss for men’s race
Oxford won the coin toss and chose Surrey, which means Cambridge men will race on Middlesex.
Boat Race 2024: Bookies backing Oxford for double victory over Cambridge
Here are the latest odds for the race:
Women's Race
Oxford 3/10
Dead heat 100/1
Cambridge 9/4
Men's Race
Oxford 8/15
Dead heat 100/1
Cambridge 11/8
Boat Race 2024: Thames course for Oxford v Cambridge races
The Boat Race course, known as the Championship Course, is four miles and 374 yards (6.8 km) long. It stretches between Putney and Mortlake on the River Thames in south west London.
The race is rowed upstream, but starts during the incoming tide to ensure that crews are rowing with the fast stream.
‘Massive water advocate’ Annie Sharp excited for Boat Race on Thames
Annie Sharp is only half-joking when she predicts she will be the only rower as excited about starting the Boat Race in close proximity to the Thames’ new ‘super sewer’ as she is about the chance to snap a six-year winless stretch for Oxford’s women.
The 24-year-old’s enthusiasm for the Thames Tideway Tunnel, a £4.5 billion, 25km-long sewage structure which saw its final piece lifted into place this week, makes more sense when you learn that Sharp is a MSc water science, policy & management student at St Antony’s College.
Oxford last won the women’s Boat Race in 2016, the same year work began on the sewer, but might not be able to partake in the traditional celebratory dip should they win the 78th women’s edition this Saturday after high levels of E. coli were found along the Championship Course.
Speaking before the findings were announced, Sharp, who will occupy the six seat, told the PA news agency: “We are working with water and unfortunately against it sometimes with the flooding that we’ve had at Wallingford this year.
‘Massive water advocate’ Annie Sharp excited for Boat Race on Thames
Sharp is a MSc water science, policy & management student at St Antony’s College.
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