The Thames Path National Trail beside the River Thames becomes the longest spectator area in London during The Boat Race between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.
Top-class rowers from each university match up for men’s and women’s races, cheered on by more than 250,000 spectators gathered along the Thames Path for ‘London’s Party by the River’.
After 195 years of rivalry this year’s event on Sunday 13 April is greatly-anticipated. Will the ‘Light Blues’ of Cambridge University Boat Club win for the third consecutive year, or will the ‘Dark Blues’ of Oxford University Boat Club prove to be the stronger crew?
The Boat Race is a side-by-side rowing contest between two boats of eight rowers each steered by a cox over a course that’s 4.25 miles or 6.8 km long. It starts at Putney and finishes at Mortlake. The crews row upstream with the fast current on the incoming tide.
The Thames Path on the north and the south banks of the river, and the bridges across the Thames, give the best vantage points to watch The Boat Race from. There are ‘fan parks’ at Furnival Gardens in Hammersmith and Bishop’s Park in Fulham for a relaxed and fun view of all the races.
Spot the University Boat Race Stone set into the towpath on Putney Embankment a few metres west of Putney Bridge. There’s an equivalent stone set into the bank next to The Ship pub in Mortlake at the finish of The Boat Race.
More information about the time The Boat Race starts, and the other races taking place over the same course https://www.theboatrace.org/
