Cambridge sweep The Boat Race 2025 in a landmark year for the Light Blues

An incredible performance from Cambridge University Boat Club saw them take all four victories at The Chanel J12 Boat Race 2025

Cambridge ruled the Tideway this weekend, winning both the men’s and women’s Lightweight Boat Races on Saturday and all four of Sunday’s races (the men’s and women’s blue boats and reserves).

The results extended Cambridge’s tally of wins to 88-81 in the Men’s Boat Race and 49-30 in the Women’s Boat Race.

Oxford did record a victory in the Women’s Veterans’ Boat Race that toook place over a short course on Saturday, but Cambridge won the men’s event.

The 79th Women’s Boat Race

Cambridge won the Women’s Boat Race for the eighth consecutive year, defeating Oxford by 2.5 lengths.

Having won the toss and chosen Middlesex, Cambridge made the most of having the inside of the Fulham bend, and quickly pulled out a third of a length lead, rating slightly higher than the dark blues. Less than 80 seconds in, the crews clashed, despite Umpire Matthew Pinsent having issued multiple warnings to Oxford, and he was forced to stop the race. After the race restarted with Cambridge ahead, as they had been at the clash, the light blues continued to draw away throughout the rest of the 4.25 mile course although Oxford fought hard to the end.

2025 marked the 10th anniversary of the Women’s Boat Race first taking place on the Tideway.

The 170th Men’s Race

Despite various pundits predicting that this would be the closest of this year’s Boat Races, or even the one that Oxford had the best chance of winning,  Cambridge dominant from the first stroke, recording their sixth victory in seven years by 5.5 lengths.

Cambridge’s winning time of 16:56 was the seventh fastest recorded in history. This was helped by fast conditions – with no rain for weeks in the run up to The Boat Race, there was very little land water coming down the river against the flood tide on which the race is rowed.

Umpire Sarah Winckless became the first woman to take charge of the Men’s Boat Race on the Tideway, after previously umpiring it in 2021 when it was held at Ely due to Covid-19 restrictions.

2025 Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race results

Race	Result	Verdict	Time
Women’s Blue Boat	Cambridge	2.5 lengths	19:25
Men’s Blue Boat	Cambridge	5.5 lengths	16:56
Women’s Reserves	Blondie (Cambridge)	4 lengths	19:17
Men’s Reserves	Goldie (Cambridge)	4.5 lengths	TBA
Lightweight Women	Cambridge	3 lengths	19:08 (new record)
Lightweight Men	Cambridge	4.5 lengths	17:35 (new record)

Millions watch The Boat Race 2025

A peak audience of 2.82 million* people watched the BBC coverage of The Boat Race 2025 on Sunday. In fact,  The Boat Race was the most watched sporting event in the UK last weekend across free-to-air and PayTV, with more people tuning in to watch it than The Masters or the F1 Grand Prix in Bahrain.

The Women’s Boat Race attracted a peak audience of 2.18 million*, making it the most watched female sporting event in the UK this year so far. This included a 14% growth in viewership compared to 2024 and an increase in share of views to 25.2%.

The Boat Race is free to attend as a spectator and each year sees 200,000 spectators lining the banks of the river, representing one of the best days of the year for pubs and restaurants along the river. Bands and music along the Championship Course route help to create a festival along the towpath, with West London becoming a destination for the weekend.

A Nielsen Sports & Entertainment Independent Economic Impact Report 2024 found that The Boat Race has a total economic impact in the range of £13.3 million to £15.0 million on the local London economy each year. Visitors spend on accommodation, food and beverages, transport, and retail.

*Source for broadcast figures: Kantar analysis, BARB