Cambridge University have won the men’s Boat Race to continue their unbeaten season – after Oxford’s women claimed their first victory since 2016.
The Light Blues produced a commanding performance on a choppy River Thames to thrash their eternal rivals in the 171st men’s Boat Race.
Their crew members, coxed by Sammy Houdaigui and including a host of international athletes, may well stand atop Olympic podiums in future years.
Cambridge were heavily fancied coming into this one but Oxford put up a fight in the first half of the race before falling away. Being competitive was in itself a success against the world’s fastest crew.
Both teams had to be warned by the umpire multiple times for drifting over as they competed for prime real estate on the river, which was battered by southwesterly winds.
In the end Cambridge completed the four-mile, 374-yard course with a time of 17:56:84, 11.02 seconds ahead of their competitors, in front of thousands of riverside spectators.
They have dominated the men’s event in recent history, claiming seven wins in eight years. Overall, they lead 90-81.
Noam Mouelle, who has won his fourth Boat Race with Cambridge, said: ‘Feeling amazing. It was a super hard race. Everyone was blowing halfway through the race but everyone had done the job early so no problem. We just had to make no mistakes. Great race.
‘It’ll take a bit of time to realise it. The goal was to get the job done.’
Victorious cox Houdaigui said: ‘That was a fantastic race. All credit to Oxford and their eight rowers. We knew we had the right athletes in the boat. I love these guys. Hats off to Oxford.’
Earlier in the day, Oxford’s women had claimed their first win since 2016.
They had lost the toss and were starting from what should have been the slower Middlesex station.
‘What a f****** awesome day,’ said Oxford cox Louis Corrigan, forcing Jamie Laing to apologise for the foul language on Channel 4’s debut broadcasting the historic event.
