BOAT RACES
Back in Blue
The Oxford Cambridge Boat Race returns, but not as we know it
The Boat Race returns to Ely. For only the second time in its 191-year history, The Oxford Cambridge University Boat Race will swap the River Thames for the River Great Ouse.
The decision to relocate responds to ongoing Covid-19 uncertainty and structural weaknesses within Hammersmith Bridge. Last year’s Boat Race event was cancelled owing to the pandemic and the race organisers consider Ely to be a more Covidsecure location. Ordinarily, Oxbridge athletes race beneath Hammersmith Bridge two and half kilometres after their Putney start, on route to a Mortlake finish, but ongoing construction work on the bridge raised concerns for both spectator and crew safety.