The BBC will broadcast exclusive live coverage of the 2021 Gemini Boat Race on Easter Sunday.
This annual staple on the British sporting calendar was cancelled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, but it returns this year with the staging of the 166th men’s race and 75th women’s race.
Oxford and Cambridge will battle it out behind closed doors on the Great Ouse at Ely, Cambridgeshire, in a change from the traditional River Thames course in London – the first time this has happened since the Second World War – due to the coronavirus pandemic and safety concerns over Hammersmith Bridge.
The eight-strong men’s and women’s crews will compete over a shorter three-mile stretch of the Great Ouse. Both sets of teams have only been able to train fully for four weeks after receiving a special dispensation to form an elite sport bio-bubble.
Cambridge clinched a clean sweep back in 2019, with their men’s team, which included two-time Olympic champion James Cracknell, winning by a length to secure a second successive victory, while their women’s squad clinched a third straight success.
All the action from both the men’s and women’s races will be broadcast as part of a bumper two-and-a-half hour programme on BBC One on Easter Sunday (4 April), with
Clare Balding returns to presents the BBC’s coverage, alongside Olympic rowing champions Matthew Pinsent, Katherine Grainger and James Cracknell, while Andrew Cotter leads the commentary team.
As well as TV coverage on BBC One, all the live action will be available to watch online via BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.
For more information about the 2021 Gemini Boat Race, visit the official website – theboatrace.org
SUNDAY 4th APRIL
THE BOAT RACE 2021
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