2026 BOAT RACE SHAKEDOWN

19 December 2025 dawned brightly for Oxford after horrendous conditions the day before for Cambridge at Trial VIIIs. A portent for the 2026 Boat Race?

Oxford will be hoping so because they could use a win. The last time an Oxford crew won (the men) was in 2022.

Trial VIIIs is a dress rehearsal for the rowers, coxes, coaches and umpires and is the sole occasion during an entire Boat Race season that the clubs will race the complete championship course from Putney to Mortlake in a one-on-one duel with another crew before the Boat Race itself. The distance, as a reminder, is a punishing 4 miles, 374 yards.

The big difference from the real thing is that the crews are drawn from the same side, so the coaches will deliberately select evenly matched crews from the squad, allowing them to bond through intense training in the previous weeks and days, but not hesitating to make a last-minute rower swap if one crew starts to dominate the other.

In this year’s event, which was ticketed and took place at the Thames Rowing Club with a lively crowd, head coaches Allan French (women) and Mark Fangen-Hall (men) took the top 16 rowers and top two coxes and split them into two evenly matched crews who then raced one another, the women departing at 11.24am, the men at 12.24pm.

The event draws its own crowd of fans and followers because the racing is so tight and nervy. The race is also umpired, and indeed there was a fair flotilla of little boats haring along behind each race.

If you didn’t know otherwise you might think this was the real thing, especially with the sunshine.

The men called their two crews Maverick and Iceman (after Top Gun – in the film, the two adversaries eventually make common cause) so in the live blog written by the Boat Race support team, it was inadvertently humorous: ‘Iceman have regained their early lead over Maverick, taking clear water again – both crews are told to move apart coming past Chiswick steps.’ And so forth.

Iceman prevailed and ended the race fully seven lengths ahead, in winter light that provided terrific atmospherics for the photographers (right).

OUBC’s women’s Trial VIIIs crews were named after inspiring female athletes – swimmer Katie Ledecky, tennis legend Serena Williams, gymnast Simone Biles and rugby union player Ellie Kildunne.

The squad explained, ‘Through these names, we want to celebrate their excellence, resilience and extraordinary performances, as well as recognise them as powerful role models. We aim to embody their qualities as we train and race, and hope to inspire future generations of female athletes.’

In the women’s race, Ledecky beat Williams by just under 5.5 lengths, after a clash of oars saw a brief stop and restart of the race – showing you how seriously the race is contested.

Maintaining the Top Gun theme, the men’s ‘B’ race squads (lightweights, openweights) were named Hangman and Rooster (‘Once again, the dynamic between the lead aviators – Rooster and Hangman – shifts from antagonism to mutual respect as they realise they need each other to succeed.’)

What the coaches were looking for was how the coxes coped with the intense scrutiny of the umpires, their steering decisions under pressure, their race tactics on the tideway course and how they held the crew together.

They were also watching how the athletes bonded, worked together and related to each other.

In this collective sense Trial VIIIs starts to form the basis for the final squad selection and provides the backdrop for the big day on Saturday 4 April when the women will race from Putney Bridge at 2.21pm, the men at 3.21pm.

QUAD caught up with OUBC CEO and Performance Director Richard Hull (Oriel, 1986) who expressed confidence in the approach bring taken for the 2026 campaign. 'The answer's yes, we can win of course. It's a match race, and anything can happen. I won't tempt fate here... but the spirit within the club, I think the approach to the athletes and the culture that's being developed this year are really, really strong.'