The afternoon kicked off on the Tideway at 2.13pm with the women’s race. On the Surrey side of the river the Light Blues crossed the line five lengths clear of Oxford, in 18 minutes 47 seconds. The Cambridge crew dominated the race with a lengths lead after four minutes, extending this to three over their rivals at Hammersmith Bridge. Despite having three fewer returning Light Blues, the crew secured their third best time in a row, making it a triumphant start for Rob Weber’s first edition as chief of the Light Blue programme.

Buoyed by the early success, the Cambridge women’s reserve boat, Blondie, beat Oxford’s Osiris by five lengths – the first time they have achieved four consecutive wins since 1998. Not wanting to be left out, the men’s reserves race (Goldie v Isis) concluded with a triumphant one-length win by Cambridge’s Goldie.

The men's Blues rounded off the day's action. With an unrelenting pace, the Light Blues beat their Oxford counterparts to the finish line by just under a length. Racking up 40 strokes a minute, both crews made their intentions clear. Following a clashing of blades Cambridge edged ahead, spurred on by Oxford who put up a hard chase. In the end, Cambridge crossed the line in 16 minutes 57 seconds, two seconds ahead of the Dark Blues.

Reports for all four races are available on the Boat Races website.

Credit also goes to the Lightweight crews who fought valiantly but lost to the Dark Blues at the end of March.