The Boat Race 2021 was an event comprising two side-by-side rowing races that took place on 4 April 2021. The Boat Race is contested annually between crews from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Usually held on the traditional Championship Course in London, the 2021 race took place on the River Great Ouse near Ely, Cambridgeshire, between Queen Adelaide Bridge (hamlet of Queen Adelaide) and Sandhill Bridge (village of Littleport). This was the 75th women's race and the 166th men's race; the 2020 race was cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. Before the 2021 races, Cambridge led the longstanding rivalry 84–80 in the men's race and 44–30 in the women's.
The crews were announced on 25 March 2021. It was the first time in the history of the event that both the women's and men's races were officiated by female umpires, Judith Packer and Sarah Winckless respectively. Cambridge's women's crew were considered strong favourites to win their race. Oxford's women's crew took an early lead but Cambridge responded to win. Oxford's men were favourites to defeat Cambridge, but failed to do so: Cambridge won by just under one length. The reserve races took place three weeks later on 25 April 2021: Cambridge completed a clean sweep for a third consecutive year after Goldie won the men's and Blondie won the women's reserves race.
Background
The Boat Race is a side-by-side rowing competition between the University of Oxford (sometimes referred to as the "Dark Blues") and the University of Cambridge (sometimes referred to as the "Light Blues"). First held in 1829, the race usually takes place on the Championship Course, between Putney and Mortlake on the River Thames in south-west London. The 2020 event was cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. In 2021, the race was held behind closed doors along a section of the River Great Ouse near Ely, Cambridgeshire. The organisers noted that the move to Ely was not only due to COVID-19, but also safety concerns relating to Hammersmith Bridge which had been closed to pedestrians after cracks in the structure had worsened. It was the second time in the event's 191-year history that the race had taken place near Ely: the previous occasion was an unofficial wartime staging of the event in 1944, which Oxford's men won by three-quarters of a length. The 2021 course started at the stone marking the end of that wartime race, and proceeded along a course, from the Queen Adelaide Bridge towards Littleport. Only the main men's and women's races were scheduled to take place on the same day — the women's race around 3:50p.m. and the men's an hour later. The reserves races took place three weeks after the main event, on 25 April 2021.
The rivalry is a major point of honour between the two universities; the race is followed throughout the United Kingdom and broadcast worldwide. Cambridge's men went into the race as champions, having won the 2019 race by a margin of one length, and led overall with 84 victories to Oxford's 80 (the 1877 race was a dead heat). Cambridge's women were also victorious in 2019, winning by five lengths, which took the overall record in the Women's Boat Race to 44–30 in their favour.
In May 2020, the University of Cambridge's three boat clubs, Cambridge University Boat Club, Cambridge University Women's Boat Club and Cambridge University Lightweight Rowing Club, agreed to merge into a single club under the Cambridge University Boat Club (CUBC) name, with Callum Sullivan as the Men's President and Sophie Paine the Women's President. Alex Bebb held the position of Oxford University Boat Club (OUBC) president for the race while Kaitlyn Dennis was the Oxford University Women's Boat Club (OUWBC) president. The 75th women's race was umpired by international rowing judge Judith Packer, while the 166th men's race was officiated by Olympic bronze medallist Sarah Winckless. Both had been selected for the cancelled 2020 event, and it was the first time in the history of the event that women oversaw both main races.
The main races were streamed live on YouTube. They were also broadcast on television channels in the United Kingdom (BBC One), Canada (TSN2), Israel (Sport 3), New Zealand (Sky Sport 9), Spain (Teledeporte) and throughout most of Africa (SuperSport).