Oxford v Cambridge Boat Race 2019: BBC TV coverage times, crews and course

The BBC has live coverage of both the women's and men's races as Oxford and Cambridge lock horns in the 165th Boat Race on Sunday, 7 April.

The annual rowing contest between crews from Oxford and Cambridge University Boat Clubs features a women's race at 14:13 BST and a men's race at 15:10 BST.

Live coverage of both races will be available on BBC One, Connected TV and online, with updates on Radio 5 Live. You will be able watch coverage back on the iPlayer.

At 46, Olympic gold medallist James Cracknell will become the oldest person to compete in the Boat Race after being selected in the Cambridge boat. The athlete-turned-explorer is reading for a masters degree in human evolution at the university.

• Cracknell on the challenges of competing in the Boat Race at 46

• Things you never knew about the Boat Race

Head to head

Cambridge won both the men's and women's races last year, taking the men's race by three lengths, meaning they hold a 83-80 lead over their rivals in the event's history.

There is a bigger gap in the women's head-to-head score - with Cambridge leading 43-30 - but Oxford will hope to narrow the gap this year.

The course

The Boat Race course is four miles, 374 yards or 6.8 km long. It stretches between Putney and Mortlake on the River Thames in south-west London.

The record time over the course in the men's race is 16 minutes 19 seconds, set by Cambridge in 1998, and for the women's race is 18 minutes 33 seconds set by Cambridge in 2017.

More than 250,000 people are expected to take to the banks of the Thames to watch - making this one of the biggest spectator events of the British sporting calendar.

Line-ups

Men's crews

Cambridge men: Dave Bell; James Cracknell; Grant Bitler; Dara Alizadeh; Callum Sullivan; Sam Hookway; Freddie Davidson; Natan Wegrzycki-Szymczyk; Matthew Holland (cox)

Oxford men: Charlie Pearson; Ben Landis; Achim Harzheim; Patrick Sullivan; Tobias Schroder; Felix Drinkall; Charlie Buchanan; Augustin Wambersie; Toby de Mendonca (cox)

Women's crews

Cambridge: Tricia Smith; Sophie Deans; Laura Foster; Larkin Sayre; Kate Horvat; Pippa Whittaker; Ida Gortz Jacobsen; Lily Lindsay; Hugh Spaughton (cox)

Oxford: Isobel Dodds; Anna Murgatroyd; Renee Koolschijn; Lizzie Polgreen; Tina Christmann; Beth Bridgman; Olivia Pryer; Amelia Standing; Eleanor Shearer (cox)

BBC coverage

Sunday, 7 April

13:20-16:00 BST, BBC One, Connected TV and online

All timings are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made.

Catch-up

You can view all our TV and Red Button broadcasts as well as listen to our radio sports programming on the BBC iPlayer.