In the men's reserve race, Cambridge's Goldie were beaten by Oxford's Isis by two lengths, their sixth consecutive defeat.

[1] First held in 1829, the race takes place on the 4.2-mile (6.8 km) Championship Course, between Putney and Mortlake on the River Thames in south-west London.

[9] There is no monetary award for winning the race, as the journalist Roger Alton notes: "It's the last great amateur event: seven months of pain for no prize money".

Numerous broadcasters worldwide also showed the main races, including SuperSport across Africa, the EBU across Europe, SKY México across Central America, TSN in Canada and Fox Sports in Australia.

[24] Charybdis, stroked by OUWBC president Maddy Badcott, began to close the gap and took the lead around the second of the Surrey bends, to win the encounter by three lengths.

Although Business made a push to close the gap, Pleasure held their lead below Barnes Bridge but began to tire.

[27] Cambridge's trial boats were named Fuerte and Listo (strong and clever in Spanish) with the club's president Henry Hoffstot occupying the latter's number seven seat.

With the umpire having to warn both crews for encroaching into each other's water at Fulham, Fuerte's Luke Juckett caught a crab, allowing Listo to take a small lead.

Taking advantage of the clear water, Fuerte moved across in front of Listo, and rowed on to win by four lengths.

[29] CUWBC competed against Oxford Brookes University Boat Club along the Tideway on 31 January in a two-segment race.

A close start saw the umpire John Garrett warning the crews for encroaching into each other's water, ultimately culminating in a clash under Barnes Bridge as Cambridge were pulling away.

A "boat-stopping crab" put paid to any chance of Oxford Brookes recovering the deficit and CUWBC won the second segment by three lengths.

A good start from the Light Blues saw them almost a length ahead by Chiswick Eyot, and move into a clear water advantage by St Paul's School.

Despite encountering a strong headwind, CUWBC continued to pull away from Molesey and passed the Start line six lengths clear.

In the third race, Molesey took an early lead but OUWBC recovered before the crews shot Barnes Bridge, finishing the piece two lengths ahead.

At the first bend in the river by Craven Cottage, Oxford Brookes held a lead of nearly two lengths, but CUBC began to reduce the deficit.

Although Oxford Brookes took a narrow lead, the Light Blues were ahead by Chiswick Pier and took clear water advantage to win by more than three lengths.

OUBC took advantage of a caught blade to move back into contention but the race was ended prematurely as a sailing boat intervened on the course.

The Dark Blues took an early lead in the second race, but despite being a length up, failed to take a clear water advantage.

Oxford Brookes drew back and by Barnes Bridge held a small lead, one which they capitalised on in the rough water to finally pass the Finish Post two lengths clear of OUBC.

[45] The CUWBC crew featured three returning Blues in Daphne Martschenko, Ashton Brown and cox Rosemary Ostfeld.

[5] Oxford's Isis beat Goldie in the men's reserves' race by two lengths in a time of 18 minutes 55 seconds.

Weather conditions were poor, described in The Daily Telegraph an hour before the race as "terrible ... hail, thunder, lightning, the works".

Cambridge, two seconds down as the crews passed below Hammersmith Bridge, were forced to take evasive action but kept in touch despite multiple warnings from the umpire.

Oxford were eight seconds ahead by Chiswick Steps and tucked into the Middlesex bank while Cambridge remained in the more traditional racing line, taking on a substantial amount of water.

[54] Oxford passed the finishing post in 21 minutes 49 seconds, 24 lengths ahead of the Light Blues, taking the overall record to 41–30 in Cambridge's favour.

Both crews moved towards the Middlesex side of the river to reduce their exposure to the rough conditions and as they passed under Barnes Bridge, the Light Blues held a nine-second lead.

[54] It was the Light Blues' first victory in four years, ending a run of six wins from eight races for Oxford,[55] and took the overall record in the event to 82–79 in Cambridge's favour.