The crews for the CHANEL J12 Boat Race 2026 were unveiled at Somerset House today, as Oxford University Boat Club and Cambridge University Boat Club enter the final stretch of their preparations for the latest clash in their enduring rivalry.
Packed with a mixture of Olympic, international and homegrown student rowing talent, the crews are just three weeks away from meeting on the iconic Championship Course, a 4.25-mile stretch of tidal Thames from Putney to Mortlake, on Saturday 4 April.
More than 200,000 spectators are expected to watch along the riverbanks of the free-to-attend ‘Party by the River’ as Oxford and Cambridge meet in the 2026 chapter of nearly 200 years of competition.
And with the event being broadcast live on Channel 4 for the first time in its history, the broadcaster joined the Blue Boat crews to reveal Clare Balding as its lead presenter. Clare is to be joined by award-winning presenter Ade Adepitan, with award-winning commentator Alex Jacques on commentary, along with a stellar line-up of punditry and reporting talent.
With Cambridge enjoying recent dominance in the event, Oxford will be determined to reverse their fortunes and hopes are high within their camp of an upset.
Oxford Women are led by Olympic bronze medallist Heidi Long and can count on the experience of three-time Blue Boat crew members Annie Anezakis and Sarah Marshall, who will hope their fourth contest on the Championship Course will bring them the win they are desperately seeking.
Up against them are a formidable Cambridge Women’s outfit who are on a winning streak stretching back to 2017. President Gemma King, whose sister Catherine represents Oxford, will have fellow two-time winner and fifth-year medic Carys Earl to count on, along with a sprinkling of new recruits such as Camille Vandermeer.
Oxford Men will be led by cox Tobias Bernard, who learned to row on the Tideway and will need to use all of his intimate knowledge of the course to guide his crew to victory. Four-time under-23 world champion and Los Angeles 2028 hopeful Harry Geffen will be central to the cause, as will the international pedigree of Julian Schölberl and James Fetter.
Cambridge Men have their eyes on a fourth successive victory in the Men’s Race and will be led, like Oxford, by French national Noam Mouelle, marking the first time in Boat Race history that a pair of Frenchmen have led the two crews. Mouelle can call on the similarly experienced Simon Hatcher, while Gabriel Obholzer’s selection represents the continuation of a proud family tradition after his parents both competed in the 1991 event – with father Rupert going on to Olympic honours.
Both men’s crews will feature first-year undergraduates in Patrick Wild and Fergus Pim, a rarity. Cambridge’s Patrick Wild won gold in the Junior World Championships in 2025 in the men’s pair. The last Great Britain crew to win gold in the junior men’s pair? Matthew Pinsent and Tim Foster.
In addition to the crew announcement, Channel 4 confirmed the line-up for their debut coverage of The Boat Race will be presented by Clare Balding, who brings decades worth of experience in presenting coverage of some of the world’s most iconic sporting events, including the Summer Paralympic Games for Channel 4.
Balding will be supported on Race Day by award-winning presenter and former ParalympicsGB wheelchair basketball player Ade Adepitan. Alex Jacques takes on lead commentary, with Olympic gold-medal winning rower Martin Cross and Olympic silver-medal winning rower Jess Eddie as co-commentators, and three-time Olympic gold medalist Pete Reed OBE on pundit duty.
Channel 4’s coverage of The Boat Race will air from 13:30 to 16:30 on Channel 4 and Channel 4 Streaming on Saturday 4 April. Coverage is produced by FilmNova and the executive producers are Lucy Cutler and Phil Sibson.
Siobhan Cassidy, Chair of The Boat Race Company, said: “Congratulations to all those who have been selected for a Blue Boat seat this year. To make the start line is a remarkable feat in itself: more people have climbed Mount Everest than competed in The Boat Race, so those selected should be incredibly proud. We’re excited to witness more history being made on the Tideway as they seek to achieve the ultimate goal of winning The Boat Race.”
Heidi Long, Oxford Women’s President, commented: “I’m delighted to be able to line up once again in the Blue Boat. Competing in The Boat Race last year was one of the highlights of my rowing career and I’m determined to go one step further by being part of a winning Oxford Women’s crew. We’re confident we can put it all together on 4 April to take home the trophy.”
Noam Mouelle, Cambridge Men’s President, added: “It’s an honour to make the Cambridge Men’s Blue Boat again and we’re taking nothing for granted. We know what it takes to win this race and I believe we have the perfect combination of experience and new blood to extend our winning run in three weeks’ time.”
Pete Andrews, Head of Sport at Channel 4, said: “We are very excited to be broadcasting the race on Channel 4 for the first time and, as we get closer to Race Day, it’s a thrill to confirm our team to present this historic race for us. I’m delighted Clare Balding and Ade Adepitan will be joining us on the banks of the Thames, along with the brilliant commentating talent of Alex Jacques and a gang of expert pundits, plus we’ll be adding in more Channel 4 faces as we build up to the big day, too.”
2025 saw Cambridge University win both the Men’s and Women’s Races, leaving the overall records as 88-81 in favour of Cambridge Men and 49-30 in favour of Cambridge Women.
The 2026 event will be broadcast live on Channel 4 after the broadcaster won a competitive rights bid to become the exclusive free-to-air TV home of The Boat Race for the next five years.
The crews selected for The CHANEL J12 Boat Race 2026 are:
Cambridge Women
Cox – Matt Moran
Stroke – Aidan Wrenn-Walz
7 – Mia Freischem
6 – Camille Vandermeer
5 – Antonia Galland
4 – Carys Earl
3 – Charlotte Ebel
2 – Isobel Campbell
Bow – Gemma King (President)
Oxford Women
Cox – Louis Corrigan
Stroke – Heidi Long (President)
7 – Sarah Marshall
6 – Esther Briz Zamorano
5 – Kyra Delray
4 – Julietta Camahort
3 – Lilli Freischem
2 – Emily Molins
Bow – Annie Anezakis
Cambridge Men
Cox – Sammy Houdagui
Stroke – Freddy Breuer
7 – Will Klipstine
6 – Lexi Maclean
5 – Gabriel Obholzer
4 – Patrick Wild
3 – Kyle Fram
2 – Noam Mouelle (President)
Bow – Simon Hatcher
Oxford Men
Cox- Tobias Bernard (President)
Stroke – Harry Geffen
7 – Alex Sullivan
6 – Jamie Arnold
5 – Alex Underwood
4 – Fergus Pim
3 – James Fetter
2 – Julian Schöberl
Bow – Felix Crabtree