The crews for the 2024 Gemini Boat Race will be announced at a public event for the first time.

They will be revealed at Battersea Power Station on March 13.

The Boat Race Company made the announcement as the university boat clubs of Cambridge and Oxford near the end of their preparations for the world-renowned annual sporting event.

This will be the first time in Boat Race history that the naming of the crews will take place in a public event.

Oxford Mail: Battersea Power StationBattersea Power Station (Image: Peter Landers)

 

The public are invited alongside Boat Race alumni, VIPs and special guests as the nine-member crews of each university boat club are confirmed.

The event will launch in Turbine Hall B at 7.30pm with introductions by BBC Sport commentator Andrew Cotter, and chair of the Boat Race Company, Siobhan Cassidy,

Following their speeches, the selected women’s crew and the men’s crew members will be called up onto the stage, before Mr Cotter interviews the head coaches from each university.

Earlier on the same day, from 4pm to 5:45pm, the Boat Race trophies will be exhibited in Turbine Hall B, granting the public a chance to get their photos taken with the awards.

During the evening, from 6pm to 6:45pm, there will be a Q&A session with Boat Race alumni, including rowers like Imogen Grant from Cambridge, Dave Ambler from Oxford and others, all of whom are preparing to compete in the Paris 2024 Olympics for Team GB.

The race will take place on March 30 at Putney, with the women’s race starting at 2:46pm and the men’s race at 3:46pm, continuing a tradition dating back nearly 200 years.

After Cambridge University's victory in both men’s and women’s races in 2023, the pressure is on for Oxford, which has unified its men’s and women’s boat clubs for the first time in history.

Ms Cassidy said: "We’re excited to be holding the annual crew announcement at the iconic Battersea Power Station.

"This year we will be looking forward to bringing the event to the public and powering the imagination of future generations of rowers."

Sam Cotton, head of asset management at Battersea Power Station Development Company, added: "Our aim is to always offer something new for visitors to enjoy, and what could be more exciting that being amongst the first people to find out who will be rowing in this year’s iconic race."

Oxford and Cambridge universities first competed in the Boat Race in 1829.

It attracts more than 250,000 spectators along the Thames and is watched by millions more on the television.