Ten Olympic Games gold medals, seven silvers, one bronze, multiple world and European titles, it will be a glittering roll call of rowers for the BBC’s coverage of the Gemini Boat Races on Sunday (March 26).
It will be led by Clare Balding, a rower for Newnham College while studying at Cambridge University, who will anchor the programme on BBC1, having done so since 2010.
Andrew Cotter will again be the lead commentator, and Lee McKenzie will assist with the coverage of the 168th Men’s Boat Race and the 77th Women’s Boat Race.
There is a raft of elite rowers and coxes set to provide expert analysis as co-commentators or pundits, giving insight into the sport, the build-up to the races and the action on the day.
Andrew Triggs-Hodge is a three-time Olympic gold medallist and Boat Race winner with Oxford in 2005, Grace Prendergast clinched Olympic gold and silver medals with New Zealand in Tokyo in 2021 before taking Boat Race victory with Cambridge last year, and Angus Groom was another competing on the Tideway 12 months ago, helping Oxford triumph having won silver with Team GB in the quadruple sculls in Tokyo.
James Cracknell won two Olympic gold medals with Great Britain, in Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004, before coming out of retirement to help Cambridge to Boat Race victory in 2021, and Helen Glover is a double Olympic gold medalist, savouring success in London 2012 and Rio 2016 with Heather Stanning.
Katherine Grainger is the current chair of UK Sport, and earned gold at the 2012 London Olympics and silver medals at Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and Rio 2016.
Now a renowned rowing writer and commentator, Martin Cross won gold at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics in the coxed four, having taken bronze at Moscow 1980.
Former Cambridge president Wayne Pommen has been a regular co-commentator for the Boat Race, having won the race in 2004, a year after being ruled out on the eve of the race having broken his wrist in a training incident.
Kyra Edwards is a current GB rower who made her senior debut in 2019, having won world junior and world under-23 silver medals.
Zoe De Toledo and Matthew Holland will give the perspective on what it is like to steer on the Championship Course. Zoe won Olympic silver with Team GB’s women’s eight in Rio 2016 and coxed Oxford in the Boat Race, while Matthew coxed Cambridge women to win the 2017 Boat Race and returned to steer the men to victory in 2019.
Click here for the full list of channels broadcasting the race worldwide.
Cover photo: Benedict Tufnell/Row360