 Cambridge were pre-race favourites, according to Jim Railton writing in The Times, they were "the strongest favourites for many years". They won the toss and elected to start from the Surrey station, consigning Oxford to Middlesex, from which the losers of the last ten consecutive races had commenced. After a good start, and despite a "desperate attack" from the Dark Blues, Cambridge were three seconds ahead at the Mile Post. The Light Blues were clear soon after and by the time the crews shot Hammersmith Bridge, they held a three length, ten-second lead over Oxford. By Chiswick Steps, the lead had extended out to 18 seconds; Oxford trailed by 26 seconds at Barnes Bridge and could make no ground on Cambridge as they passed the finishing post ten lengths clear. The winning time of 17 minutes 58 seconds was the second fastest in the history of the event, behind that of the Cambridge crew of the 1948 race who recorded a time eight seconds faster.
