 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 . 
