Melissa Wilson and her team-mates are on the brink of making history . On Saturday , at the 161st Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race , the women ’ s crews will battle the same Thames course as the men , who will follow an hour later . After decades of campaigning and 88 years since the first women to race were jeered by male spectators , they get equal billing . And for Wilson ’ s grandfather , 85-year-old Richard Cowell , from East Kilbride , it will be a momentous day . He is not up to the journey to watch his granddaughter compete for Cambridge but will still see the race , which will be televised for the first time . Wilson , 21 , said : ‘ I remember when I was 14 watching with my dad and my brother and saying “ Are there going to be women on ? ” They laughed — not in a malicious way — and said : “ There aren ’ t any women , you could cox I guess ” . So the fact that 10 years on there is a women ’ s race on the Tideway and I ’ m in it is pretty remarkable . It ’ s so wonderful that my grandfather will be able to watch it , too. ’ Melissa Wilson ( left ) and Caroline Reid of Cambridge Women 's boat crew at Thames Rowing Club in London . Clare Balding gave up her regular stint on Channel 4 ’ s Grand National coverage to present the event because she wants to send a message about the importance of women ’ s sport . ‘ It was a big decision to make , ’ said Balding . ‘ But there will never be another first women ’ s Boat Race on the Tideway. ’ Her statement was welcomed by Caroline Reid , the Cambridge president . ‘ It brings the attention of another audience , people who follow Clare , ’ said Reid , 24 . ‘ Maybe people who support the Grand National disagree but they will at least be aware it ’ s happening and that is a good thing. ’ Wilson , a third year English literature student and Reid , in her fifth year of veterinary medicine , rise at 5.30am each day for training , gym work and lectures , then it ’ s back out on the river in the afternoon . Cambridge Women 's Boat Crew including Wilson ( front ) rowing the Thames . Reid , Claire Watkins and Wilson prepare ahead of the Boat Race next Saturday . Until this year , the women ’ s race was held a week before the men ’ s at Henley . The course was 1.2 miles compared with this year ’ s 4.22 mile battle from Putney to Mortlake . ‘ At Henley it ’ s straight , so conditions are largely the same the whole way down , ’ said Reid . ‘ Tideway conditions change because the river bends . There ’ s a different mental and tactical side , which is exciting. ’ But Reid refuses to be seen as a pioneer . ‘ The first women ’ s race was in 1927 and there were a lot of people against it , talking about whether women should be rowing at all and what they should be wearing , so they were the pioneers . We ’ re just carrying on in their footsteps , ’ she said .
After next Saturday of campaign the women 's crews are to make history . Boat Race set to take place on the River Thames decades .