The 132nd Boat Race took place on 29 March 1986. Held annually, the Boat Race is a side-by-side rowing race between crews from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge along the River Thames. Cambridge won by seven lengths and took their first victory in eleven years, in one of the fastest winning times in the history of the event. Cambridge were coxed for the first time by a woman, Carole Burton. Isis won the reserve race, while Oxford were victorious in the Women's Boat Race.