The Gemini Boat Race Announces Official Charity Partner RNLI

London, 21December 2021.
The Boat Race Company Ltd. (BRCL) is pleased to announce The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) as our official charity partner for 2022.

RNLI will be providing safety boat cover for the Race and a lifeguard rescue service across the whole of the The Gemini Boat Race Championship Course in London. The Lifeguard rescue service significantly reduces risks to Race spectators/river users on the day through Education, Supervision and Influence, driving behavioural change. Since 2002, the RNLI’s Chiswick lifeboat station has supported The Gemini Boat Race with its E-class lifeboat. The crew are on hand to keep The Gemini Boat Race competitors safe, as well as the thousands of spectators who line the banks of the Thames on Race day.

In 2016, the RNLI bolstered its lifesaving service with the addition of nine Arancia-class lifeboats crewed by lifeguards. These are strategically positioned along the Championship Course to keep the public safe while the tide is incoming.

The partnership first took place in 2019, with the aim of increasing awareness of the RNLI’s flagship ‘float to live’ drowning prevention campaign. In addition, this year the RNLI’s Community Safety team will be working with venues and schools along the course to provide lifesaving water safety training and encourage familiarity with throw lines. The partnership aims to raise funds to support the Thames’ lifesaving service with all proceeds going towards the running costs of the four RNLI stations along the river.

The Boat Race Company Limited (BRCL) Chair, Tim Senior, said

‘’We are delighted to be partnering with the RNLI again, given their role in supporting the delivery of the event and in ensuring that our athletes, Race spectators, river users and our staff experience the Race in safe and secure conditions. Furthermore, RNLI’s charitable remit, specifically in providing a water safety programme and engaging marginalised communities, strongly aligns with our Better Shared Future focus on education and helping young people.’’

Wayne Bellamy, Station Manager from the RNLI Chiswick Lifeboat Station, said,

‘’The 2022 Gemini Boat Race will be the 20th time my Lifeboat Crew and I have supported the competitors and kept the spectators safe. It also happens to be RNLI Chiswick’s 20th birthday year which is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate our partnership as the Official Charity of The Gemini Boat Race.’’

Sunday 3 April 2022 will see the 76th Women’s and the 167th Men’s Boat Race return to its iconic Championship Course that stretches over 4.25 miles of tidal Thames in West London from Putney to Mortlake. The Women’s Boat Race will start at 14.23 and the Men’s Boat Race will begin at 15.23.

The world-famous sporting event between the UK’s two historic universities – Oxford and Cambridge spans 192 years of rivalry and the Race has become synonymous with British tradition and educational and sporting excellence. The Race is attended by over 250,000 spectators and watched on live on the BBC by millions more in the UK and globally every year.