The 104th Boat Race took place on 5 April 1958. 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. The race was umpired by former Cambridge rower Kenneth Payne and featured the first cox to follow his father in steering one of the boats. The reigning champions Cambridge won by 3+1⁄2 lengths in a time of 18 minutes 15 seconds, the third-fastest winning time in history, and took the overall record to 58–45 in their favour.