THE BOAT RACE
MakingWaves ALEX FICE FINDS OUT WHAT’S IN STORE FOR THIS YEAR’S VARSITY CLASH ON THE THAMES BLUE BLAZES
Grace Prendergast, Imogen Grant, James Hunter and Ollie Wynne-Griffith. Having made it through seven months of training and a gruelling selection process, they will now be steeling themselves for a punishing race stretching over 6.8km. One key motivator is a desire to get back to the Championship Course – the ancestral home of the event: “I’m hugely excited for the Gemini Boat Race’s return to London this year,” says Bronya Sykes,
he Oxford and Cambridge University Boat Race has had to navigate rough waters in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
CARVING A PATH The Boat Race is a showdown between Oxford and Cambridge’s best rowers. Having skipped 2020 and spent 2021 on Ely’s waters, it finally returns to that famous stretch of the Thames blankets, snacks and plenty of bubbly. It’s a real occasion – worth celebrating whatever the outcome. Spirits will undoubtedly be even higher than usual as people rejoice in a return to the Tideway, and Cambridge supporters are bound to have hopes set on another clean sweep, following last year’s riveting races. Unsurprisingly, Cambridge is abuzz on race day, with pubs offering live screenings and plenty of food and drink to fuel the heady atmosphere that comes hand in hand with the Boat Race. To get in on the action, head to The Boathouse, The Waterman, The Cambridge Brew House or The Champion of the Thames, where you can watch in rapture along with the rest of our city. Everyone is free to support whichever side they like, but with Cambridge men leading the Blue Boat results tally by 85 to 80, and the women ahead by 45 to 30, we know who we’ll be backing! The races will be live on the BBC on 3 April. The Women’s race starts at 2.23pm, followed by the reserves, concluding with the men’s race at 3.23pm. theboatrace.org
In 2020, qualifying crews faced the devastating news that the race would be cancelled, as the UK went into lockdown. The next year saw it relocate to the River Great Ouse in Ely – for the first time since the interwar years – due to ongoing
restrictions. There, in glorious sunshine, both the Cambridge men and women rowed to victory. But something was missing – the mass of cheering crowds that usually line the course were absent, leaving the teams to power the steady beating of their
Cambridge University Women’s Boat Club president. “Ely was the perfect place for 2021, during the Covid-19 pandemic, and both the women’s and men’s events ended up being great contests. But
A PUNISHING RACE OVER 6.8KM
the Tideway is the true home of the Boat Race, and we’re looking forward to an atmosphere and challenge you can only get when facing off against Oxford from Putney to Mortlake.” Anyone that’s been to London to cheer on the boats in person will know the atmosphere is truly phenomenal. People flock in their thousands to the banks of the Thames, bringing with them picnic
blades against silent spring air. This year, on Sunday 3 April, the Gemini Boat Race returns to the Thames, where our rowers will be accompanied by the roaring chorus of supporters once more. The crews were announced at the start of March, revealing the impressive individuals capable of undertaking one of the toughest rowing contests in the world. Among them are Team GB Olympians
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