History made as women and men take to the Thames for the Boat Race

The Boat Races this weekend will see history made as both the BNY Mellon Boat Race and the Newton Women’s Boat Race take place on the Thames Tideway course for the first time.

With thousands of spectators on the banks and millions watching on Television the races are a major event in the world sporting calendar.

The first men’s race was in 1829, becoming an annual race in 1856, but the women’s race did not start until 1927 and it is only this year that women take on the same course as the men.

Racing on the Tideway is a major landmark in the history of women’s rowing at Cambridge.

The men this year will be coxed by Ian Middleton of Queens’ College while the women will be coxed by Rosemary Ostfeld of Hughes Hall. Full crew lists are available at the BNY Mellon Boat Race website.

The crews will be hoping to retain Cambridge’s supremacy in both races, with Cambridge leading by 81-78 in the men’s races and 40-29 in the women’s.

Also racing this weekend are the men’s reserve boats Goldie (for Cambridge) and Isis (for Oxford), while the women’s reserves Blondie (Cambridge) and Osiris (Oxford) race tomorrow (Friday, April 10).

This follows great success last weekend for the men’s and women’s lightweight crews at Henley after their victories over Oxford.

The 6.8 km (4 miles 374 yards) course is a demanding one starting in Putney, passing landmarks like Hammersmith Bridge before finishing at Chiswick.

The athletes have had to balance academic and sporting timetables to train for the race.

Siobhan Cassidy, vice-chair of CUWBC, said: “It is a demanding academic programme here and obviously the rowing programme requires land training in the gym and then water training out at Ely. So you have to be able to coordinate both aspects of your life and, on top of that, have a bit of a social life as well. That means you have to make choices all the time and you’re having to think about what you are doing and to make good choices that mean you are going to be able to achieve the things you prioritise.

“The rowers are very focussed and it makes them very resilient because they are under an awful lot of pressure in terms of delivering a performance every time they turn up in the gym and every time they are out training.

“They are able to cope with the challenges of being viewed, tested and having instant feedback. It is not always easy being coached for an hour and a half. It takes a certain sort of person to deal with that.”