Crews Announced for 2023 Oxford and Cambridge Boat Races

The formal announcement of the crews to represent Oxford and Cambridge Universities in this year’s Boat Races was made this morning in London. This year’s races are now less than three weeks away.

The crews for the 77th Women’s Boat Race and 168th Men’s Boat Race include rowers from ten different nations although, perhaps unusually, they all contain a significant number of Brits this year. This year’s crews also contain much lower number of “returners” from previous boat races compared to usual, leaving the races wide open. Last year, Oxford won the men’s race, and Cambridge the women’s, but who will lift the trophies later this month?

One of the notable returners is Ireland’s Caoimhe Dempsey, who is this year’s Cambridge Women’s President. Dempsey, who took up rowing in 2015 at Dublin University Ladies Boat Club, is selected for the fourth time. Her first selection was in 2020, with the race subsequently being cancelled. She went on to pick up wins in 2021 and 2022, and will be hoping for a hat trick this year. Sitting behind Dempsey in the Cambridge boat will be Canadian Claire Brillon, who raced in the coxless four at last year’s World Rowing Championships. The Cambridge crew has a familiar American twist in the middle of the boat with Isabelle Bastian (ex Harvard University), Freya Keto (ex Brown University) and Jenna Armstrong (ex Duke University). One of the Brits in this year’s crew is Rosa Millard, who was in the Cambridge lightweight eight last year, winning their boat race by 15 lengths, setting a new course record in the process. James Trotman will cox this year’s Cambridge women’s crew. Trotman coxed Great Britain to a silver medal at last year’s World Rowing U23 Championships and was also the cox of the hugely impressive St Paul’s School Boat Club crew that won the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta last year.

The Cambridge men’s crew also has a previous winner of the lightweight boat races, Matt Edge. Edge has actually raced in three lightweight boat races, winning in his third time of trying last year, while serving as Lightweight President. The two seat of the Cambridge crew, Brett Taylor, has an interesting background; although he learned to row at a town club in Cambridge (Rob Roy Boat Club), while attending a local school, he competed at his first international event (Asian Juniors) after he turned 15 and represented Chinese Taipei in the single scull at the 2018 and 2019 World Rowing Junior Championships. Taylor lists British Olympian Greg Searle as his rowing idol. Frenchman Noam Mouelle will sit in this year’s three seat, having previously represented his country at the World Rowing Junior Championships in 2018 and the World Rowing U23 Championships last year. Mouelle, who has been French national champion four times, started rowing in 2010 at Société Nautiques du Perreux, and still cites Perreux sur Marne as the best place he has ever rowed. Seven seat Oliver Parish comes with plenty of boat race experience; he was selected for the reserve crew for the cancelled race in 2020, and went onto to win in the ‘Blue Boat’ in the 2021 race and then lose in last year’s race. The crew will be coxed by Oliver’s brother, Jasper Parish, who coxed the Cambridge women to victory last year.

The Oxford men’s squad also contains a range of experience including Canadian Alexander Bebb, who was Oxford President in 2021, losing his boat race, and he was not selected in 2022. Bebb learned to row at St George’s School Boat Club in Vancouver, Canada, and represented Canada at the 2018 World Rowing U23 Championships in the men’s eight. Alongside Bebb, is Swiss-Canadian Jean-Philippe Dufour, who was also part of the losing crew in 2021 and is out for revenge. Dufour learned to row at Belvoir Ruderclub in Zurich, but despite the beautiful surroundings of Lake Zurich, indicates that Wallingford (Oxford’s home stretch) is the best place he has ever rowed. In the seven seat of the Oxford crew is this year’s Club president, Tassilo von Mueller, of Germany. “Tass” studied and rowed at Princeton University at the same time as Cambridge’s four seat Seb Benzecry and lists Carnegie Lake (the home of Princeton Tigers) is the best place he has ever rowed. In the stroke seat for Oxford this year, another returner from the losing crew in 2021, Felix Drinkall. Drinkall has a wealth of international experience, representing Great Britain, and lists the 2021 World Rowing U23 Championships as his favourite race, where his crew (the men’s eight) were only in the lead for the last five strokes, and managed to win by 0.21 seconds. The Oxford men’s crew will be coxed by Australian Anna O’Hanlon who, asked about her rowing history, stated: “I started coxing when I was at school and have been going for 12 years now, although I’ve quit a few times and vowed never to return, but here I am!”

Oxford’s women will be hoping to bring an end to Cambridge’s five consecutive wins this year. Stroked by New Zealander Esther Austin, who has been rowing for over eighteen years, the crew is otherwise predominantly British. Freya Willis is one exception, who is Australian, and learned to row in 2011 at Methodist Ladies’ College in Victoria, Australia. Willis lists fellow Australian Kim Brennan as her rowing idol. Oxford’s four seat, Ella Stadler is British-American, but has learned to row since starting at Oxford University, first picking up an oar only in 2019. Speaking about her short history in the sport, Stadler said” “My rowing history has been limited by floods and Covid over the past few years, but the past 5 months has definitely made up for it.” American Laurel Kaye will sit in the bow seat this year having previously raced in the Oxford lightweight eight (2021) and reserve crew (2022). Kaye took up the sport in 2013 at her college in Oxford. This year’s President, Sara Helin, will sit in the three seat. Helin started rowing in 2014 at Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School in the UK. She has raced in the Oxford reserve crew on two previous occasions, but this is her first year in the Blue Boat. Fellow Brit Tara Slade will steer this year’s crew. Slade actually picked up the sport at Caius College Boat Club at Cambridge University, but has gone to Oxford for graduate studies (medicine), and describes “Coming over to dark blue” as her greatest achievement.

The 2023 Boat Races will take place on Sunday 26^th on the “Championship Course” in London. The races will be broadcast around the world with the women’s race starting at 16:00 BST and the men’s race at 17:00 BST.  Full details on how to watch the race can be found here.