2022 Boat Race Season Underway

The ongoing global pandemic caused the cancellation of the 2020 Boat Races, and the 2021 races were held, but relocated to Cambridge’s home water in Ely. Preparation for the 2022 edition is well underway; it is hoped and expected that the 2022 Boat Race will return to its iconic “Championship Course” in London on Sunday 3^rd April.

All four of the squads (men and women, from Oxford and Cambridge) have now completed their “Trial Eight” races; a traditional part of the build-up to the race where the coaches put together two eights from each group to race one another over the full Boat Race course. Whilst both men’s squads contested their trial eights in December, the women’s squads from both Universities had to postpone their races to January due to a case of covid-19 in each respective team.

As is often the case in the season after an Olympic Games, both Cambridge and Oxford have built strong squads, with a large number of Olympians featuring this year.

Preparing for the Women’s Boat Race, Cambridge have recruited Grace Prendergast and Ruby Tew, both from New Zealand. Prendergast was one of the big stories of the Tokyo Olympic Games as she doubled up, winning gold in the pair and silver in the eight. Tew also represented New Zealand in Tokyo, finishing second in the B Final of the women’s quadruple sculls. The squad also includes Imogen Grant, who finished 4^th for Great Britain in the lightweight women’s double sculls in Tokyo. Imogen has already raced for Cambridge in the Boat Race in 2017 and 2018, winning both times, and won the reserve boat race in 2016.

Whilst Oxford’s women’s squad may not match the number of Tokyo Olympians that Cambridge boast, their number of rowers with history of international representation is arguably higher. Gabrielle Smith is one of the squad members that was at the Tokyo Olympic Games, having represented Canada in the women’s double sculls. British squad member, Anastasia Posner, who has a vast history of international racing, including competing at World Rowing Championships at Junior, U23 and Senior level, brings plenty of experience. Posner has also raced in four Boat Races for Oxford, winning all four times – her last race was in 2016, the last time Oxford won the women’s boat race. This year’s President, Amelia Standing, won gold for Great Britain at last year’s World Rowing U23 Championships in the women’s four. The Oxford women’s squad has a slight American feel to with international lightweight rowers Olivia Farrar and Christine Cavallo, and also Erin Reelick who won gold in the women’s four at the 2018 World Rowing Championships and bronze in the women’s eight in 2019.

On the men’s side, both clubs are absolutely stacked full of Olympians. Oxford’s squad includes Great Britain’s Angus Groom, who won silver in the men’s quadruple sculls at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Also from last year’s British Olympic team, Charlie Elwes, who won bronze in the men’s eight. Charlie is now squad mates with American Olympian Liam Corrigan who finished fourth in the men’s eight at last year’s Olympic Games. The squad features two Swiss Olympians; Barnabe Delarze and Roman Roeoesli, the men’s double sculls that took fifth place in Tokyo, and who both raced in the men’s quadruple sculls at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Other internationals in the squad include this year’s Canadian President, Martin Barakso, former-President from Belgium, Augustin Wambersie, the USA’s Josh Bilchick, and Australia’s Jack Robertson.

The Cambridge men’s squad also features a significant amount of pedigree with rowers from eight nations (Australia, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, New Zealand, Poland, Switzerland and United States). Two of Great Britain’s bronze medal winning men’s eight from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Tom George and Oliver Wynne-Griffith, have taken up studies at Cambridge this year and are vying for a place in a Boat Race crew. Whilst Oxford has two Swiss Olympians, Cambridge also has one in Simon Schuerch. Simon raced in the Swiss lightweight men’s four at both the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympic Games, earning gold in Rio. The Olympians are bolstered by a large number of international medalists including James Hunter of New Zealand and Oliver Parish and Seb Benzecry of Great Britain.

With the trial eights each having produced interesting and informative races, the next stage in the process is that each squad will compete in various “fixtures” against top quality crews invited by the Club’s coaches to test their provisional boat race crews. The fixtures have traditionally included clubs such as Great Britain’s Leander Club, Oxford Brookes University Boat Club, and occasionally international crews such as the Dutch Student Club, Nereus. With the selection process ongoing, the fixtures will allow the Coaches to see how various line-ups work and how the members of their squads fare under the pressure of racing an unknown crew.

The final showdown will take place in London on Sunday 3^rd April when the university squads take part in the 167th men’s Boat Race and the 76th women’s Boat Race.

For more information, visit The Boat Race website.