Head to Head for King Twins?

The Boat Race takes place on Sunday 13th April, with the women racing at 13:21, but the crew line-ups for one of the world’s oldest sporting events won’t be named until Wednesday 26th March.

Gemma, who has taken part in the prestigious event three times before, is hoping to be selected to row for Cambridge, where she is currently a postgraduate undertaking a Wellcome Trust PhD in Stem Cell Biology at St John’s.

While Catherine, who is studying a DPhil in Cardiovascular Science at Balliol College, Oxford, wants to compete on behalf of Oxford. She rowed for Osiris (Oxford) for the first time last year, having previously rowed for Cambridge on the same side as Gemma.

You can catch a bit of Oxford’s training for the big event, which has been running for 195 years, on Saturday 29th March, as they compete in a live-streamed set of races over The Championship Course in London, at 11:35am. You can register to watch the free live-stream on the links on this page: https://www.theboatrace.org/fixtures

Gemma says: “I fell in love with rowing after trying some taster sessions at LEH. I had previously played several other different sports and was convinced that I would only be rowing for a few weeks. Clearly that did not happen, and I’m still rowing 12 years later! I think what I love most about the sport is the people – I have made so many friends through rowing and love being surrounded by other driven, enthusiastic people. The Boat Race is such a unique event and to be a part of that has been so special.”

Catherine says: “I started rowing at LEH aged 12. I never intended to carry on but enjoyed it so much I kept going! I love the competitive nature of the sport, and the feeling of everyone pushing each other on to make the boat go as fast as possible on race day. The Boat Race has been a huge part of my life ever since starting university in 2018, as I’ve rowed every year of my undergraduate and postgraduate courses so far, whether at Cambridge or Oxford. It is such a rewarding experience to be a part of the Boat Race, and I feel very lucky to be a part of it and train alongside an inspiring group of athletes.”

You can also view the official Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race 2024 four-part documentary series, Turning The Tide, here; and the 2025 series will be released on the Boat Race YouTube channel on these dates, all at 6pm GMT:

Wednesday 19th March 
Wednesday 2nd April 
Wednesday 9th April