It’s time for my annual look at the Blue Boats that will represent Oxford and Cambridge at this year’s University Boat Races. As in previous years, I’ll do a seat-by-seat comparison between the two crews and then give my thoughts on who I think will emerge victorious on March 30th.
Cox
Cox
Hannah Murphy - 🇺🇸
Murphy learnt to cox at West Side Rowing Club in Buffalo. She did her undergraduate studies at Syracuse University where she steered the Varsity eight to the ACC Championships and also coxed the Syracuse crew in the Island Challenge Cup at Henley last year.
Cox
Joe Gellett - 🇬🇧
The second undergraduate in the Oxford boat, Gellett steered the Oxford Blue Boat to a narrow defeat in 2022. He learnt to cox at Hampton School where he steered the school's second crew to a silver medal at the National Schools' Regatta in 2018.
Verdict
Who has the stronger cox?
Oxford Advantage
Advantage Oxford with Gellett having coxed in a close race in 2022.
Stroke
Stroke
Megan Lee - 🇺🇸
A graduate of Duke University in North Carolina where she rowed in the Varsity eight throughout her university career and was named Duke University Women’s Rowing “Most Valuable Rower”. Lee has represented the USA at both junior and U23 level, winning gold in the BW8 at the 2023 U23 World Championships. She’s also won medals at the CanAmMex Regatta and Canadian Henley.
Stroke
Annie Anezakis - 🇦🇺
One of five Blues in the Oxford boat, Anezakis was the seven-seat in the losing 2022 crew. She is a graduate of Princeton University where she rowed in the Lightweight Varsity boat that won the National Championships and silver at the IRA’s. She has also raced for Mercantile Rowing Club and helped them to an U21 Australian title.
Verdict
Who has the stronger stroke seat?
Cambridge Advantage
Advantage Cambridge in the all-important stroke seat.
Seven
Seven
Clare Hole - 🇬🇧
Another of the former Blondie rowers in this year’s Blue Boat and also another athlete who learnt to row at Cambridge. Hole is a former international Dressage competitor and has represented the senior British team. She’s no stranger to the Boat Race however; both her parents are Cambridge Blues (Duncan from 1990 and Rachel [née Murray] in 1988). She’s also the tallest member of the Cambridge crew.
Seven
Lucy Edmunds - 🇬🇧
Edmunds learnt to row at York City Rowing Club and represented Great Britain at both Junior and U23 level, culminating in a silver medal in the BW8 at the 2019 U23 World Championships. She is a graduate of Yale University, racing in the Varsity eight that won bronze at the Ivy League Championships and finished fifth at the NCAA’s. In 2022 she raced in the Hambleden Pairs at Henley Royal Regatta, losing in the quarter-finals to the eventual winners (Morrison and Musnicki of the US national team).
Verdict
Who has the stronger seven seat?
Oxford Advantage
Oxford advantage thanks to Edmunds' experience
Six
Six
Carys Earl - 🇬🇧
Another athlete who learnt to row at Cambridge, Earl rowed for Blondie last year. She’s beginning to make her mark on the national scene, having raced at the recent British trials and placing third(with partner Gemma King) as the second-best U23s.
Six
Annie Sharp - 🇬🇧
The tallest woman in this year’s race, Sharp is a graduate of the University of London and Thames Rowing Club, the latter with whom she won back-to-back Henley titles in the Wargrave Challenge Cup in 2022 and 2023. She was also selected to row for Great Britain at the European U23 Championships, winning bronze in the BW4-. At the British Trials in February she and partner Lucy Edmunds (seven-seat), finished sixth.
Verdict
Who has the stronger six seat?
Oxford Advantage
Advantage Oxford (despite Earl beating Sharp at the February GB Trials).
Five
Five
Carina Graf - 🇩🇪
Last year’s bow seat, Graf, like her opposite number, is a graduate of the University of British Columbia. In 2023 she raced in the W2- at the BUCS Championships winning a bronze medal. She was a relative late-comer to the sport, having stepped into a boat for the first time at the age of 24.
Five
Julia Lindsay - 🇨🇦
Lindsay is set to win her third Blue, having been part of the 2021 and 2022 Oxford Blue Boats. She’s a graduate of the University of British Columbia and is a five-time Canadian Universities Champion, a British Universities Champion, Head of the Charles winner and also won gold in the LW2X at the Canadian Summer Games.
Verdict
Who has the stronger five seat?
Oxford Advantage
Advantage Oxford with Lindsay's impressive career speaking for itself.
Four
Four | President
Jenna Armstrong - 🇺🇸
Armstrong is one of two returning Cambridge Blues in this year’s crew. Armstrong learnt to row at Bates College, Maine, winning Collegiate eights at the 2014 Head of The Charles and the DIV 3 title at the 2015 NCAA’s. After graduating from Bates, she completed a post-graduate medicine degree at Duke University in North Carolina.
Four
Claire Aitken - 🇬🇧
Last year’s two-seat from the losing Oxford crew, Aitken learnt to row at the University of Glasgow and rapidly developed in the sport, winning a bronze medal in the W2- for Scotland at the Home International Regatta, gold at the BUCS Championships and then sixth at the European Universities Championships.
Verdict
Who has the stronger four seat?
Oxford Advantage
Advantage Oxford, but only just.
Three
Three
Iris Powell - 🇬🇧
The fifth member of the Blue Boat stepping up from last year’s Blondie crew, Powell is also the fourth member of the crew to have only started rowing whilst at Cambridge. She continued to represent Cambridge after last year’s Boat Race, winning gold in the Intermediate W4+ at BUCS (with crewmate Gemma King).
Three
Tessa Haining - 🇺🇸/🇬🇧
Haining learnt to row at Buckingham Browne and Nichols School in Cambridge, Massachusetts and did her undergraduate studies at Harvard. Whilst at Harvard she rowed in the Varsity eight that won bronze at the Eastern sprints and made the grand Final at the Ivy League Championships. In 2023 she raced for Harvard A in the Island Challenge Cup at Henley.
Verdict
Who has the stronger three seat?
Oxford Advantage
Advantage Oxford with Haining's Harvard expertise pulling her ahead.
Two
Two
Jo Matthews - 🇬🇧
One of five Blondie rowers making the step up to the Blue Boat this year, Matthews is also one of four athletes who didn’t start rowing until they arrived at Cambridge. She wasn’t part of the Cambridge squad in 2023 but raced for the victorious Blondie crews in both 2021 and 2022.
Two | President
Ella Stadler - 🇬🇧/🇺🇸
The second returning Blue, last year’s four seat, Stadler learnt to row when she went up to Exeter College as a Freshman in 2019.
Verdict
Who has the stronger two seat?
Oxford Advantage
Advantage Oxford and in the President's favour.
Bow
Bow
Gemma King - 🇬🇧
King is one of five members of the victorious 2023 Blondie crew who make the step up to the Blue boat this year. She’s also a two-time Lightweight Blue and in 2019 won bronze in the W2- at the European Universities Rowing Championships (partnered by her twin sister Catherine – who races in the Osiris crew for Oxford this year). She competed with crew mate Carys-Anne Earl (six-seat) at the British Trials in February, finishing third overall.
Bow
Sarah Marshall - 🇬🇧
One of six returning Blues in the Oxford Boat, Marshall raced in the seven-seat of the losing 2023 crew. She learnt to row at Rob Roy Boat Club in Cambridge and in 2021 raced at the British Junior Championships. She’s the youngest member of the Oxford boat and is one of only two undergraduates in the crew (along with cox Joe Gellett).
Verdict
Who has the stronger bow seat?
No Advantage for Either Crew
A well-matched bow pair, ranking King and Marshall is a fool's errand.
The Prediction
Dan Spring's Verdict
Who will win the 78th Women's Boat Race?
Oxford
So, overall, I have Oxford ahead in almost all seats. Whilst Cambridge showed good pace against Thames in their side-by-side fixture, they were well-beaten by the same club at the Women's Head of the River (WeHORR). In their head-to-head against Oxford Brookes, the Dark Blues showed good speed to finish within a length in the first two pieces and take the win in the third. At WeHORR Brookes finished second, 25 seconds ahead of Cambridge. Whilst trying to compare results like these can be a mug's game, it does suggest that the Dark Blues have the edge. I’m picking Oxford to win for the first time since 2016 and to win by three to four lengths.
Crew headshots: Benedict Tufnell / The Boat Races
Cover image: Nikola Boysova
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