JRN are delighted to announce that Cambridge University Men’s Eight are our Student Crew of the Year.
This was a year when new ground was broken for the Light Blues. Not only did they win their fifth Boat Race in six years but they also emerged from that victory with a clear close-season aim – to win Henley Royal Regatta. Although that did not materialise – not least because the crew were bumped up into the Ladies Challenge Plate – they did enjoy a fantastic summer of racing, winning at both BUCS and Metropolitan Regattas before reaching the Sunday of Henley Royal Regatta and losing to Princeton’s first Varsity eight.
Seb Benzecry, Cambridge President during the 23/24 season, commented: “It was an incredibly exciting season for CUBC. We knew from the outset that we’d have to push on massively if we were going to beat a very talented Oxford crew in the Boat Race, and so we attacked the training harder than ever before. Despite being the underdogs, our belief was unwavering, and our coach Rob Baker had a big part to play in developing a mindset that I think was the big difference between us and Oxford on Boat Race day. What was so special about the season too was the fact that our ambitions went beyond just winning the Boat Race, and that led to a successful summer season – one of the most successful in recent CUBC history – that saw wins at BUCS Regatta and at the Metropolitan Regatta, as well as making the final of the Ladies Plate. Hopefully that has paved the way for a ton of future success for the program in the post-Boat Race season. At the end of the day, I think that CUBC has the tools to truly become the best student program in the world, and I can’t wait to see what we can achieve looking forward.“
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