I went out on the water with Oxford University Boat Club

The Club’s objective has remained unchanged during that time.

While the aim of the race itself has remained the same for nearly 200 years, the faces, culture and outreach work of the club has changed dramatically.

That is what I, on a very chilly January day, went to find out.

On Friday, January 28 I joined the Oxford University Boat Club (OUBC) for a training session at their base at Fleming Boathouse in Wallingford. You can also watch a video about our time with the Boat Club here>>>

The River Thames which the teams train on

Their base is set along the Thames, where the rowers undertake their training, and despite the relaxing, rolling countryside that surrounds the area getting into the boats is certainly not for the faint hearted.

While I felt relatively warm on land in my coat, jumper and beanie that changed as soon as I got on the water.

I accompanied both the men’s and women’s teams during their separate training on the river while on a Launch boat with both of the team’s coaches.

The feel of the cold wind against my face and hands at high speed as we whizzed for miles behind the rowers, alongside the spray from the water, literally chilled me to the bone.

I could not imagine being in their position, some of them in just t-shirts, for hours upon hours of intense training a week, every single week.

The men's team out on the water during training

The commitment of the student rowers to their sport is something explained by the men’s team head coach, Sean Bowden.

Mr Bowden called the rowers “extremely busy people” who have be “very focused and ambitious” in order to balance both their training and studies.

He said: “It is a big commitment. They train Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. They go to the gym early mornings before class, they will train either lifting weights or they will be doing endurance work on the working machines. Then they will go to class and we will row in the afternoons.

“We try to row as much as we can fit in in the afternoons and then they come back and row on Saturdays and Sundays.

“There are a number of things that have to get pushed aside to make it all work.”

To be completely honest, as we sailed down the Thames, I was absolutely shocked how fast the rowers are able to propel their boats through water just sheer human strength and determination.

In the past, I had only ever seen rowers on either the television, when watching the Boat Race or Olympics, or when they past me by if I was walking along a river. I had never followed a team of rowers while also on the water, close enough to feel their oars hitting the water, hear the uniformity of their breathing and see the sweat on their skin.

It was a remarkable sight.

The awe I felt at watching these incredible athletes was something was shared by the Oxford University Women's Boat Club president Amelia Standing.

The 22-year old engineering student, who started rowing when she was 13, said being involved in the club is “something I really just wanted and dreamed to do”.

She explained: “When I was 15 I actually remember watching the women’s boat race and I went Googled everyone’s heights and weights afterwards.

“I was like ‘that is me, that is what I fit as’.”

The women's team out training on the water

The passion the rowers feel for their sport is something they try to share with the local community, especially with young people growing up in Oxford. This does, also, go beyond rowing itself.

Miss Standing explained it was part of the “broad” way the rowers give back to the community of Oxford.

She explained: “We work with Hinksey Sculling School who offer rowing to lots of people from state school backgrounds. So, about 80 per cent of the kids going there go to state schools. We are working with them going and helping with university applications.

“All four boat clubs, so the two lightweights, are also involved and a few people go down each week to talk to thee kids and give them advice.

“We are aware some of us are really privileged and went to great schools and were really, really lucky. It is trying to give people the same opportunities that we had to talk to people doing what we wanted to do.”

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However, their hectic schedules means they cannot do as much as they wish they could.

Martin Barakso, the 27-year old Oxford University Boat Club president said: “I wish we had more time to do it.

“12 hours a day you are running to practice or running to class or finishing that essay at the last minute. We do not have time in the season to do as much as we would like.”

Much of the outreach work the club helps to bridge the gap between the university and the local community. More specifically, the age-old polarisation of Town and Gown.

Miss Standing said: “Oxford University Boat Club feels so connected to Oxford. We all love the city that we are living in, we all love representing Oxford as a place and it would be great to have that reciprocated so that [the community] also feel that we are representing them.

“We are not necessarily doing it for the university - we are doing it for the whole city.”

This is echoed by Mr Barakso, who added: “We are not just representing the university, it is all of Oxford.

I talk to many people in Oxford whether I am going out to restaurants or at local businesses and everybody likes talking about the race. It is fun to talk about rowing with people in the community. I think, it has been a few years since we won the race and everybody can get behind this underdog mentality.

“It is going to be a great story if we can bring the title and trophy back to Oxford and everybody should be excited.”

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