Boat Race 2022: Meet the Cambridge University Boat Club women’s crew to face Oxford
Cambridge University Boat Club will have five returning Blues in their crew to face Oxford University in the Gemini Boat Race on Sunday, April 3 it has been announced at the official crew announcement in London today (Monday).
President Bronya Sykes is one of four members of the crew back from the victorious Light Blues boat 12 months ago, along with Caoimhe Dempsey, Adriana Perez Rotana and Sarah Portsmouth.
Imogen Grant will also race with Cambridge in the 76th Women's Boat Race having intermitted her studies for a couple of years to trial and race for Team GB at the Tokyo Olympics, where she finished fourth with Emily Craig in the lightweight women's double sculls.
New Zealand Olympic gold and silver medallist Grace Prendergast is part of the eight, as is fellow Kiwi Olympian Ruby Tew, while Paige Badenhorst completes the rowing line-up which will be coxed by Jasper Parish.
“Not only does the crew announcement mark the final countdown into the Boat Races but it also acts to unify the crew as one force to face Oxford," said 21-year-old Gonville & Caius student Sykes.
“These are the people who we will be lining up on the start line with at the beginning of April. The training this year, as usual, has pushed us hard but every athlete at CUBC has searched for the next step to continue to make gains across the season.
“We are very lucky to be part of such an incredible squad who have formed some amazing crews, but it's really exciting to finally become the 2022 Blue Boat."
Cambridge chief coach Patrick Ryan said: “Education and legacy are important motivations, leaving a place better than I found it.
“I love it when people experience winning, I think it’s really valuable, but the most important thing – and what I said to these athletes right at the start of the journey – is that we will judge ourselves by the journey we have this year, not by the result.
“The result is the icing on the cake"
The women's boat race is at 2.23pm on April 3, with the women's reserve race at 2.38pm, with Cambridge currently leading the series between the Blue boats with 45 wins to Oxford's 30.
Oxford Women have four returning Blues, President Amelia Standing, U23 World Champion in 2021, is returning for her 4th Blue. In the Bow seat is Canadian Julia Lindsay whose cousin Martin Barakso is Oxford men’s President this year. Medical student and former GB international rower Anastasia Posner returns for her fifth Blue sitting rather appropriately in Five. Christine Cavallo, sitting at Three is an experienced Lightweight international with two U23 and three World Championship appearances for USA.
Three time U23 World Champion Erin Reelick has represented USA at multiple World Championships achieving Bronze and Gold medals. Canadian and Tokyo Olympian in the Double Scull Gabrielle Smith sits in the Six seat. Stanford alum Anja Zehfuss sits in the Four seat and returns for her second Blue.
Australian Annie Anezakis rowed at Princeton before Oxford as a lightweight winning Gold in the US Inter Collegiate Association Championships. Cox Joe Gellett is the undergraduate cox who learned to cox at Hampton School he makes his Boat Race dubut after coxing Osiris in 2021.
Cambridge: Bow Adriana Perez Rotondo (Newnham), Caoimhe Dempsey (Newnham), Paige Badenhorst (Magdalene), Ruby Tew (Queens’), Bronya Sykes (Gonville & Caius), Sarah Portsmouth (Newnham), Grace Prendergast (Queens’), stroke Imogen Grant (Trinity), cox Jasper Parish (Clare).
Oxford: Bow Anja Zehfuss (Green Templeton), Christine Cavallo (St Anne’s), Amelia Standing (St Anne’s), Julia Lindsay (St Cross), Gabrielle Smith (Regents Park), Anastasia Posner (Pembroke), Annie Anezakis (Lady Margaret Hall), stroke Erin Reelick (New), cox Joe Gellett (St Anne’s).
