Charlie Marcus out to steer the course of Cambridge University Boat Club as men’s president

Charlie Marcus intends to lead Cambridge University Boat Club by setting the standard through a positive culture and professionalism as men’s president.

The 21-year-old engineering student at Trinity College has become just the third cox to be chosen to lead the Light Blues’ squad.

He will follow in the footsteps of NG Hughes in 1972 and Hugo Ramambason in 2018.

“It’s obviously a very prestigious role, you can look back and see 167 men’s presidents before and in the role, I’m continuing the history of the club dating back to 1829,” said Marcus, who will be going into his fourth year at Cambridge University.

“There is a lot of pride in the role, definitely.

“I felt like I was the person best suited to the role. I felt like I have learnt a lot in the three years I’ve had rowing at Cambridge, and that means that I will be able to do the job of president pretty well next season because of that experience.”

With a cox as president, it is a little bit different as they cannot set the athletic tone in the same way as an oarsman, and so Marcus will have to take a different approach.

“We’ve had Freddie Davidson, Callum Sullivan and Dara Alizadeh as presidents in the time that I’ve been there and they’ve always been able to put times on timesheets on the ergo that have been pretty impressive and everyone has been able to look up to them in that way,” he said.

“That’s not something that I’m going to be able to do, although we’ve got many leaders in the team who will be able to do that. I will be able to lead it in a different way, and still push the standards on.

“I think it’s just about showing professionalism and driving a positive culture in the team so everyone feels welcome, and a culture where we help each other out.

“A large part of it is driving a culture and having a good time. When it is time to go, the professionalism is there as well.”

And Marcus is confident that he will be able to take the added challenge of being president in his stride, alongside his course and sport.

“It’s a difficult job to balance time pursuing academics with rowing with CUBC, and obviously there is still some added challenge of being president and having more responsibility,” he said.

“However, over the years I’ve been at Cambridge I’ve been able to manage that pretty well.”