Rosie Thorogood Remembers the Boat Race

Hey Ho And Up She Rises

First year Chemist Rosie Thorogood joins us to share the nail-biting story of competing in this year’s Lightweight Boat Race – as well as the extraordinary year of lockdown training that brought her there.

We’d dug deep and clawed our way back, and now we were edging ahead in the competition’s home water.

The morning of May 18th 2021 dawned clear in Ely, and not too cold. Despite an early night, we’d all found it tough to sleep as the nerves kicked in. But we had each received messages the day before from the last OUWLRC rowers in our seat, and that helped. It reminded us that we weren’t alone in this – we were also racing for all the athletes who came before us.

By the afternoon, our only focus was the race. From the bank, I looked round at our crew – all these women who had inspired me to believe it was possible to balance the pressures of study with long hours of training. Several of them were scientists like me, who spent their days in labs; others were finalists, their focus already on the world beyond Oxford.

Getting selected to join this crew had been enough of a shock. I began training with the Development Squad in the summer before I came to Oxford, then stepped up to full training in Michaelmas. At that point, my only ambition was not to get cut from the squad! Once we went into lockdown, I used the training to maintain a fighting mental attitude and pushed hard through the ergs – but the Blue Boat still felt ridiculously far away.

Now here I was, getting ready to race Cambridge on their home water. It seemed unbelievable, but it also confirmed something I’ve always believed, which is that rowing is all about dedication. A lot of the athletes in

our squad had never set foot in a boat before Oxford – yet here we all were, united by the dedication we’d shown, ready to represent our squad’s hard work.

On the water, I felt nervous but excited. I’ve sat on hundreds of start lines for school, but this was different: this was The Boat Race. I tried to stay focused, visualising the course ahead, getting mentally ready.

A moment’s hush, and we were off. It was a relief to feel the bite of our blades in the water – and a shock to see that we had taken the lead. Cambridge are notoriously quick off the mark, so getting the edge on them was a real upset – now all we had to do was hold that lead.

I row bow, which means it’s my job to pick up the rhythm of each stroke and complete the connection from stern to bow. It’s like being the last piece in a puzzle, locking on to the pace the others set and putting down the power with the whole crew in front of you.

After a kilometre, despite some amazing rowing, Cambridge had pulled level with us and even begun to carve out a lead. But we weren’t giving up. Rowing is as much about mental strength as physical. That’s what the training is for: you put yourself in the bin for those race kilometres, so you can stay focused even while your muscles are screaming.

Now we called on all that determination, willing ourselves centimetre by centimetre closer to our rivals. Around the 2km mark, I stole a glimpse to the left and saw we were once again head to head with the Cambridge boat.

The halfway marker was just up ahead: a slight bend on our side of the river. It felt like an advantage, and we pressed for it. Suddenly we were in the lead, properly in the lead, and it felt amazing. We’d dug deep and clawed our way back, and now we were edging ahead in the competition’s home water.

This was a real race now. The only question was, could we hold on? Off to the left came cries from the bank as the small home crowd cheered Cambridge on. Beside us the Cambridge boat hung in there, refusing to quit. they were pulling ahead. Soon, we were fighting just to make sure we still had an overlap between the two boats.

The last 500 metres were upon us. It was here, with clear water between us and the boat in front, that we could have just limped home. But we weren’t about to do that.

Each of us had gone through 25 weeks of lockdown training to get here, doing countless ergs in between the desks where we studied and the beds where we slept. There was no way we were going to end badly now.

So we kept pulling, even as Cambridge unleashed the final lift that crowned them the winners. Seconds later, we crossed the line, too, the cheers of the crowd blurring in our ears with the rush of our own pulses.

We hadn’t won, but it was still the race of a lifetime: a gutsy performance in which we almost toppled the champions. Now I’m ready to trial again – and hopefully bring home a victory in 2022!

Each of us had endured 25 weeks of lockdown training to get here. There was no way we were going to end badly now.

2021-22 is the centenary of the Somerville Women’s Boat Club, of which Rosie is a member. To discuss supporting the SWBC, please contact our Development Director, Sara Kalim (sara.kalim@some.ox.ac.uk).