Clara Lilje
Squad
About Clara Lilje
Where did you learn to row and who was your first coach?
New College, Jack Dougan and Kan Li.
What inspires you about sport?
The grit and team spirit required to row is incredibly inspiring.
Explain your earliest memory of The Boat Race
Even when I was a student in Germany, I had heard about The Boat Race, which really fascinated me as it is such a unique event and we don’t have similar events in university sports in Germany at all.
Do you relish in hours in the gym and miles in the dark, or do you live for race days?
I actually really enjoy the training and especially seeing the improvements after putting in the work. Rowing is great for this as there is a lot of data you can track in your training, this makes progressing for me even more exciting.
What's the secret to managing elite-level sport with studying at one of the top universities in the world?
I am not sure there is one secret, but I do think it’s a mix of enjoying what you do, both in sports and academia, surrounding yourself with people that inspire you to challenge yourself and being really good at taking effective naps.
