Felix Rawlinson
Squad
Boat Race Record
2025 Oxford Men's Blue Boat
International Record
2019 World Rowing Junior Championships
2023 World Rowing Under 23 Championships
About Felix Rawlinson
Where did you learn to row and who was your first coach?
Radley College, Angus McChesney.
What inspires you about sport?
The thing that inspires me most about sport is the opportunity to commit yourself to something that is bigger than yourself. The Boat Race has been going on for almost 200 years and it inspires me greatly that there was someone sat in the same rowing seat I am sat in 200 years ago with the same academic pressures and singular desire to make their boat go as fast as possible with their teammates. The pursuit of excellence in rowing has been around for generations and I am incredibly lucky to be a small part of the sport's history and to work with such amazing teammates and coaches.
Explain your earliest memory of The Boat Race
My first memory of The Boat Race was watching the race with some family friends whose parents went to Oxford.
Do you relish in hours in the gym and miles in the dark, or do you live for race days?
I once heard a quote that went: "The person who loves walking will go a hell of a lot further than the person who just loves the destination". I think this statement describes perfectly how I like to approach my training. I believe I’m quite a resilient athlete who is happy just to sit in a boat or an erg and just plug away at it until things work out. I’m definitely not the smoothest or most technical athlete but I really hope my teammates see me as someone they know will always put myself in a hole to try get the win. A previous coach asked me “What can you do to show your teammates that you are a trustworthy athlete who has their back?” So, that’s what I try to embody as an athlete in the day to day. If there’s an opportunity to show I’m a trustworthy athlete via an extra training session, pulling a good erg score or just spending time with the guys then I will always try take that opportunity.
What's the secret to managing elite-level sport with studying at one of the top universities in the world?
I have a calendar that has every hour of the day planned out on it! A lot of my teammates call me crazy but I will make an outline for the week and plug in the work/rowing that needs to be done. Then, I will figure out what sacrifices needed to be made in my schedule so I can get everything done. I also have a big spreadsheet where I track my training volume, sleep, hydration and many other performance-related metrics every day. I'm always trying to optimise!
