Where did you learn to row and who was your first coach?

Godolphin and Latymer School, Allison Duggan.

What inspires you about sport?

Sport inspires me in the way it makes me push the limits of what I think I am capable of. I enjoy the process of putting in the hours of work and gradually seeing the progress.

I love being part of a sports community and becoming bonded as a team/crew. I think you can achieve more when you have teammates to inspire you, and for you to work to inspire. Teammates make the lows of sport bearable, and the highs feel even better.

Finally, playing sports has always had a huge impact on my body confidence. Sport can make insecurities disappear when those things I may be insecure about turn out to be an asset in a certain sport.

Explain your earliest memory of The Boat Race

The Boat Race was probably the first time I became aware of Oxford and Cambridge as universities and so I quickly came to understand the rivalry between them. I live in Hammersmith near the river so from a young age I watched The Boat Race with my family and enjoyed the festivities around it - I have always loved the Morris dancers!

I never thought it would be a feasible thing for me to row in The Boat Race since, having such proximity to the event, I've always seen first hand how big of an occasion it is (through the intensity and volume of supporters, the screening of it on the banks of the thames, all the food vans etc - it's like a mini festival), and so it seemed too far out of reach. When I was younger, I probably perceived the athletes as absolute gods!

Do you relish in hours in the gym and miles in the dark, or do you live for race days?

I love the process of training and coming together as a team, always with race day in your head. Some of my favourite memories in rowing are from random training sessions where something clicks as a crew, or just from spending time as a team land training.

What's the secret to managing elite-level sport with studying at one of the top universities in the world?

Being super organised. Having a support system of friends, family and tutors to lean on.