Gemma King (Women's President)
Squad
Boat Race Record
2019 Cambridge Women’s Lightweight Boat
2021 Cambridge Women’s Reserve Boat
2022 Cambridge Women’s Lightweight Boat
2023 Cambridge Women’s Reserve Boat
2024 Cambridge Women’s Blue Boat
2025 Cambridge Women's Blue Boat
About Gemma King (Women's President)
Where did you learn to row and who was your first coach?
Lady Eleanor Holles Boat Club, Stuart Larner and Anna Blackstone.
What inspires you about sport?
What I love about rowing at Cambridge is we have athletes from so many different backgrounds coming together and the improvement and growth you can see in everyone over the year is amazing. It’s inspiring to see how all the hard work really does pay off and what you get out is what you put in. Everyone pushes themselves and each other to see what they can achieve. I’m inspired by the motivation, teamwork and resilience that those in the squad show, and sport has helped me to stay focussed, find my limits and support others.
Explain your earliest memory of The Boat Race
When I was younger I used to watch the race from home with my family. My mum worked in Cambridge for a little while so always supported Cambridge, so the rest of us would support Oxford for a bit of friendly competition to make it more exciting! After I started rowing, I watched the race with others from my club, and found it really interesting to start seeing the race from a whole new perspective.
Do you relish in hours in the gym and miles in the dark, or do you live for race days?
I love racing! Obviously racing is tough, but I love seeing the results of all the hard training pay off and seeing how fast we can make the boat go. The training in the cold, dark winter months can be challenging but it’s all worth it in the end.
What's the secret to managing elite-level sport with studying at one of the top universities in the world?
I think managing both is very doable, it just takes being organised and planning ahead. Our programme is timed to be manageable around a full day of work, and I’m able to plan big experiments for days when I have more time. We have a lot of early mornings, so getting into the habit of going to bed early has also really helped me.
