Words: Alexander Finger, MPhil Architecture and Urban Studies, Cambridge

I think I watched the Boat Race for the first time all the way back in 2017 or 2018. My parents, both rowers themselves, brought home pizza and said to my siblings and me, let’s watch something special. So, sitting at home in Germany, our slices of pizza in our hands, watching eagerly the race unfold in front of the TV, I felt something I did not know before.

A fascination for something so big, so extraordinary, so unbelievable, that I started dreaming of how it would feel to do it myself one day. Rowing down the Tideway with thousands of spectators lining the riverbanks, with only one goal in mind: coming in first.

The pictures were just amazing; two eights packed with impeccable athletes going side by side, giving their very best on the iconic stretch of water from Putney to Mortlake. During the closeup shots you were able to see the grit and the determination in the eyes of every single one sitting in the boat there; nobody wants to lose the race.

In international rowing, missing out on first place still means you are getting a silver medal, but in the Boat Race, only one team can win. The celebration afterwards seemed, for me as an outsider, even more ecstatic. People running into the water to hug their teammates either in utter joy or shared grievance. It did not seem to matter; when you are part of a team like that, you win or you lose together. It is a shared experience of pure emotion.

Writing about this still gives me tingles of excitement. A feeling that occurs only rarely in everyday life. How could it be different? Nowadays everyone is striving for personal success, trying to get ahead of everybody else, but with the Boat Race, the most important thing is how you as a team can create something big. This jittery feeling came up again and again when I was watching the race at home via the livestream.

Seeing moments like the Lightweight Boat Race in 2020 before life came to a standstill, Jasper Parish’s coxing masterclass in the Men’s Boat Race of 2023, or the restart of the Women’s Boat Race of this year left me gripped to my screen. All remarkable and incredibly exciting moments of our beloved sport. All the while having the thought in my head, how would it be to be where they are now?

The tradition, the spectacle, and the individuality of the event are what make the Boat Race stand out to me so much in comparison to other regattas. It is, in a sense, living history that you as a simple rower can become a part of. Held nearly every year since 1829, it is the ultimate fight between two of the most famous and best universities in the world. We cannot decide where we are born, but we can certainly choose which university we want to apply to, and when we are even luckier, we are getting chosen by them as well.

This is a commitment between yourself and this event that makes it so much more influential.

Last year I finally came to the point where I was able to apply and wasted no time to get after it. I could not wait to take my chance at this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Who knows what the future might hold, so I knew I needed to take this chance then and now.

I realized quite quickly how much bigger this whole situation is. It is not only a simple paperwork application where you get a yes or no answer at some point; you get thoroughly questioned in an interview and must wait like a student at Hogwarts under the Sorting Hat for the final decision to arrive.

Even then you are not good to go; the stairs leading up to Mount Olympus of academia are high, and you must improve your grades, get everything sorted out for a move, and be able to come to the university to be allowed entry through their gates. In this time, I realised that the Boat Race is even more than just rowing; it is also the competition of the brightest minds that the sport has to offer.

In September it was finally time, and I first set foot in this beautiful city. Seeing all the historic university buildings, the meandering river, and the iconic boathouses lining it for the first time. I was immediately struck by the beauty and uniqueness of this place that I am now able to call home. It is really, in a sense, a place like Mount Olympus or Hogwarts, but rather than being populated by gods or wizards, it is made up of everyday people like you and me.

Since I got here, I have encountered many Boat Race or Club veterans, and every one of them lives up to the highest standard that you could imagine.

They are the friendliest, most intelligent, and most athletic people that I have met so far in my life. It is not the place that makes them special, but their combined and repeated extraordinary behaviour. Another reason that makes the Boat Race so much more special is that we are all not just good rowers, but we are good and kind people that just happen to really enjoy the sport.

Being in this group, sharing the dream of being on the Tideway on 4th April, and working hard to get a little bit better every day made me understand what I saw during the livestream all those years ago. What you see there is just the pinnacle of a whole year dedicated to one single goal, but underneath lies so much more.

The pictures are not just great because you are watching a good race, but because the pictures are transcending to you as a viewer what it means to be an exceptional team standing together in friendship with relentless passion for something that is bigger than every single one of us.