Oxford and Cambridge already thinking about plans for next year’s Boat Race
"It never ends; you’re always thinking about the next race."
Following from this year’s Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race, we’re hearing the teams are already thinking about next year as “it never ends”.
In the 2025 Boat Race, Cambridge completed a clean sweep, winning both the men’s and women’s race as well as both reserve races.
They continued their dominance in the women’s race, winning for the eighth year in a row.
Patrick Ryan, Cambridge Women’s chief coach said: “I’m very pleased with eight in a row and four whilst I’m in charge – It feels really good, and we have a great crew.
He added: “The ninth win in a row has already started in January. It never ends; you’re always thinking about the next race.
“We deal with each academic cycle when the applications come in. So, you’re working with students from external universities and trying to encourage them to get their applications in.
“You have no choice but to work on the year you’re on as well as the year coming.”
Heidi Long, stroke seat for Oxford Women’s crew told us she will use the feeling of this year’s defeat as motivation to come back stronger next year.
She also says, “I’m overwhelmingly proud of this team, it feels awesome to wear dark blue. We gave it absolutely everything we had out there, and we’ve been giving everything we can in every training session this year.
“We couldn’t have done much more, and Cambridge have put out an excellent performance.”
Heidi added: “I’ve always wanted to race here on the Tideway and compete in the Boat Race so to be able to do that with this group of women, being part of Oxford – I’m super happy.
The Olympic bronze medallist also hopes that the Boat Race will help inspire more women into the sport, especially as the Oxford crew shown “not give up until the absolute last stroke.”