Paddy Ryan

The Boat Race is an incredible event. It continues to capture the public imagination, as proven by the hundreds of thousands watching on the riverbank, and the millions watching around the world, on TV and online. We, the Cambridge Women, have been dominant for many years now. This run of success follows a period of Dark Blue dominance, but no matter the trend, every year presents a fresh start. Win or lose, these young women are set to take part in an incredible experience.

Each season brings a new group with its own personality, skills and of course, challenges. The exciting thing about this year’s group is the high number of returning Blondie athletes. For them, the 2024 Boat Race campaign presented a huge opportunity to make the leap into the Blue Boat. While stressful at times, I have truly enjoyed managing this process and supporting them to make a step up in standard. Come race day, I cannot wait to see them showcase all of what they have learned.

One of the biggest challenges this year was the weather. Despite the floods we luckily avoided missing any planned rowing sessions. The adverse conditions did however prompt us to ask questions. How do we best organise and benefit from our fixtures? And we brainstormed weather-related “What if...” scenarios. For example, our Trial Eights was delayed by a few minutes to allow for a change in the stream above Barnes Bridge; what would be the plan should this happen on race day? The idea being that by preparing for every eventuality we furnish the team with greater power and confidence.

Racing the Dutch National Development Team, Oxford Brookes and Thames RC have made for an exciting series of fixtures. They provided fantastic opportunities to develop our stroke, challenge ourselves to make more progress, and enhance our resilience mindset.

I like to win – who doesn’t? – it indicates we are on the right path, but it doesn’t stop me questioning and exploring how we can do things better. The question I always have in the back of my mind is could we have gone faster? Winning is fun, and less stressful than losing, but either way the journey is so very cool. It is always a privilege to work with these extraordinary people and challenge them to find more within themselves. Perhaps, even more than any other rowing programme, we develop an everchanging cohort of athletes, year after year. Each season brings new friendships and new learnings. Once the dust settles, I hope those who on race day will be rivals, can find friendships with each other as there are so few who get to experience this race.

I believe we have a responsibility to further women’s sport and ask questions. As two male (chief) coaches of women’s teams we have a responsibility to be allies to these athletes, pushing equality, questioning the accepted knowledge, and empowering these athletes for their lives in and out of the boat.

It is great to see Oxford changing, and looking at how culture plays an important role, and hiring a coach with a background in women’s sport. I wish them luck and hope we can share a glass at the finish, tell stories, and enjoy our unique shared experience after having gone as fast as we can. May the fastest boat win.