Tassilo Bulfon

Club CUBC Men

Year of Birth 2000

Hometown Munich

Nationality German

College St John’s

Undergrad/Graduate Undergraduate

Year 3rd

What are you studying? Classics

What is the most interesting part of your course? Do you have any professional or academic plans after? I quite enjoy the interdisciplinary approach incorporated in Classics. I am currently doing a paper in Philosophy, two in History and one in Archaeology.

How do you balance rowing and academic life? Have a good plan of what you have to get done in the week. (You should accommodate for the fact that you will always not fully manage to complete the plan, so I always try to leave the weekend as free as possible to catch up.) Also go to bed really early at around 21:00.

When did you start rowing, and why? At the start of university, in Michelmas term 2018. At first I only wanted to row parttime around three times a week, in order to keep physically fit, but then I got really involved in my rowing club and developed higher ambitions.

What was your first club? Lady Margaret Boat Club.

What is your favourite part of rowing for Cambridge? The high-performance aspect. Having never done any kind of sport at such a high level, I am surprising myself by really enjoying the competitive atmosphere and the determination of everyone in the squad to succeed. It seems as if everyone is really pulling together.

What’s your rowing history, and what has been your biggest achievement so far? Over two and a half years, my biggest achievement would probably be winning the Lents headship in 2019 shortly before Covid, even though the circumstances of the victory were a bit less than ideal.

Have you raced in the Boat Race before? If yes, when? No.

Your favourite race so far? Bumps are always good fun, and very nerve wracking especially the first time as a novice.

Do you have any race day habits or superstitions? Not really, I try to do nothing fundamentally different on race day than on any other training day.

Your sporting idol? In rowing it would probably be Ollie Zeidler, he comes from Munich like me and without much prior experience in rowing has really shaken up the sculling world.

If you could have any sportsperson in your crew, who would it be? Presumably Ollie Zeidler again, he is a big guy and it would be good to have another Bavarian in the heavy squad.

What gets you through a tough session? Do you have a mantra, rituals? Don’t think about it too much, and deal with it in steps, a session is just as tough as you make it to be.

Any hobbies, other interests outside rowing? I quite enjoy hiking and skiing.

How do you motivate yourself and your teammates, especially with Covid restrictions? During lockdown I am trying to do sessions in some way or another with other people. So when we have circuits I try to do them over Zoom, or when we are going for a run I try to run with one other person (Covid permitting). Having the feeling of other people doing the sessions with you makes them so much easier.