Ben Dyer

Club CUBC Men

Year of Birth 1992

Hometown Aberdeen

Nationality British

College Caius

Undergrad/Graduate PhD

Year 4th

What are you studying? Engineering

What is the most interesting part of your course? Do you have any professional or academic plans after? I’m working on a new magnetic material for use in the core of electric motors. Hopefully this new material will be a key enabling technology to make electric airplanes viable. Looking ahead to next year I’m currently applying for jobs to continue my career while keeping rowing in London.

Future ambitions? For now my mind is set firmly on winning the Boat Race. After that I plan to keep rowing and find out what Henley is all about. I’d like to win a red box or two before I’m done.

How do you balance rowing and academic life? A lot of long days, working at weekends and very little time for procrastinating. A good understanding with your supervisor makes life a lot easier too.

When did you start rowing, and why? October 2017. I was into running but was too tall to be competitive at the level I wanted to be. I heard my height would be an advantage in rowing so I gave it a go and got hooked very quickly.

What was your first club? Caius Boat Club.

What is your favourite part of rowing for Cambridge? The history behind the race and the loyal alumni network are really inspiring, although unfortunately we’ve missed out on a lot of visits and events this year. The squad atmosphere is also very special, all training together for one very clear goal: to beat Oxford.

What’s your rowing history, and what has been your biggest achievement so far? I noviced at Caius, joined CUBC dev squad in my first year and have been on the team ever since. I would say my biggest achievement was being selected for the Goldie 2020 crew since that was the long term aim I set for myself as a novice. But then we never got to race. Bumping up to headship with Caius in 2019 felt very special as I came from the college system.

Have you raced in the Boat Race before? No, unfortunately the 2020 races were cancelled.

Your favourite race so far? Trial eights 2019, although not at the time as my crew lost. It was a closely fought race and the only proper run I’ll get down the Championship Course. Besides that winning Marlow 2019 University Eights as a college. There’s nothing quite like six-lane racing in eights.

Do you have any race day habits or superstitions? Lots of coffee and bright gold kit.

Your sporting idol? Lewis Hamilton. He never settles for anything less than winning, and no matter how good he gets, he is constantly driven to get better.

If you could have any sportsperson in your crew, who would it be? Michael Jordan. Not just for his physiology but for how he would push on the rest of the crew.

What gets you through a tough session? Do you have a mantra, rituals? Count to ten. No matter how hard you go you’ll survive, so leave nothing out there or you’ll live to regret it.

Any hobbies, other interests outside rowing? As a big fan of Formula 1, I’ve been going to a new race each year as I make my way through the calendar.

How do you motivate yourself and your teammates, especially with Covid restrictions? Keep in touch with your squad mates and check in on people regularly. Find a team mate to partner up with if possible and safe to do so around the restrictions.