Quinten Richardson

Club CUBC Men

Year of Birth 1992

Hometown Vancouver, Canada

Nationality Canadian

College Fitzwilliam College

Undergrad/Graduate Masters

Year First/Final

What are you studying? MPhil in Planning, Growth and Regeneration

What is the most interesting part of your course? Do you have any professional or academic plans after? The opportunity planning offers to change the world for the better. Following graduation, I hope to work in urban and regional planning in the UK.

Future ambitions? To support the development and maintenance of accessible, efficient, and engaging communities.

How do you balance rowing and academic life? Through years of practice and equal prioritisation.

When did you start rowing, and why? I started rowing in the ninth grade because my high school is located next to an incredible lake to row on. It has a strong history of rowing and I wanted to be a part of it.

What was your first club? Shawnigan Lake School.

What is your favourite part of rowing for Cambridge? The opportunity to be a part of an incredible academic institution and one of the greatest sporting rivalries in history.

What’s your rowing history, and what has been your biggest achievement so far? I was Canadian National Championship medallist at Shawnigan Lake School in 2009 and 2010, member of the Canadian junior national team eight in 2010 and member of US Eastern Conference Championship winning and IRA National Championship medallist crews at Brown University from 2010 to 2014. My greatest achievement was winning the Eastern Sprints Championship and placing second at the IRA National Championship in the junior varsity eight in 2013.

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

Your favourite race so far? Winning the Eastern Sprint Championship for Brown University in the junior varsity eight in 2013.

Do you have any race day habits or superstitions? I’ve had them over the years, but as time has gone on, I’ve just come to appreciate a minute to myself before getting hands on the boat to get centered and dialled-in.

Your sporting idol? Kyle Hamilton - stroke seat of the Canadian eight that won gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

If you could have any sportsperson in your crew, who would it be? It would have to be one of my former teammates from Brown University men’s crew. Those guys were tough as nails and loved nothing more than to put everything on the line in a race.

What gets you through a tough session? Do you have a mantra, rituals? Mind over matter - it’s incredible what your body is capable of when your mind is trained to embrace pain.

Any hobbies, other interests outside rowing? Music, photography, cycling, skiing and travel.

How do you motivate yourself and your teammates, especially with Covid restrictions? The team has developed a strong and competitive culture that we’ve been able to maintain through the turbulence of the past few months. Through it all, we’ve continued to find ways to make training fun and engaging.