Bigger Picture

Gemini never wanted to be “just” a Boat Race sponsor, they wanted to provide a legacy. More than £160,000 has been committed to inspiring social mobility sporting programs since Gemini’s involvement with the Boat Race began. Central to their tie-in with the iconic varsity race, was finding a way to improve the diversity and accessibility of rowing.

Alongside this The Boat Race Company Limited (BRCL) had already set an aspiration to use the profile of the event to help build a ‘Better Shared Future’ and wanted to build on the previous relationships that had existed with organisations working to improve the accessibility of rowing.

“It is important for kids to feel strong. It makes them feel empowered and independent. Rowing is a sport that can do that.”

Bringing these two aspects together, BRCL and Gemini created the Gemini Boat Race Bursary Scheme (GBRBS). It was formed last year, and the awards are having a big impact.

“Historically rowing has not been available to everyone, and we believe it should be,” says Blair Halliday, Gemini’s Head of UK. “We want to be more than just a Boat Race sponsor; we want to give back. Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss – our co-founders – have a storied history in rowing1 , and as a company we recognise the opportunities rowing provides; benefits like teamwork, working towards a common goal, and understanding other people’s strengths and weaknesses. GBRBS is designed to bring more people into rowing.”

People like Beatrice and Jana from Fulham Cross Girls School who learnt to row at Fulham Reach Boat Club (Fulham Reach) –a recipient organisation of the GBRBS: “I used to be scared of water,” says Beatrice, 15, who started in January after her teacher suggested she give it a try. “I thought rowing looked interesting. I’d seen people row and it was something I wanted to try.” She moved to London from Uganda five years ago and it was while “exploring” the city with her aunty that Beatrice first saw people rowing on the Thames. Overcoming her initial apprehension of “an open area that is not land” Beatrice now believes, “Rowing is a nice way of getting used to that environment”. From her first time in a boat, she decided rowing was “really fun” and “relaxing”. Her school friend Jana, 14, agrees. Jana started at Fulham Reach in November and enjoyed making new friends. She says rowing is intense. “I turn up to every session knowing it is going to be difficult, but I still look forward to it.”

The appeal might confound outsiders but those working at Fulham Reach get it. “Sport is a great leveller. Everyone comes and talks about rowing, they don’t talk about what might be happening at school or in their homelife,” says Yolande Joubert, the Chief Operating Officer at Fulham Reach. Her colleague Julia Philipson, Fulham Reach’s Fundraising Manager, points out the positive impact their work is having. “1300 state school kids come through our doors every year. Out of that 53% are from ethnic minority groups, compared to 4% represented in British Rowing. 61% are girls, and 49% of them are on free school meals. So, the need is there. Our strap line is Rowing for all. It is about improving lives and giving young people an opportunity they wouldn’t ordinarily have.”

A sentiment Halliday wholly agrees with, “We want to give opportunities and exposure to sporting lessons that will help young people in the future”. Among other things, GBRBS funds equipment, race entries, race kit, and membership fees. It has paid for 30 places this year at Fulham Reach. It was during a visit that Halliday witnessed first-hand the “humbling” work they were doing. And he has open invites to other recipient organisations across the country. He says of the bursary scheme, “It is not just London-focused, it is for people all around the UK.”

The impact of GBRBS reaches east to west from the Isle of Ely Rowing Club’s partnership with Ely College in Cambridgeshire, to Warrington Youth Rowing in Cheshire. And north to south from Firhill Youth Project and Community Hub in Glasgow to Brixton’s Wings in South London. Behind Every Kick makes up the set of five youth projects that received funding from GBRBS via the open application process. London Youth Rowing (LYR) and Fulham Reach were awarded funds too and saw a continuation of their longstanding involvement with the Boat Race.

“With the funding from the Gemini Boat Race Bursary Scheme we have been able to expand to Leeds, Bradford and Wakefield,” says Emily Coe, the Programme Director at LYR, one of two bursary award recipients. LYR have a long-standing relationship with the Boat Race. They work with over 60 state schools in London and nearly 3000 young people every year. “We have been working with 27 new schools in Leeds, Bradford and Wakefield since last September,” says Coe. “The Boat Race recognises the value of helping disadvantaged young people and those who wouldn’t normally get the opportunity to take part in rowing. We want to help those young people get active.”

“These kids don’t get a chance to do a sport that is anything like rowing. It is cool, new and exciting for them,” says Rebecca Clephan, the Programme Manager at Leeds for LYR. “The other day I had a kid who is physically disabled and visually impaired. We sat him on the rowing machine, and he was just doing arms only. I asked him how it made him feel, he said it made him feel strong. It is important for kids to feel strong. It makes them feel empowered and independent. Rowing is a sport that can do that.”

“I left school 3 years ago. I’ve always had the attitude I would go for any sports, but I never gave rowing a second thought. I’m Muslim and rowing is quite whitefaced so I didn’t think it would be an option,” says Amber Bergum, a LYR coach working with Clephan in Leeds. Bergum jumped at the chance to get involved. “Now I go into schools and when people of colour, especially the girls, see me they get excited, and it gives them a bit of hope.” Of her rowers Bergum says, “You can see they enjoy it. Rowing gives them motivation and it is a way to destress, especially for those kids who are starting to do exams.”

Juggling the exam pressure and time on the water is something this year’s Boat Race athletes can relate to. Regardless of who wins The Gemini Boat Race 2022, thanks to GBRBS financial hurdles are falling and access to rowing is widening. Although the Gemini co-founders have a losing history in the Boat Race their legacy will be a winning one.

1. The Winklevoss twins, 40, are former USRowing athletes who represented Team USA at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, finishing 6th in the men’s pair. In 2009 they enrolled in the MBA program at the Said Business School, Oxford, and trialled for Oxford University Boat Club to compete in the 2010 Boat Race campaign. Securing the three and four seats in Oxford’s Blue Boat the twins ultimately lost to Cambridge by 1 ⅓ lengths. They founded Gemini in 2014, four years after graduating from Oxford University.