3 mins
Luca Ferraro
Nationality
GBR
Height
1.96m
School/High School
The Latymer School
Club
CUBC
Undergraduate/Graduate
Undergraduate
Undergraduate course
Classics (4 years)
What is your Cambridge College?
King’s
Why are you studying your course?
Classical culture has always appealed to me, and having no idea what I wanted to do at school meant that being able to step into the classical world through a mix of the humanities was a logical choice, especially with the 4-year course at Cambridge which offers Classics to students unable to study Latin or Greek before university.
Year you first started rowing?
2017
First rowing club?
Lea RC
Why/How did you get into rowing?
Having demonstrated extreme incompetence at most other sports, rowing was my last chance saloon. Luckily the Lea was reasonably close to home and not immediately sucking meant I began to train pretty regularly.
Name of first rowing coach?
Mark Cushway
Who is your rowing idol?
Steve Simpole
How do you balance rowing and academic life?
Like an incredibly precarious game of Kerplunk, always 2 moves from collapse.
Who would be your dream team eight to row with from everyone in the history of rowing?
Not an 8 but would love one last spin out in the Lea quad from my junior days.
What’s your rowing history, and what has been your biggest achievement so far?
I sculled as a junior, racing the Fawley at Henley twice as a junior. Making the switch to sweep at Cambridge, I raced in the spare pair in Ely in my first year followed by the Blue Boat last year in 2022. That year I also raced in the pair over the summer with Ollie making the A final of the U23 worlds in Varese.
Have you raced in the Boat Race before? If yes, when?
Raced the 2022 Boat Race, losing to Oxford.
Have you ever been at school/ university/on a team with anyone at ‘the other place’?
Raced at U23s last summer with Henry Pearson who’d raced in Isis that season.
Your favourite race so far?
Vanquishing future squad mate Oli Bridge by 4 seconds in the J182x at the 2018 Hampton Junior Small Boats Head. What a day!
What is the best place you have ever rowed?
Obviously top spot goes to the scenic plane-watching haven that is the Royal Albert Docks, but Sarnen where we did a camp last year is a close second. Pretty unreal.
Where would be your dream place to row?
Down the canals in Venice.
What is your favourite sports quote?
“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee!”
Obviously, it’s long hours and hard work – what inspires you to keep rowing?
The team.
What has been your most embarrassing/funny rowing moment?
Doing the last five minutes of the first erg test this season covered in my own vomit.
What do you feel is your greatest achievement through rowing, be it accolades or something more?
My dad rowed at university, and the day I finally beat his 2k erg PB was an oddly emotional one.
How would you describe the sport to a non-rower?
Good rowing is like a swan swimming, looks peaceful with a lot of strain going on under the surface.
What is your favourite movie about sports?
Cars
How does being an athlete make you a better person?
Does it? Probably.
Why do you think someone outside of the sport can relate to your career as an athlete so far?
It rewards hard work; the days often feel like a grind but if you do something you love.
What are your strengths, as a person and as an athlete?
Enjoying the process, finding some meaning in the day to day.
What do your friends think of your athletic success? How do you handle missing out on activities with friends because of your athletic schedule?
They mock me mercilessly – it is tough but just means a lot of making up for lost time over summer.
Do you have any connection with anyone in the opposing squad?
My dad rowed in the first crew Sean Bowden ever coached, back at Thames RC.
Tell us one surprising thing about yourself?
I’m not Italian.