Boat Race vs Olympics

The Paris Olympics kick-off on 26th July 2024. We asked four Boat Race alumni who have also raced for Great Britain at past Olympics – Zoe de Toledo (Rio, 2016), Ollie Wynne-Griffith (Tokyo 2020), Annie Vernon (Beijing 2008 and London 2012) and Jonny Searle (Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996) – to tell us how the two experiences compare.

Zoe de Toledo
(Rio 2016)

If you had asked me when I was 17 or 18 what my biggest rowing goal was, it would be the Boat Race. I never thought the Olympics were on the cards for me.

The Boat Race experience helped me learn to race eights. The focus on the eights and the intensity of the racing set me up well for Rio.

If you can cope with the pressure of doing the Boat Race, not just the race itself, but having to balance your studies with athletic performance, you can cope with the pressure of the Olympics. That’s why so many Boat Race athletes have gone on to perform for their country.

The Tideway is a player in the race, in its own right. I’ve always felt at home there. That was something that really attracted me to the race and that’s what makes people watch it.

I think it’s just such an amazing spectacle to be a part of. I’m already feeling myself getting excited for this year’s race and I’m not really involved anymore.

Ollie Wynne-Griffith
(Tokyo 2020)

I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to continue towards Paris and Cambridge gave me the opportunity to either transition out of elite rowing or keep my hand in it if I wanted to come back.

I’d say my Boat Race day was epic. It’s unlike any race you’ll ever do, and I think it became more personal and emotional than anything that I’d felt before. Especially because Tokyo was quite surgical in terms of an Olympics, without fans, friends and family. Whereas the Boat Race had so many people, so much noise. That was special.

“Tokyo was quite surgical... whereas the Boat Race had so many people, so much noise.”

I’m not sure I’d be here without a year at Cambridge. I switched sides at Cambridge. Tom and I were on the same side coming in and Rob Baker asked one of us to switch sides. So, the whole pair project kind of fell together by accident through Cambridge. I’ll always be really indebted to that. The Olympics consumes you for four years and it’s hard to not make it your identity, whereas the Boat Race is so short. Six months and you don’t have enough time to think. So, it’s just, go, go, go. I really enjoyed that side of it.

The Oxford or Cambridge programmes are steeped in history, and they know what they’re doing. It’s only natural that they’ll produce great athletes that will go on to do great things.

Annie Vernon
(Beijing 2008 and London 2012)

Without the Boat Race there is no way I would ever have an international rowing career. Not a chance. I think if we’d won our Boat Race I would have called it a day at that point. I wanted to see if there was more to rowing than this disappointing result.

Steph Cook, for example, amongst others did the Boat Race and then went on to compete in other sports. I think that shows you the power of the Boat Race. It’s such a powerful event at a time when you are young and impressionable. I think it has such a big impact on you that for some people it does light a flame for them to go forth and achieve in other sports.

When you’re racing as a student, it’s your hobby. It’s your passion. Whereas when you’re doing it as an international. It’s your job.

“Without the Boat Race there is no way I would ever have an international rowing career. Not a chance.”

The pressure, the expectation, the passion, the emotion is the same though, whether it’s your university, the blue of Cambridge or you’ve got the Union flag on your chest, and you’re Team GB. I like that sense of it’s not just me. I’m part of this huge machine behind me and all this history, that means something.

If I could have swapped my time for doing it now, I would. I mean, it’s incredible. We had volunteer coaches whereas now they have professional coaches. I think that what they’re doing now is phenomenal and I think what the two clubs have done, by bringing the men’s and the women’s clubs together is really positive.

Jonny Searle
(Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996)

At most universities or schools, rowing is not a big sport. What was amazing about Oxford was that it’s one of the few places in the world where being good at rowing was recognised and well regarded.

Yet that also brings a lot of pressure. Although most rowing is very personal, you win or lose, and only those close to you know; many of the other students and TV viewers would know if we lost the Boat Race.

I think the Boat Race helped me with my Olympic campaign. It was quite good preparation for some of the unusual things that happen and the ‘win-lose’ pressure. The Tideway causes uncertainty, you can go out in terrible water, the waves break over you.

I didn’t like coming third at the Olympics. I liked winning the Boat Race. So, the Boat Race was more fun than the Atlanta Olympics. But I loved winning at the Barcelona Olympics, probably more than winning the Boat Race. So, for me, when I was younger, a lot of the rowing I did was about how fast we could go and win big races. If I was winning big races, I was having fun.