5 December 2017

The dates for Boat Races Trial Eights have been confirmed, as have the Cambridge men’s and women’s crews that will race today, theboatraces.org writes:

As per The Boat Race, the crews will race from Putney to Mortlake along the full 4 ¼ mile course. The squads will be split in two, with the coaches hoping to create evenly matched crews to test the individual rowers on their ability to perform under pressure.

Cambridge University Boat Club and Cambridge University Women’s Boat Club will both have their Trial Eights taking place today, Tuesday 5 December. The CUWBC Trial will begin at 12:45 whilst the CUBC Trial will begin around an hour later at 13:55.

Oxford University Boat Club Trial Eights will take place on Wednesday 6 December. Due to injuries, Oxford University Women’s Boat Club have had to delay their Trial Eights. These will now take place on Sunday 21 January at 14:30.

The annual Trial Eights form a crucial part of The Boat Race season. It is the only official opportunity that the athletes will get to race the full length of the course, thus representing an important learning curve for new trialists. In addition, the coaches are given an indicator of how their athletes fare under the unique pressure of match racing and unpredictable Tideway conditions.

This is the only opportunity either side has to race the full course from Putney to Mortlake with the Race Umpires, so it provides an important test for rowers and coxes alike, and allows both sets of coaching teams to analyse the progression and potential.

The first Trial Eights race was staged by Oxford 153 years ago in 1859 and Cambridge joined the tradition three years later in 1862.

The crews for this year’s Cambridge Trial Eights are as follows:

CUWBC
Crew name: Wingardium Leviosa
Bow. Pippa Darkin
2. Sarah Carlotti
3. Paula Wesselmann
4. Emma Andrews
5. Tricia Smith
6. Larkin Sayre
7. Myriam Goudet-Boukhatmi
Stroke. Imogen Grant
Cox. Sophie Wrixon

Crew name: Expecto Patronum
Bow. Eve Caroe
2. Millie Perrin
3. Lucy Pike
4. Laura Foster
5. Kelsey Barolak
6. Thea Zabell
7. Abigail Parker
Stroke. Alice White
Cox. Sophie Shapter

CUBC
Crew name: Goons
Bow. Dave Bell
2. Peter Rees
3. Callum Sullivan
4. Reggie Mitchell
5. James Letten
6. Dara Alizadeh
7. Spencer Furey
Stroke. Freddie Davidson
Cox Hugh Spaughton

Crew name: Goblins
Bow. Rob Harris
2. Piers Kasas
3. Tom Strudwick
4. Gerard Kuenning
5. Charles Fisher
6. Patrick Elwood
7. Rob Hurn
Stroke. Finn Meeks
Cox Hugo Ramambason

Live updates of both races will be available via Twitter