‘It’s pretty gnarly’: Behind the scenes at Trial Eights, the battle for selection at the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race
Behind the famous annual race is months of preparation, cold, dark mornings on the freezing water, and an internal battle for selection almost as nerve-wracking as the big day itself, as Flo Clifford finds out
Think of the Boat Race and what probably springs to mind is a rather genteel affair: rowing down the Thames in the April sunshine, the banks lined with punters sipping Pimm’s. But behind the annual race is months of gruelling training, innumerable cold, dark mornings on the water, and a fierce fight for selection.
Welcome to Trial VIIIs, the only chance for prospective Blue Boat rowers to experience a full race on the fabled Championship Course, a 4.2-mile stretch of the Tideway between Putney and Mortlake. It’s the toughest of auditions, competing against their teammates for one of just eight coveted spots, plus a cox, in the Blue Boat.
Performance today is just one of many elements that factor into selection: speed tests, technique, and strength in the gym are all just as, if not more, important.
But the real test Trial VIIIs provides is of the rowers’ mentality. It’s the closest thing they get to the big day, with an umpire and media attention to cope with, too. Some rise to the occasion; others crumble under the pressure.
Oxford men’s coach Mark Fangen-Hall says: “A lot of it is how they behave in the days before, how they hold themselves, how they walk around, are they their usual jovial selves, or do they go quiet and within themselves a little bit, so there's a lot of body language observation. On the day itself, we just want to see people who can bring their best, wherever that may be, to the performance.”
The two universities each have a day to themselves on the water, although it’s not unusual for rival coaches to snoop around the opposition too, a sign of how deadly serious Trial VIIIs is. On Friday, 19 December, it’s Oxford’s turn on the Tideway, and they’ve already won the smallest of victories over their rivals: the weather gods have smiled on them.
It’s crisp and chilly, but the sun is out, while Cambridge endured a miserable downpour the day before. Oxford men’s president Tobias Bernard says: “My first year [of Trial VIIIs] it was snowing, so this is much nicer!”
After a lengthy period of Cambridge domination – they have won eight years in a row in the women’s race and seven of the last nine men’s editions – is the fine weather a good omen for the Dark Blues?
It seems to be for some of them, at least. In the women’s races, which the students have named after inspirational female athletes, Ledecky beats Williams, while the men’s Top Gun-inspired clash sees Iceman score a decisive victory over Maverick. (Cambridge opted for a slightly different vibe: the women’s contest was a head-to-head between Spice Girls, while the men’s boats were named after the athletes’ favourite post-training meals: Beans and Slop.)
Stroke Annie Anezakis and seven-seat Emily Molins are on the losing side today, but the pair are in fine spirits nonetheless. As Molins says, “It’s nice because Oxford always wins Trial VIIIs!”
This is Anezakis’ fourth experience of Trial VIIIs, having been in the Blue Boat for three of the last four years and president last year, while Molins is hoping to make her debut in April. Anezakis says: “It’s so exciting every year, and I think I’m just as nervous every year. There’s something about racing your teammates, and this element of it’s not entirely our selection, but it definitely plays into it. It’s hard not to feel that pressure, but it’s fun.”
You might expect trash-talking between the teams, but Trial VIIIs is a largely wholesome affair. Molins laughs and says, “We’re braiding hair, we have matching ribbons.”
Anezakis adds: “Heidi [Long, stroke in Ledecky] and I tried doing a stare off, but we ended up hugging! It was somewhat calming, actually, looking across and seeing my teammates. At the end of the day, this is something that’s just going to lift the entire squad. Whereas on Boat Race day you look across and you see the enemy, so it’s a little bit more nerve-wracking!”
While the experience of Trial VIIIs is a positive one, the rowers are matter-of-fact about the toll training can take, and the difficulty of juggling elite-level sport alongside the demands of their studies.
“It’s pretty gnarly,” Australian Anezakis says. “We were rowing in the dark at 6pm last night, so it was freezing cold, pitch black, raining, not nice, but I think you adapt. Someone told me at the beginning of my time at Oxford, it’s never too cold, you’re just not wearing enough layers.”
Molins adds: “There's such a finite number of times you get to get onto the Tideway, so I think really making the most of it [helps with motivation].”
Men’s president and Iceman cox Bernard says: “It helps to take it day by day and also just to remind yourself that, whatever you’re doing, you’re waking up at 5am. It takes the same number of hours to train to win as it does to lose. Every tough session out there, every rainy day is making you stronger, and that can be a real weapon in your arsenal.”
In theory, Trial VIIIs involves evenly matched teams. But this year, the margins of victory are large, particularly on the men’s side, and Fangen-Hall says one boat was deliberately made more stacked in terms of experience levels.
“We know full well that all of our crews will be underdogs against Cambridge, who are formidable this season,” he explains. Only one athlete, Bernard, is returning from last year’s Blue Boat, with many being brand-new to the sport. Final selection will probably happen earlier than usual to give this new-look Blue Boat the best possible chance.
Fangen-Hall says: “We’ve got a number of people where that was their third race ever and their first race on the Tideway, and then you’ve got Harry Geffen, who’s won more under-23 gold medals than they’ve had races. So the difference is huge, and we have to be aware of that and respectful of that. We just want to make sure that people come off the water going, I feel that I’m a better oarsman, I’m wiser for it, and I’m really looking forward to the next part of the journey.”
As a coach, Fangen-Hall has to strike a delicate balance in training: “There’s a lot of work off the water, making sure people feel that they belong, they have an important part to play, but equally telling the guys at the top end you can’t win this on your own. We often joke that [rowing] is the perfect communism: everyone has to be together.”
Every Boat Race is important, but with Cambridge streaking away in recent years, the onus is on Oxford to catch up to its rivals. Is anything being done differently this year to bridge the gap?
Anezakis says: “Nothing that’s dramatically different. There’s probably tweaks to the training programme, there’s a whole new cohort of recruits. We’re just trying to keep building the momentum because I think it is working and we’ve seen improvements every year, and I think we just have to trust that and be confident in that.”
That process resumes after a well-earned celebratory dinner, before a break over Christmas. Anezakis is heading home to Australia to “defrost” – and after that, it’s off to training camps, when the countdown really begins. Oxford will be hoping all the work done in December results in the Tideway finally turning Dark Blue.
The Boat Race 2026 takes place on Saturday, 4 April, and will be broadcast live in the UK on Channel 4
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