With the first academic term under their belts, pushing thoughts of mince pieces and mulled wine to the backs of their minds, Boat Race aspirants on both sides of the divide hauled their gear to the Tideway for pre-Christmas Trial Eights. It’s a chance for the coaches to see their respective squads battle it out over the Championship Course in evenly matched eights, and for the wannabe Blues to learn the nuances of the Thames while putting into practice weeks’ worth of training.

Film buffs will recognise Oxford’s Trial Eights names, the men opting for Christmas favourite Wallace and Gromit, while the women took inspiration from the animated film series Madagascar. In the film King Julien (or Julian for the Trial Eights crew) is a peppy, ring-tailed lemur and Moto Moto is a larger-than-life hippo. (“The name is so nice, you say it twice.” ) Hippos are said to be the King of the River, and so it proved.

OXFORD WOMEN

A last minute crew change, due to illness, saw Jennie Astley replace Hattie Cooper in the three seat of King Julian, and this may have contributed to the somewhat one-sided contest. Even before the two crews took to the water onlookers questioned the on-paper, mismatched line-ups. Three minutes into racing Moto Moto had motored into an unassailable lead, leaving the race commentators with twenty minutes of airtime to fill.

Olympic bronze medallist and Leander Club rower Heidi Long made a massive impact at stroke for Moto Moto and she was well supported by returning Blues Sarah Marshall and Oxford Women’s President Annie Anezakis. A stern three combination that wouldn’t look out of place come Boat Race Day.

Lumpy water bouncing off the Fulham Wall made life difficult at the start but the two crews got away well; a few wild strokes and mistimed efforts followed (generally from the bows) which was more than excusable given the conditions. Moto Moto, who found the best traction and looked well connected in the chop, began to move on King Julian. Long established an assertive rhythm, and her crew backed her up with sharp catches, a canvas lead was their reward a minute into the race.

Umpire Matthew Pinsent warned both crews as they raced around the first bend. On the Middlesex station King Julian was desperate to use their Middlesex advantage to get back on terms, their cox Joe Gellett did well to hold his nerve and his line as his opposite man, Daniel Orton, squeezed in.

Sadly King Julian lacked the cohesion and firepower to mount a dramatic comeback. They tried to limit the damage along Crabtree Reach, but King Julian still trailed Moto Moto by two lengths of clear water under Hammersmith Bridge. A plodding RNLI launch didn’t help matters by creating a rolling wake for both crews to contend with. No matter, Orton passed his old club, Latymer Upper School Boat Club, in complete control of the race as Moto Moto eased into a cruise-y 32 strokes a minute.

The rate softened as both boats struggled in the rough stuff along Chiswick Eyot, caused by wind against tide conditions. At the finish Moto Moto rowed with even more smoothness than they had at the start, crossing the line almost 40 seconds up on their Dark Blue teammates, who were ragged with exhaustion by the University Post. The final verdict was given as eight lengths.

“I’ve been trying to tell myself that the Championship Course isn’t that long, but it felt very very long,” said Long on her first time over the full Boat Race course. “We executed exactly what we had planned, and exactly as we had practiced in training. It is so nerve-racking – sitting on the start about to race your teammates. It’s been closer in training and it’s sad to beat your teammates [by that much] but I’m happy with what we’ve learned from it.”

OXFORD MEN

The Dark Blue men were absent their President, Tom Mackintosh, who returned to New Zealand for his sister’s wedding. The Olympian promised his teammates he’d do an erg test to make up for it. Mackintosh missed a cracking race, one which the Boat Race newbie would certainly have benefitted from, but it will help his teammates come Boat Race Day.

Off the start Wallace grabbed the initiative, and soon led Gromit by a canvas. Italian Olympian Nicholas Kohl stroked Wallace, whizzing up and down the slides as the greener oarsmen behind him struggled to keep apace. This blended Italian-Oxford rhythm didn’t look entirely stable but proved effective in the early stages of the race. There’s was a fast but rattling train, could they go the distance or were they about to get derailed?

Gromit, by contrast, stroked by American Olympian Nicholas Rusher, who was well-supported by ex-Eton boy Saxon Stacey in the seven seat, possessed a patient smoothness. They used this, along with the first bend, to get back on terms, and then held their own along Crabtree Reach despite underrating the others.

Still it was Wallace’s bows that were first through Hammersmith Bridge. Kohl continued to drive his crew on, and Wallace extended their lead further, almost breaking free of Gromit, but true to form the namesake of the Lancastrian inventor was outwitted by his canine companion. Gromit shifted gears in the second half of the race and rowed away to victory.

“Gromit rowed better than us by the Eyot, they did well in that patch of rough water and it allowed them to turn the tide. It was the rough conditions that separated the two crews, the other crew showed their talent,” said Hamish Rimmer, two-seat in Wallace. Could they have done more? “When we had that three-quarters, almost a length lead, at St Paul’s perhaps we could have given it a go, been brave and said let’s just take it now.”

Oxford’s new Men’s Head Coach Mark Fangenhall was pleased with the racing and the effort on show. “It was good to get a race that went that deep, [both crews] almost stroke for stroke at the same rating by the Chiswick Steps. I’m pleased with all eighteen of them. Each crew held their pattern and I thought the coxes did a good job, competitive and aggressive but nothing silly. Everyone should be proud of themselves. They will have learnt heaps.”

CAMBRIDGE MEN

Two days prior to Oxford’s excursion the Light Blues started the week with their Trial Eights. The Cambridge women named themselves after A. A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh characters – Winnie and Eeyore. In so doing they hoped to highlight the mental health issues of disordered eating and depression. While the men, guided by their President, the Classicist Luca Ferraro, took inspiration from Greek mythology: Scylla and Charybdis are sea monsters first found in Homer’s Odyssey.

No monsters lurked beneath Putney Bridge as the Cambridge men prepared to race, but Scylla strokeman Matt Edge – who infamously led Cambridge to victory in 2024 despite flirting with unconsciousness mid-race – might well have been facing some demons of his own.

Seconds after the flag dropped to signal the start of the race the two crews were on course for a clash, if not a collision. Charybdis’ cox James Trotman steered away, which allowed his opposite man, Ollie Boyne, to steal a seat. Boyne’s boys continued to capitalise on the popplely water, rating a pip and a half higher than their opposition, and were nearing a half a length up on Charybdis as the two crews rounded the first bend.

An uneasy stalemate temporarily fell along Crabtree Reach with neither side able to damage the other or shift momentum. Scylla, with a wide-eyed Edge at his completely conscious best, held the enviable position of being almost a length up with the inside of the Surrey bend to come, but for now at least they were unable to break free.

Beyond Hammersmith Scylla began to march, inching away from Charybdis stroke by stroke, as Trotman came under increased pressure from cox Boyne, who tried to push Charybdis wide around the bend while half-heartedly heeding Umpire Sarah Winckless’ warnings. Boyne went to cut across at the apex but averted the manoeuvre after another stern warning from Winckless. Ultimately it made no difference, Scylla strengthened as the water worsened and Charybdis efforts faded before they could utilise their final Middlesex bend.

At the finish Scylla beat Charybdis by two lengths. Afterwards Boyne said: “We were able to keep moving and moving. From Hammersmith on we had some heavy wind to work into but the guys bought-in and pushed on. We moved in front and from that point we were able to dictate the race. It was a good opportunity to learn lessons [for] both the winners and the losers.”

CAMBRIDGE WOMEN

The Light Blue women took to the water a little over an hour before the men. Foreshadowing the race to come, Winnie got the cleanest strokes off the start and immediately heaped pressure on their Surrey-sided opposition, nudging into an early lead. Crowley’s crew had the better bladework and, most likely, the bigger watts as they cut an altogether more co-ordinated path to the Black Buoy, racing past the Putney Embankment.

With their Middlesex bend approaching Winnie enjoyed a third of a length lead over Eeyore, which they further stretched as they rounded Fulham Football Club. Along the Crabtree Reach things went from bad to worse for the stuffed donkey namesakes, and the odds of an Eeyore win dwindled. Claire Collins set a honey-sweet, rhythm for the Winnie rowers to follow and their lead looked secure.

As Hammersmith Bridge beckoned, cox Crowley had free reign to pick her line but she played it safe where others might have pressed home the advantage. “The most courteous coxing I’ve seen in years,” said Olympic Champion and Boat Race winner Grace Prendergast in commentary.

A bewildered Eeyore continued to bash up and down at an effortful 34 strokes a minute, and slumped a touch in the latter stages of the race as the gap grew and the conditions deteriorated. The official margin was given as four lengths in favour of Winnie.

“It was key for my crew to get that lead, hold it, and then keep building our rhythm,” said Crowley after the race, and stressed that the team would continue to improve in the coming months. “I want to work on my steering, where I am on the stream, and thinking about how the river is moving at the moment. That’s the great thing about Trial Eights, you get to race against your friends and find ways to make everybody go faster.”

Matilda Horn, Cambridge’s Assistant Women’s Coach, would have preferred a tighter race but was pleased with the overall squad performance. “The base pace is there, now it’s about fine-tuning the edges.”

It wasn’t just the rowers who were getting to grips with the Championship Course. Umpire Matthew Pinsent said Trial Eights helped, “the officials dust off the flags and reacquaint ourselves with what’s about to happen.” He added, “The coxes were very responsive… the warnings were quite isolated and short. On Boat Race Day it could be different.”

Bring it on.