This week saw the formal announcement of the Oxford and Cambridge Reserve crews. Isis and Osiris for Oxford and Goldie and Blondie for Cambridge. Often the reserve races are more exciting than the Blue Boats, so I thought I would have a brief look at the crews.

First of all the women’s race, Osiris v Blondie

Blondie are the defending champions having won last year by 13 lengths. This year they have a crew that looks stronger than some Blue Boats. Leading the way is the Cambridge President, Daphne Martschenko sitting in the 5 seat. The Stanford graduate was a Blue in both 2016 and 2017 with one win and one loss. She’s also represented the US at the U23 World Championships in 2012 and 2014. The other standout member of the crew is Germany’s Anne Beenken. When I first looked at the prospective squads last autumn I felt that she was a very strong contender for a seat in the Blue Boat. She won the JW1X World Championships in 2011 and 2012 and went on to win a medal at U23 level in 2014 and also represented Germany in the W1X at the Senior World Championships. It’s a mark of the strength in depth of the Cambridge squad that a senior international is “only” in the reserves.

The crew also includes a couple of athletes with US Collegiate rowing experience, Larkin Sayre is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and was a member of their Varsity 8 that finished 3rd at the Patriot League Championships. The 2nd crew member with US experience is Laura Foster, she raced in the 2nd Varsity boat at Michigan. At stroke and bow are two Brits who raced together at the 1st GB National team assessment finishing a strong 6th, Amelia Perrin and Pippa Dakin. The final 2 members of the crew are Lucy Pike, who was a member of the winning Blondie crews of 2016 and 2017, and Putney High School alumni Emma Andrews.

Oxford’s reserves, Osiris, are much less experienced than their Light Blue rivals. The most experienced member of the crew is coxswain Eleanor Shearer who steered last year’s Blue Boat. Sitting in the 2 seat is Rachel Anderson who was a member of the Lightweight Blue Boat in 2017 and now moves up to the openweight squad. The crew also includes New Zealander Sarah Payne-Riches, who, at 41, becomes the oldest ever competitor in the Boat Race (men’s or women’s). She’s reading for a DPhil in Primary Care Health Sciences and is no stranger to the Tideway having previously studied at Imperial College. The crew contains one US athlete, Maddy Goss, the Texas University graduate stroked the 2nd Varsity 4+ to victory at the 2017 Big 12 Championships. The Osiris crew is a testament to the Oxford policy of identifying and developing talent. A number of the crew have come through the development squad or only started rowing at Oxford.

Blondie definitely look to have the edge on paper, they have competed publically a number of times (most recently at the women’s Head of the River where they finished a strong 8th. They are also a feisty crew, in a recent battle-paddle against the Blue Boat they were not averse to clashing and giving their top boat a hard time. For my money this has the makings of an easy win for the Light Blues.

Now onto the men’s reserves, Isis and Goldie.

There’s been a certain amount of drama in the Oxford camp this week with the news that two-time Blue Josh Bugajski was being replaced by Benedict Aldous from Isis. Rumours abound as to the cause of this change. The official statement was that this was done due to illness. However, Bugajski has clearly recovered from his illness as he was well enough to attend the GB 2K erg trial this week where he’s reported to have posted a sub-5:50 2K….Reading between the lines it would appear that Bugajski was ill and was replaced by Aldous but upon his return to fitness he was told he would be in Isis and refused. Another, more scurrilous, rumour is that he lost his seat for “disciplinary reasons”. The man himself has, so far, stayed silent on the issue, we will probably have to wait until after the race to hear the full story.

What this means is that, not only is the Blue Boat swapped around, but so is Isis. The crew is stroked by Tom Commins who also stroked the winning Isis boat in 2016. He’s backed up by teenage world junior medallist, Luke Robinson with Ben Bathurst at 6. Bathurst rowed for GB at the World University Championships in 2010. Nick Elkington of KCS Wimbledon is at 5 with former junior international Alex Whythe at 4 (he steps up from the spare pair to replace Aldous). At 3 is the most experienced member of the crew, American Chris Wales, He was a member of the Harvard Lightweight 2nd Varsity crew and represented the USA at the U23 World Championships in 2014. In the bows are Charlie Buchanan who raced for GB at the Coupe de La Juenesse and Italian Jonathan Ezio Olandi at bow.

Goldie are stroked by Piers Kasas who is set to make his 3rd appearance in the reserves having raced in 2015 and 2016. He’s backed up in the 7 seat by callum Sullivan, another athlete who has raced for GB at the Coupe de La Juenesse. At 6 is the only foreign athlete in the Goldie boat, the 6ft 7 American Gerard Kuenning. The Yale graduate was a member of the Bulldogs 2V crew that finished 8th at the Eastern Sprints. At 5 is Tom Strudwick, a member of the 2017 Goldie crew and European U23 silver medallist. Behind Strudwick is another athlete set to make his 3rd appearance for the reserves, Peter Rees. At 4 is the oldest athlete in the men’s reserves race, 31 year old Dave Bell. The Molesey stalwart has competed in the Diamonds at Henley and has numerous wins at the major domestic regattas, he’s also trialled for the GB team with a best performance of 4th at the 2016 February assessment. At 2 is 20 year old Reggie Mitchell who was selected for the GB junior team but missed out due to injury. Finally at bow is 19 year old Robert Harris from Abingdon School.

Isis have won 9 of the last 10 reserve races (Goldie’s sole win coming in 2010). But, this year Goldie definitely look to have the stronger boat, and with Isis’s preparations being upset with the loss of their strongest crew member to the Blue Boat, their task just became even more difficult. I’ve a feeling Steve Trapmore will finish his career as Chief Coach at Cambridge with a win for both his Blue Boat and Goldie.