Boat Race 2021: Split loyalties add extra edge to women's race

Megan Stoker (left) says the Oxford team had to do three months of solo land training before being allowed to form an elite sport bio-bubble

There is no doubting that Megan Stoker and Anouschka Fenley will be going all out to ensure their opposing universities triumph in the 75th women's Boat Race on Sunday.

However, both admit to having some loyalty to the city of their arch-rivals.

Because while Cambridge law student Fenley is from Oxford, Stoker - studying women's and reproductive health at Oxford, hails from Cambridgeshire.

"I'm really fortunate that my family were going to support me whichever team I was on," Fenley told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.

"Pardon the pun but I think blood is thicker than water.

"There's always jokes here and there but I guess generally everyone's really supportive of me pursuing the degree and representing Cambridge."

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For Peterborough's Stoker, rowing against her home county for Oxford was made easier as her dad also went to the university, though she still gets some light-hearted remarks.

"Sometimes people at home are like 'traitor, you've gone to the wrong side' but I'm very much an Oxford person and always wanted to be a dark blue," she said.

Asked if she feels divided, Stoker added: "I do yes, especially because I've rowed on the Cambridge river before as a junior and I'm locally a Cambridge girl."

Rare home advantage for Cambridge

It was announced in November that the 2021 men's and women's Boat Race would be staged on the Great Ouse at Ely, in Cambridgeshire, for the first time since World War Two.

A combination of coronavirus restrictions - which mean the race will be held without spectators - and uncertainty over the safety of Hammersmith Bridge on the usual River Thames course have led to the move.

The eight-strong crews will compete over a shorter three-mile stretch, with Cambridge looking to win their third straight men's and women's races on water, with the 2020 race held virtually.

Fenley was recruited to row for the University of Washington, in Seattle, before starting at Cambridge

Cambridge have been training on the Ely course, which Fenley says "has a lot fewer bends" than the usual London route.

"I think it being at home is an advantage - it's really awesome to be on our race course - but ultimately I think the quickest crew on the day is going to win.

"Despite having that slight advantage I don't think ultimately it will effect the result."

Both Stoker and Fenley will feature in the main race for the first time. But while Stoker is in her first year at Oxford, her opposite number has been made to wait, having been named in the reserve crew in 2019 before being selected for last year's race which was cancelled because of Covid-19.

Stoker says the race being held in enemy territory was a "major concern" at first but is now not seen as such a big deal.

"At the end of the day it's just about the two crews, which rows faster, and while they may have a home advantage as such we still have the adrenalin of going somewhere new and getting the race day vibes, so I think that'll work for us as well.

"It's quite secretive what Cambridge get up to, so we never really know what the differences are."

Megan Stoker and Anouschka Fenley were speaking to BBC Radio Cambridgeshire's Ellen Ellard.