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.
