Cambridge 105 Radio - 2024 Boat Race - Jenna Armstrong

Jenna is excited and hopeful about the upcoming boat race. The team's preparation is going well, with a good mix of experienced and new athletes. Seven out of nine rowers have previously competed for CBC. They expect a strong challenge from the opposition and are focused on their own strategy. The women's team has had challenging races to improve their performance. Jenna's advice to the crew is to enjoy the process and not get caught up in pressure. Last year, they won by a large margin and they aim to repeat their success this year. They are currently in London for a training camp to focus on the race. So Jenna, a few months ago, we were reminiscing about the 2023 boat race, where it was a clean sweep for all the crews. You must be buzzing to do it all again this year. Yeah, I am really excited. I think last year was an absolute ideal. I mean, you couldn't get any better than a clean sweep. And I, yeah, of course, I'm kind of excited and hopeful that we can do that again. And how's the preparation going for this year's race? Really well. We've had kind of a really amazing season so far, and I think now we're kind of just in those final stages of just putting finishing touches on things, making sure that, you know, we've really got a good established rhythm and just making sure that we feel confident going into the races that we can lay down, you know, the best performance possible. I want to ask you about the crews for this year as well. Talk me through the squad. Are there any sort of returnees, any new people involved? What's the kind of selection process been like for this year? Yeah, it's been a really nice mixture of athletes. So we've had two athletes coming over from America. One was a Cox and one was a rower or is a rower. We have three returning Blues. We've got, oh gosh, probably nine or eight returning Blondie members from various years. We've got two athletes from the lightweight squad that are transitioning over to the open weight squad this year. We've got one athlete from Brooks. We've got one athlete from Oxford. So it's been kind of a nice mixture of athletes, both kind of new faces, but with plenty of experience mixed kind of with the old faces and the returners from CBC. And how many people are returnees from last year? Because I think I've got five in their crew this year. So in our Blue Boat this year, we've got two returning Blues and then we've got five athletes from Blondie last year who were then kind of stepping off into the Blue Boat. So actually seven out of the nine of us have rowed for CBC in the past, either in the Blue Boat or in the reserve crew. And in terms of the opposition, there are obviously two teams in the Oxford Cambridge Boat Race, and they obviously were swept aside last year. A clean sweep in all the races. Do you think they're going to be fired up more than usual for this year's event? Yeah, we're going into this season definitely kind of expecting a big challenge from them, for sure. I mean, I think nothing kind of lights a fire under you than defeat. And so we're absolutely expecting kind of a big push being mounted from the other side. And how do you think they'll approach it? Oh, gosh. I mean, it's kind of hard to know exactly like what their strategy is going to be. I think especially they've got a new head coach. And so there is quite a few unknowns. To be honest, I don't tend to think much about them simply because kind of their strategy and their approach doesn't change what we do. So I don't really give them, to be honest, much head space. In terms of the preparations as well, the men have taken part in a few races in the run up to the boat race. Do the women's team do exactly the same thing? And if so, how have they got on? Yeah, so we have a very similar program for our men's side. So we've had three fixtures, one against the Dutch national team, one against Oxford Brookes, and then one against Thames Rowing Club. We've also raced in the women's head of the river two weeks ago. So it's just a head race. And so it's not kind of a side by side. It's just, you know, full length of the course just to kind of lay down the time. And again, so far, so good. I mean, they've been each one of those fixtures has been kind of challenging. And that's intentional. We try and race crews that are unbelievably fast because we believe that that kind of makes us go faster. And those challenges, you know, you learn way more from a fixture when it is hard or when you may not win, you know, a fixture or you may be down and have to walk back on a crew or something like that. So the preparation has been incredible with those this year. I mean, they've been really well matched races. They've been races where we've been put under a lot of pressure. And I think we've learned from every single one of those pieces, every single fixture, we've learned a little bit along the way. Now, in terms of being the president, what words of wisdom have you got for your crew? Because I remember last time you were saying that you had a motto, which I think was to to to something like that. Yeah. You know, I think for me, I always try and just remind the athletes that, you know, this is fun. And that doesn't diminish from the seriousness of what we're doing. But it is just unbelievably important that they kind of enjoy, enjoy the process, enjoy the fact that we're rowing together, enjoy the project that we get to be involved with, because this is really, truly a special thing. And, you know, only eight women on the Cambridge side and I guess eight on the Oxford side, you know, get to get to do this every year. So it's kind of a small select group. And I think it's really easy to kind of get caught up in the pressure and get caught up in the media and get caught up in all these other things that are kind of going on. And I think the most important thing for me is that all of us walk away and look back on the season kind of fondly, regardless of the outcome. You know, I want them to go out there and just enjoy every row and enjoy the time that we have together. And of course, in last year's race, you won it by a considerable margin. It was over four lengths, wasn't it? If I remember correctly. Yeah, it was quite a substantial margin. I mean, the race was pretty close up until that Hammersmith Bridge. And then once we kind of broke free, that was, you know, we just kept putting more and more distance between us. So, yeah, it was a pretty big margin. And of course, last year you completed the clean sweep. Is that something that you've got your sights set on this year? And is it doable? I mean, gosh, yeah, I mean, I would love to think more than to kind of repeat that. I mean, that was incredible for for everyone involved. And so, I mean, yeah, I mean, I'd love kind of nothing more than than to repeat that. I definitely think it's possible. I definitely think it's doable. And and from what I've seen on both the men's and the women's side, I mean, the boats have been moving unbelievably well. So, I mean, I definitely think it's a it's a real possibility. OK, well, we wish you good luck with the rest of the preparations. I believe you've got a training camp at the moment that you're doing at the moment in London. Yeah. So we're all in London. We moved down a couple of days ago. And so we're here about 10 days or so before the race. And that's just to kind of get us nice and isolated, get us used to sleeping in new beds, get us used to kind of sharing a house together and just kind of give us the headspace and the environment to really just focus in on the race and kind of block out everything else. OK, well, like I say, Jenna, I wish you very good luck with the preparations for the race, which is next Saturday, the 30th of March on Easter Saturday itself. Very best of luck. Perfect. Thank you so much for having me.