Jesus student victorious in 2021 Reserve Race

Congratulations to undergraduate student Elena von Mueller (2019), a member of the winning University of Cambridge women’s reserve crew in the 2021 Gemini Boat Race.

Elena is studying for a Master’s in Engineering, and was previously in contention for the women’s reserve crew for the cancelled 2020 Boat Race. The Cambridge women’s reserve boat, Blondie, beat Oxford’s Osiris by seven lengths on the River Great Ouse on Sunday 25 April. Their fourth consecutive victory takes Cambridge’s wins to 29, with Oxford on 20.

Elena said: “'A major part of the season was spent training individually, on land – not ideal when you’re competing in a team water sport. It was great to be back in boats in April as restrictions eased. The entire crew was super excited to be racing, and the weeks leading up to the race were quite intense. We were trying to cram a season’s worth of rowing into only three weeks. 

Being able to race on home water comes with pros and cons. We were familiar with every patch of reeds, and certainly feistier to win on our river. But I found it was harder than usual to get myself into racing mode, and it took me several hundred metres into the race to realise that this was it!”

It was a clean sweep for all four Light Blue crews this year, with both Cambridge crews victorious in the Boat Race on Sunday 4 April. The Cambridge men’s reserve crew (Goldie) beat Oxford (Isis) by six lengths, taking their total wins to 32 versus Oxford’s 24.

Find out more about the 2021 Boat Race, with results from all crews, on the official website.