The international racing season is in full flow… that means that future, past and present Boat Race athletes are competing world wide. For example you can catch up on alumni results from the European Championships here.

Further afield, over in the US, it’s been a busy few weeks in the collegiate rowing system. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Women’s regatta was held on the 26th-28th May 2023 and Intercollegiate Rowing Association Regatta Men’s and Lightweight regatta from the 2nd to the 4th June.

The NCAA is comparable to BUCS is in the UK, helps to run and legislate all College sport in North America. The organisation also administers the Women’s Championship Rowing. The Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA’s) regatta, held since 1895, includes Men’s and Men’s and Women’s Lightweight categories.

Like The Boat Race, these events draw huge crowds and provide a fantastic way for alumni to reconnect with each other. For Oxford Blue and Boat Race Company Board Member Sara Kushma, the NCAA’s offered a great opportunity to catch up with her fellow Princeton alumni:

“The NCAAs brought back a lot of fond memories: the pre-race nerves, the hard racing, the thrill of chasing a championship, and ultimately the trust you have to put into yourself and your teammates that it all comes together on each day.

This year, as a spectator, it was incredibly fun, and nerve-wracking, to watch the racing. I felt so proud of my alma mater and the other teams for laying it all out there. There were some incredible results by teams that had potentially been underestimated during the regular season.

I already can’t wait to see what happens next year, what surprises might be in store, and perhaps who might be making their way across the Atlantic to try for a seat, and perhaps even a win, in The Boat Race.

Awarded Men’s Coach of the Year for the second time in a row, Oxford alum Scott Fransden’s California crew took the opportunity to demonstrate their might at IRA’s. They dominated a formidable field to take home back-to-back National Championship titles, despite a fierce challenge from Washington in the third 500m.

Watch that gripping final here.

We can’t wait until the 2024 squads are announced to learn if any of these amazing athletes will have chosen Oxford or Cambridge to continue their studies and high performance rowing.