Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Prentice joins CUBC training

On Thursday 27 November, the Club was delighted to welcome Cambridge Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Prentice to Ely Boathouse. This was the second visit for Professor Prentice, having first visited in the depths of winter training in February 2024.

During her last visit, she followed women’s training, so this year it was the turn of the men. Professor Prentice joined CUBC Chief Men’s Coach Rob Baker on the launch for a blustery outing along the Great Ouse.

Following training, she shared: “It was fantastic seeing the dedication that these students show – they’re excelling in two things at once, right? Because they are amazing academics but also sportspeople.

“They come out here at five in the morning – it’s great to be able to appreciate that and cheer them on. And of course it’s great for Cambridge to have this institution of the Boat Club, it’s a very important part of the University.”

The Vice-Chancellor also met the Club’s new Chair, Stephen Peel OLY, who was recently elected to succeed Annamarie Phelps CBE OLY following the completion of her term. He said it was a pleasure for the Boat Club to host the visit. “The University and the Boat Club brands and identities are inextricably linked, and we all recognise that,” he said. “Having the Vice-Chancellor down here to visit training exemplifies that and so it is hugely important.”

The next key milestone for the student athletes is Trial VIIIs, a dress rehearsal for The Boat Race where evenly matched CUBC crews row the full Championship Course for the first and only time before the race itself on Easter weekend, 3-4 April 2026.

Image credits: Nick Saffell