Next month’s edition of the annual men’s regatta between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge will feature French captains for the first time in the rowing event’s long history.
When the two boats head to the River Thames in London on April 4, three-time defending champion Noam Mouelle will lead the Cambridge Light Blues against the Oxford Dark Blues captained by Tobias Bernard, a Londoner born to a French father and a French-American mother.
“Like Noam said, it’s a fun, fun fact,” Bernard, 23, who studies chemistry at Oxford, said on the sidelines of the team announcements.
Mouelle, 24, said the nationality of the two captains meant little at an event that was first held in 1829.
“The good thing is that it shows that it doesn’t matter where you come from or what you did before, as long as you commit 100 percent to the project, the training programs and the culture of the club, nothing changes,” he said.
Mouelle, a PhD student in physics at Cambridge, took his first swings at the age of nine at his local club in Le Perreux-sur-Marne, outside Paris, and represented France at world championships up to under-23 level.
He said he chose Cambridge to combine research with his love of rowing.
“The regatta has always been in my imagination,” he said. “It’s a very publicized event in rowing, there are a lot of videos on YouTube, sometimes you see it on television.
“After that, it is true that when I lived in France it was difficult to imagine that one day I would be part of this world; it is curious that I am here and that I am even the ‘president’ of the club,” he said, using the term Boat Race to refer to the captain.
The role involves finding the coaches, selecting the team and choosing the boat, as well as designing the training programme.
“You have to know how to support your other teammates, motivate them and also communicate with the coach to know how the team feels,” Bernard said.
He has vivid memories of making his debut in the race last year, despite Oxford’s loss to Cambridge.
“It’s like being in a stadium seven kilometers long, the atmosphere is incredible,” he said.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
