By Martin Cross
The Thames is full of surprises and during the official crew-naming ceremony for the 2026 CHANEL J12 Boat Race, the river showed its teeth.
It was whipped up by a cold, blustery southwesterly wind that froze the couple of hundred spectators to the marrow. Some thought it an omen for the conditions the athletes might expect on Boat Race Day. But rough or smooth, pretty much anything can happen—and has—during that iconic race.
So, in the beautiful surrounds of Somerset House, in the heart of London, the 36 athletes who will do battle on April 4 were introduced to the world’s media.
With the contest just over three weeks away, each rower and cox took the opportunity to shake hands and be photographed with his or her opposite number. There were smiles and warm handshakes, but all that will be forgotten, of course, when they line up on the Putney-to-Mortlake championship course. The introductions were choreographed beautifully by Britain’s go-to TV sports anchor, Clare Balding, who will host the race itself for the event’s new broadcaster, Channel 4 TV.
By mid-afternoon, when the dust had settled, the sense was that the Cambridge men remain very strong favorites to win their fourth race in a row, while the Dark Blue women are marginal favorites to overturn an eight-year losing streak.
The Oxford men, under coach Mark Fangen-Hall, are improving and will head straight off from Somerset House to Amsterdam to race in the Heineken Cup this weekend, as will the Dark Blue women. But on the championship course, the men will face a Cambridge squad that—if the rumors are to be believed—might be the fastest ever Light Blue crew to take to the water. Coach Rob Baker claimed that he had oarsmen in his 3V that in any normal year would get into the Blue boat.
The Light Blue women have improved their speed significantly since Oxford beat them on the Charles by over 20 seconds. That much is evidenced by their victory over a Leander crew that had bettered them earlier in the season. But Dark Blue Coach Alan French has kept his lineup unchanged for most of the fixture season, and his stern-four combination, three of whom went to school in the U.S., are a formidable unit.
Echoes of U.S. influence on the race were in evidence everywhere today. Would you believe that work on building the Palladian-style location was begun in 1776—the same year the 13 colonies declared their independence? Out of the 36 rowers named, 11 are from the USA.
Almost half of both the men’s and women’s Cambridge crews are Americans. Camille VanderMeer’s name stands out among the Light Blue women. The 2025 fours world champion hails from Elmira, N.Y., and is a graduate of Princeton. She will hold down the key six-seat of the Cambridge boat behind the German, Mia Freischem, and fellow American stroke woman, Aidan Wrenn-Walz.
For the Light Blue men, William Klipstine, a walk-on for the Wisconsin Badgers, brings length and poise to the seven-seat. He’s part of a super impressive stern-four combination led by German Olympian Fred Breuer. The boat is coxed ably by Virginian Sammy Houdaigui. Originally from the Big Green, the U23 medalist steers a great line and likes to throw in an aggressive maneuver or two.
The Oxford women’s lineup contains two Americans. Julietta Camahort learned her rowing at Marin Rowing Association in California. Her gold medal in the world junior championships took her to the Stanford Cardinal, where she excelled and won U23 honors. Lightweight Emily Molins also went to Stanford, where the Illinoisan had a distinguished career. Both these women will row in the bow four of the Dark Blue boat.
It’s striking that the Oxford men have only one American: James Fetter, another Cardinal graduate, from Palo Alto. But scratch the surface, and both of Oxford’s stern pair—British star Harry Geffen and Aussie Alex Sullivan—rowed in the States, Geffen in the 1V at Yale and Sullivan in the 2V at Harvard.
It runs the same in the Cambridge men’s crew, where Breuer won the 2023 IRAs with the University of California, Berkeley, and Brit Gabe Obholzer took a silver at the IRAs in 2025 with Harvard. Though Obholzer is British, he speaks with an American accent—thanks to living with Klipstine, and Kyle Fram of Lawrenceville, N.J.
All three of these men who share an apartment have represented their countries at major international championships. The same could not be said for Oxford’s four-man, 19-year-old Scot Fergus Pim. His stroke man, Geffen, described him as “pretty much a walk-on this season.” He was discovered at a fresher’s fair after he pulled a 14-second 100 meters on the Concept2. Pim’s dad won The Boat Race in 1997, so there is history. By contrast, Cambridge’s 18-year-old wunderkind, also in the four- seat, is Pat Wild, who took a world-junior gold in the pair last year.
What’s left before race day are fixtures for both Cambridge crews against strong opposition. The fixture between the Leander men and Cambridge should be spectacular, with the might of Britain’s international rowers expected to sit in the former crew. Oxford’s women also will race Leander.
Depending on the results of those contests, the coaches might fine-tune their line-ups. The rowers know their seats are never really safe.
2026 Channel J12 Boat Race crews, with nationality and U.S. university
*Denotes Blue rower
Oxford Men
Tobias Bernard*, joint UK/FRA
Stroke Harry Geffen, UK, Yale
7 Alex Sullivan, AUS, Harvard
6 Jamie Arnold, AUS, Cal
5 Alex Underwood, UK
4 Fergus Pim, UK
3 James Fetter, USA, Stanford
2 Julian Schoeberl, AUT
Bow Felix Crabtree, UK
Cambridge Men
Cox Sammy Houdaigui, USA, Dartmouth
Stroke Fred Breuer, GER, Cal
7 William Klipstine, USA, Wisconsin
6 Alexander ‘Lexi’ Mclean, Joint AUS/UK, Yale
5 ‘Gabe’ Obholzer, UK, Harvard
4 Pat Wild, UK
3 Kyle Fram, USA, Columbia
2 Noam Mouelle*, FRA
Bow Simon Hatcher*, USA, Brown
Oxford Women
Cox Louis Corrigan, UK
Stroke Heidi Long *,UK, Virginia
7 Sarah Marshall*, UK
6 Esther Briz Zamorano,ESP, Stanford
5 Kyra Delray*, UK, UCLA
4 Julietta Camahort, USA, Stanford
3 Lilli Freischem*, GER
2 Emily Molins, USA, Stanford
Bow Annie Anezakis*, AUS, Princeton
Cambridge Women
Cox Matt Moran, UK
Stroke Aidan Wrenn-Walz, USA, Harvard
7 Mia Freischem, GER
6 Camille VanderMeer, USA, Princeton
5 Antonia Galland, GER
4 Carys Earle *, UK
3 Charlotte Ebel, joint USA/GER, Syracuse
2 Isobel Campbell, USA, Cal
Bow Gemma King*, UK
