A York rower is taking part in the world’s most famous boat race.
Lucy Edmunds, 24, is part of the Oxford Women’s Crew which will be taking on Cambridge in this year’s Boat Race on Saturday (30 March).
Lucy is following in the footsteps of her great-grandmother, Lucy Bristowe, who was part of the Oxford Women’s Crew in 1934. That year they beat Cambridge and Lucy is hoping to match her great-grandmother’s achievement.
A former pupil of Huntington School and a resident of Haxby, Lucy, who is currently studying for a masters in history at Pembroke College, Oxford, began rowing when she was a 14-year-old with York City Rowing Club with Junior Coach, Phil Jones.
She has represented GB five times, with the highlight being the World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Sarasota, Florida, in 2019, where she won a silver medal in the Women’s Eight.
Lucy graduated from Yale University in the USA last year, with a double major in history and political science, and where she was part of the highly successful Yale Women’s Crew, rowing in the Varsity Eight throughout her four years there.
In 2021, she had a double sculls boat named after her by hometown club York City Rowing Club in recognition of her achievements in the sport and helping to raise the profile of the club.
After winning many regional regattas, her first major success at national level was winning bronze in a single scull at the British Rowing National Junior Championships in 2015 at Strathclyde.
Sportsperson of the year
Lucy’s other GB call-ups began with the European Coupe de la Jeunesse in Poland in 2016, winning a silver medal in a quad, and she went on to represent GB at competitions in 2017 in Munich and at the European Junior Championships in Krefeld, Germany, and finally that year competed at the World Junior Championships in Lithuania in a quad, finishing fourth.
In 2017, she was made an honorary life member of York City Rowing Club in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the club.
She was the Active York Young Female Sportsperson of the Year for 2017 and 2018 and was named the Active York Sportswoman of the Year in 2022.
She has been a finalist at Henley Royal Regatta in the women’s elite fours competition, rowing for Leander Club.
The Oxford University Boat Club Women’s Blue Boat:
— The Boat Race (@theboatrace) March 14, 2024
Cox – Joe Gellett
Stroke – Annie Anezakis
Seven – Lucy Edmunds
Six – Annie Sharp
Five – Julia Lindsay
Four – Claire Aitken
Three – Tess Haining
Two – Ella Stadler (President)
Bow – Sarah Marshall pic.twitter.com/l33SyyWY8d
Last year Lucy competed in the Yale Varsity Eight at the Ivy League Championships in New Jersey, winning a bronze medal, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s national championships in Philadelphia.
She also competed in a pair at Henley Royal Regatta for Yale where she was knocked out in the semi-finals by the eventual winners who were both former Olympic champions.
“This Oxford crew has some fantastic athletes in it and we have worked incredibly hard since we came together last year,” Lucy said.
“I know we have a good chance this year and it would be incredible to emulate what my great-grandmother did all those years ago.”
Two other rowers from York feature in the Oxford reserve crews this year. Freddy Orpin, who was a junior at York City Rowing Club, is in the Men’s Reserve Boat. He was in the Oxford Blue Boat which was beaten by Cambridge last year.
Phoebe Mountain, who is from York and learned to row whilst at Oxford, is in the Women’s Reserve Boat.