Nick Ryan and Matt Hudson

On Sunday, Matt Hudson (2019, Ancient & Modern History) (6) and Nick Ryan (2018, MMaths) (3) competed in Oxford’s Blue Boat for the Lightweight Boat Race. Matt is also Oxford University Lightweight Rowing Club President for 2021-22 while Nick was Vice President of OULRC for 2020-2021.

The Lightweight Boat Race was founded in 1975 by Richard Bates of St. John’s College, Cambridge and was raced over 2000 meters in Henley-on-Thames until 2018. In 2019, for the first time, the race was held on the Tideway in London over the same Championship Course as the open weight University Boat Races. On Sunday, in spite of the Oxford boat’s valiant effort, Cambridge won for the first time in three years.

Nick was part of the winning Blue Boat in 2019, 2020 and 2021, while Matt stroked Nephthys 2 in 2021. Last year, Nick clinched bronze on the line in the Championship Lightweight 1x, just 0.7 seconds behind second place and the same margin ahead of fourth. Matt also rowed excellently, making the A final among very competitive opposition. Nick joined the Championship Lightweight 4 only an hour after his 1x final, taking silver. Nick and Matt also achieved fourth place together in a lightweight pair boat on Day 3 of BUCS 2021.

You can watch the live stream of the Boat Race on the Lightweight Boat Race website.

Published: 24 March 2022

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