Water thicker than blood for Boat Race twins
History could be made if talented 25-year-olds make the cut to strike out for opposing varsity crews
ASK Gemma King who is going to win the 78th women’s University Boat Race next month and she is unequivocal that it will be her team, Cambridge – but ask her identical twin sister Catherine the same question and her response is somewhat different: “I’ll have to say Oxford, definitely”.
On March 30, the 25-year-olds could become the first twins – male or female – ever to row on opposite sides in the great race.
Twins have rowed on the same side before, for example the Winklevoss brothers, who represented Oxford in 2010 and whose crypto currency firm – Gemini – is providing appropriately named sponsorship for this year’s race.
But if the King sisters are on their respective team sheets when the crews are announced on March 13, this could be a familial feud of a new order.
“Actually, I’m not sure it will make much difference,” says Catherine, who is studying for a PHD in cardiovascular research at Balliol College.
“We’ve always been really competitive with each other. Even when we were in the same crew, we were forever comparing times.”
Her sister agrees.
“When we rowed as a pair we were known to have disagreements,” says Gemma, who is researching blood platelets at St John’s.
“Let’s just say being twins we are open to being honest with each other. It’s called sibling rivalry. For us it would be just another competition.”
Though it won’t be quite like that for their parents. Liz, a chiropodist, and her husband, Mike, have been watching their twins intently since they first picked up an oar as 12-year-olds at Lady Eleanor Holles School in Surrey, just down the Thames from Hampton School where Mike is the bursar.
Rowing was, for two sporty young girls, love almost at first sight. Though for their parents it represented a significant commitment.
“From the start, our parents were our taxi drivers, therapists and biggest supporters,” says Catherine. “It was a huge thing for them. There were weekend competitions, there was rowing training almost every night. They were renowned everywhere we went as insanely supportive, the keenest parents, there at every race.”
The Kings followed their daughters as they progressed to Cambridge University, where both studied natural sciences, Gemma at St John’s, Catherine at Gonville and Caius.
“Initially [when] we first went up to Cambridge we were in the lightweight crew because of our size, we’re not that big,” says Gemma.
“We’d always spent so much time together, but we went to different colleges and had pretty separate lives. We came together for the rowing.”
Despite their stature, they were sufficiently talented to be selected for the Blondie boat, the women’s second eight, at the 2020 Boat Race. To their huge disappointment, the event was cancelled because of Covid. But they were back the following year, albeit when it was raced under lockdown at Ely, in front of a very limited crowd.
“We were allowed two supporters each, so it was obvious who was coming – yes our parents were there,” says Catherine. “But it was a very odd setting.”
Fortunately for the Kings, their daughters were selected for the Blondie crew the following year when the race returned to Putney. With Gemma in the second seat and Catherine at number four, they won by a record distance. It was a proud family moment.
But then, in mid-2022, Catherine slipped two discs in her back and required surgery and rowing took a back seat as Gemma established herself in Cambridge’s team, this year taking up the bow seat in the first eight.
Finally, their chances of rowing together in the same university boat ended in the summer of 2023 with Catherine’s decision to move to the dark (blue) side.
“I looked at doing post-grad research at various universities and thought Oxford looked interesting,” she says.
So, she headed west and, with her back mended, was finally able to return to the water in January.
She has been rowing in Oxford’s second women’s eight most of the year, but is hoping for promotion by the time the squads are announced.
She is particularly glad to be back as the British Heart Foundation, which funds her research, is the race’s official partner charity.
‘We’ve always been competitive with each other. Even when we were in the same crew, we were forever comparing times’