A chance of a lifetime has been offered to a Swanage man, who’s been picked to represent Oxford University in the Lightweight Men’s Boat Race – part of the official Boat Race weekend – against an eight man crew from Cambridge University.
Oscar Williams, who’s 23 and went to The Purbeck School in Wareham, decided to try his hand at rowing when he started studying Biochemistry at Oxford University and will now be racing in the Lightweight Men’s Boat Race along the River Thames on Saturday 12th April 2025.
Oscar Williams (far left) with the 2025 Lightweight Men’s Boat Race crew
Chance to compete
The race, which is scheduled to start at 1.45 pm, is the day before the famous University Boat Race and as the name suggests features a lighter weight crew.
For the men’s race, the average weight of the crew must not exceed 70 kilograms (11 stone 0.3 pounds), with no rower weighing more than 72.5 kilograms (11 stone 5.8 pounds).
This means that regular university students can get more of a chance to compete, as opposed to the main openweight boat race, where international athletes are often drafted in to bolster the crews.
Oscar gets his first taste of rowing in 2003 on Swanage’s seafront
Grew up in Swanage
Oscar grew up in Swanage and went to St Mary’s Catholic primary school before moving on to The Purbeck School. Despite living by the sea, he only took up rowing when he was offered a place at Corpus Christi College, part of Oxford University in 2020.
Oscar said:
“I think I went to one Swanage Sea Rowing session when I was about 11 or 12 years old but didn’t continue.
“However when I knew I was going to Oxford, I knew I was going to give rowing a go – it’s one of the things the university is best known for!
“I joined my college’s rowing club but it was 2020 and everything was online because of the pandemic, so I trained at home in Swanage and just Zoomed in.
“The following year I took a year off – I was struggling with anxiety – and gave myself the task of getting fit enough to trial for the university team.”
Oscar (centre) spent part of his year off with the Swanage Sea Rowing Club at the Isles of Scilly World Pilot Gig Rowing Championships
Oscar captained the Swanage Men’s A team on the Scilly Isles
Rowing runs in the family
During Oscar’s year off he joined the Swanage Sea Rowing Club and was the men’s A captain at the Isles of Scilly World Pilot Gig Rowing Championships, with the team coming an amazing 29th in the world.
He also rowed with the Studland-based Coastal Barbarians club picking up more medals.
During this time he discovered that his father Steve Williams, who is a volunteer crew member of Swanage RNLI, was a founder member of the Swanage Sea Rowing Club, although he’d stopped rowing by the time Oscar became interested in the sport.
His mother was a rower too and has recently started taking up the sport again.
Oscar’s twin brother Felix, volunteers for the Swanage RNLI crew and works for the luxury boat builder Sunseeker in Poole, so boats are definitely a family theme.
Picking up more medals, Oscar (far left) with the Coastal Barbarians
Last chance to make the crew
Oscar said:
“I got fitter and did more training and when I returned to college I knew 2023 was a make or break year. In 2024 I made it into the reserves for the lightweight boat race but I didn’t give up.
“This year is my last at the university as I complete my Masters in Biochemistry, so if I wanted to make the crew, this was my last chance.
“The last few weeks were stressful not knowing whether I would squeeze into the team or not. Then during a break in a training session at the end of March, we all sat nervously waiting to hear the news.
“Harry, our coach, came in and he started reading out the names. I was very nervous as I knew that if I’d got a place in the boat I would be one of the last names to be read out.
“When he said my name, I was ecstatic. It was the culmination of three years of hard work. I’m one of only a few state educated people who have made it into the university team and some of the others who were privately educated have been rowing for years.
“It was, of course, bittersweet as some of my team mates, including one of my housemates, didn’t get picked.”
The Swanage Carnival Wheelbarrow Race in 2023 sees Oscar (pushing the wheelbarrow) refine his competitive edge!
“Bit of a whirlwind”
Having won his place through ability and determination, Oscar is spending the week before the race, training in London along the River Thames between Putney and Chiswick with his crew.
Oscar added:
“I’d be silly not to feel some sort of nervousness – I’ve spent a large part of this season focussing on making it into the boat and I am proud to have achieved it.
“It’s now a bit of a crazy time – a bit of a whirlwind with all the publicity and photo shoots – lots of distractions but you can’t take your foot off the gas.
“The Thames is a unique body of water so we need to train but we’ll be preserving energy for the actual race. It’s really tough during the race and it will be muscle memory doing the work as we push our bodies to perform.”
Cambridge has won the last three years of clashes against Oxford in the Lightweight Men’s Boat Race but experts say that Oxford is in with a good chance in 2025.
Oscar added:
“I just know that for years to come, if I ever mention that I rowed for Oxford, the next question will be, ‘Did you win?’, so I’ll be giving it everything I’ve got!”
Watch Oscar Williams compete on The Boat Race YouTube channel
Schedule
Saturday 12th April 2025
- 12.45 pm: Lightweight Women’s Boat Race
- 12.50 pm: Women’s Veteran’s Boat Race
- 1.20 pm: Men’s Veteran’s Boat Race
- 1.45 pm: Lightweight Men’s Boat Race
- 4.15 pm: Lightweight trophy presentations at the University Stone, Putney Embankment
Sunday 13th April 2025:
- 1.21 pm: 79th Women’s Boat Race
- 1.36 pm: Women’s Reserve Race: Osiris v Blondie
- 1.51 pm: Men’s Reserve Race: Isis v Goldie
- 2.21 pm: 170th Men’s Boat Race
Oscar sits at the front of the boat (opposite end to the cox), second in from the bow
Further information
- The Lightweight Men’s Boat Race isn’t broadcast on TV but will be available to watch, along with the Lightweight Women’s Boat Race and the Veteran’s races, on The Boat Race YouTube channel
- The Women’s and Men’s Boat Races will be broadcast live on BBC1 TV on The Boat Race YouTube channel
