Twin sisters studying for PhDs at Oxford and Cambridge are set to face off in the 2024 Boat Race.
This will be Catherine and Gemma King's first time racing against each other, having rowed on the same team since they began the sport at age 12.
The 24-year-old sisters from Bagshot, Surrey, who began participating in rowing at the same time, have competed in the Gemini Boat Race for Cambridge since 2018.
However, since Catherine King moved to Oxford to pursue her PhD in cardiovascular science, this year's race on March 30 will see them donning different team colours for the first time.
Gemma King, still at Cambridge studying stem cell biology, said: "We are both very competitive and we obviously want to win, but at the end of the day the Boat Race is so much more than who wins or who loses."
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Catherine said: "No matter what happens, I’m going to be really proud to be racing for Cambridge and proud of Catherine for racing for Oxford – but obviously we’d like to win.
“The Boat Race is an amazing experience to be a part of and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do on race day.”
The twins will not technically be racing against each other, as Catherine, who recently recovered from an injury, will be racing in Oxford's second boat, while Gemma is set to row in Cambridge's first boat.
Their parents, Mike and Liz King, have decided to remain neutral between their daughters, planning to support both teams equally.
Catherine said: "They’ve actually joked about getting half-and-half hats but I think at this point it might be more than a joke.
"They’ll definitely be supporting us both and they come and watch every race."
Catherine's PhD is fully funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF), the official charity partner for this year's Boat Race Company Limited (BRCL).
The collaboration is especially meaningful, following the death of the former BRCL chair, Tim Senior, who died of a cardiac arrest in 2023.
Catherine said: "We got into the sport together and I think because we’re both competitive as individuals, as well as with each other, we pushed each other on to become better athletes."
Gemma added: "We’re always very honest with each other and we’ll tell each other what we’re doing wrong.
"We’ve always managed to achieve things that people didn’t expect in boats together."
For more information about the Boat Race's partnership with the British Heart Foundation, visit the charity's website.
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