Boat Race veteran helps deny Cambridge clean sweep

The Thames will stay light blue for another year. Yet, unlike in 2023, Cambridge did not quite claim a clean sweep at the Boat Race. Some of the credit for that goes to Dr Jess Webb, an alumna of Oriel College who rowed in the Oxford women’s veterans’ boat.

The Oxford women veterans finished the course along the Thames from Putney, past Hammersmith Bridge, to Furnivall Steps four lengths ahead of Cambridge, with a record time eight minutes and 11 seconds.

Every single other Oxford boat lost to Cambridge.

The veteran races are open to former Boat Race rowers aged 33 and over, and competing crews must have average age of 42 or above.

Webb’s record at the Boat Race begins in 1998 — in the Cambridge reserve boat.

She started her six-year Medicine degree at Cambridge University, but completed the final three-year clinical component at Oxford. This gave her the rare opportunity to row with both boat clubs. In 1999, she rowed in the winning Cambridge women’s openweight boat.

Webb made her debut for Oxford at the 2001 Boat Race in the blue boat. Her alma mater won that year, but she won in the blue boat for Oxford in 2002.

During her studies, Webb served as both President of Cambridge University Women’s Boat Club and President of Oxford University Women’s Boat Club.

Webb also rowed with the Oxford women’s veterans’ crew in 2024. She said that she “could not resist the opportunity” when she heard about the race on the Tideway course in London.

When Webb was a student, the men’s and women’s boat races took place on different days, with the women’s race being held a course in Henley. “It has been such a great experience racing in the Oxford women’s veterans’ crew on the Tideway and has been fantastic to have so much support from the Oxford University Boat Club squad over the last few years,” she added.