Sophie Shapter will be the cox for the Cambridge Women's crew on Boat Race day

Sophie Shapter

Putney will be represented in this year's University Boat Race by the Cambridge cox. Sophie Shapter grew up in Putney and over to school in Hammersmith where she got that taste for keeping eight rowers in order!

Sophie took up rowing aged 14 years, in between training she told this website: " I went to Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith. I started rowing there and was quickly told I should sit in the coxes seat by my coach as I was the smallest. I then became quite accustomed to steering and telling my friends what to do, and so decided I wanted to continue at coxing and develop my skills. After a couple of years coxing for school, I then moved to Thames RC in Putney where I coxed the men's squad. It was here that I really stepped on as a cox and honed in my steering and calls."

" In my gap year I started coaching the junior team at Thames which was run by London Youth Rowing, a charity that helps young people get into rowing through schools that wouldn't otherwise have the opportunity to".

Sophie has like most Putney children grown up watching the race with her family, and this year aged twenty three and studying Psychology & Education at St Catharine's, Sophie will be stepping in to the cox seat with a plan to guide the crew to another win from Putney (in 2017 Oxford's crew member Rebecca Esselstein caught a crab at the start of the race and CWRC were un-catchable).

Sophie is excited and nervous at the same time: "It's going to be weird being in and around Putney the lead up to the race. I've always been on the spectator side of the race, and now to actually be involved is crazy. It's really nice for me as when we come to train on the Tideway, I am able to stay at home and catch up with family and friends. In the build up to the race, me and my crew are actually going to be staying in Wimbledon to keep away from Putney a bit, but on the day, as Putney slowly fills up with people from all over the place, it's going to be an exciting but nerve racking experience for sure".

Measuring eleven centimeters taller than her Oxford equivalent, Sophie doesn't limit herself to what goes on on the water but has a blog /podcast '18 Hours a week' - which she hope gives followers a better understanding of what the crews go through on their journey to the race.


Oxford’s Jessica Buck and Cambridge’s Sophie Shapter

She says, "Before the Boat Race, the BBC show snippets of the squad training, and a few interviews, but I didn’t feel these clips do the squad justice. It’s always very serious and intense, and never really shows the interesting and more light-hearted side of the club, so I decided to start creating some content myself".

Sophie loves living in Putney: "I love Putney, and it was an awesome place to grow up. The amount of green space to run around and play in was great, and in my opinion, it has the best of both worlds; near to the city and tones to do, but also easy to escape into nature along the river or getting lost in Richmond Park".

The Cancer Research UK Women's Boat Race will take place at 4.31pm on Saturday 24th March.

Other races that day:
4.46pm Osiris v Blondie Boat Race - The Women's Reserve Boat Race.
5.01pm Isis v Goldie Boat Race - The Men's Reserve Boat Race.
5.32pm The Cancer Research UK Men's Boat Race

March 7, 2018