Twins on opposite teams in Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race

Catherine and Gemma King raced alongside each other until one moved to Oxford University from Cambridge

Twin sisters studying for PhDs at Oxford and Cambridge are set to face off in the 2024 Boat Race rowing for opposing universities.
Catherine and Gemma King, 24, have competed side-by-side since they began rowing at the age of 12 and they have both competed in the Gemini Boat Race for Cambridge since 2018.
However, this year the pair will be wearing different colours after Catherine moved to start studying for a PhD at Oxford University while Gemma remained at Cambridge.
“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,” Gemma, who is studying stem cell biology, told the PA news agency.
“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.
Catherine, studying cardiovascular science, said: “I’m really looking forward to the Boat Race this year, it’s been a really exciting year for me because I joined the Oxford team.
“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.”
While their teams are set to go head to head, the pair said it is likely they will not be racing against each other on March 30, with Gemma due to compete in the first boat for Cambridge and Catherine in the second boat for Oxford after she took some time off from the sport following an injury.
The duo, from Bagshot, Surrey, added that their parents, Mike and Liz King, will be supporting both teams and may wear hats or T-shirts with both Cambridge’s light blue and Oxford’s dark blue colours.
“They’ve actually joked about getting half-and-half hats but I think at this point it might be more than a joke,” Catherine said. “They’ll definitely be supporting us both and they come and watch every race.”
The siblings began participating in the sport when they were 12, saying it has “become a bigger part of our lives” since then.
“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,” Catherine said.
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.”