Esther Briz and the “crazy” experience of the Boat Race

At 14:21 UK time on Saturday 4 April, Oxford University will line up against Cambridge University for the 80th Women’s Boat Race. In the six-seat for Oxford is Spaniard Esther Briz Zamorano, adding another element to an extensive rowing CV.

Briz is, she thinks, the first Spaniard to race for the Oxford women. She follows in the footsteps of compatriot Adriana Perez Rotondo, who won the Boat Race for Cambridge in 2021.

“It’s insane the amount of women that have come before me, and none of them were from Spain,” Briz says.

Her Boat Race appearance follows a long and successful career, which started at junior level on flat water. In 2021 and 2022 Briz became a world champion in beach sprints and coastal rowing, before switching back to classic rowing for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Internationally, she last raced at the 2025 World Rowing Championships in Shanghai, finishing sixth in the women’s single. Amid all this, she managed to complete a degree in management science and engineering at the University of Stanford – also rowing in the varsity eight.

After Paris, Briz says, she was keen on continuing her academic career while also having an eye on the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. A one-year masters in business administration (MBA) at Oxford seemed the right thing to do. There is a neat link back to her home town, Zaragoza – last year, Oxford’s women travelled there to compete in a regatta celebrating the centenary of local club Helios CN.

“It’s definitely a challenge but I do think it’s a good challenge to be part of, and more fun to be on the winning side of the underdogs,” Briz says, of Oxford’s attempt to end Cambridge’s eight-year winning streak.

She will race with and against a number of other international rowers. Another four members of the Oxford crew have represented their country, including president Heidi Long, a world and Olympic medallist for Great Britain. Sitting opposite Briz in the Cambridge six-seat is reigning women’s four world champion, Camille VanderMeer of the USA.

“I can’t wait. It’s going to be awesome,” Briz adds, looking ahead to the race itself. “I feel very ready, I trust my teammates a lot, I trust myself too. Whatever happens we are going to deliver a strong performance.”

Briz describes the way she thinks of Oxford University Boat Club using a Spanish expression, “Ser una piña”, or “being a pineapple”. It refers to the bond and unity the whole squad feels, with everyone a vital cog in the machine.

As with every rower who has competed in the Boat Race, academic work is as important as training, and Briz says she has found the transition back to studying a challenge.

“Because I had not done any school the previous three years before coming here, you definitely forget how to grind, how to study,” she says. “If you had only rowing or only studying, that would have been fine.”

She describes the week leading up to December’s ‘Trial Eights’ race, when she had exams on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Her teammates would pick her up from Oxford’s Examination Schools in the club minibus to drive straight to training, and she would try to study in the minibus.

“I would not like to repeat that again,” Briz laughs. For the record, her crew lost Trial Eights, but she did well in her exams, and also made her flight home to Spain for Christmas straight after getting off the water.

“I’ve spent a really long time in my life juggling school and rowing, but here in Oxford we have nine people in the boat, we have nine different schedules. It’s actually crazy that we’re able to train on a daily basis, and even do it twice.”

She also says she has learned a lot from the year in Oxford, including going back to eights, and returning to being part of a big squad after spending the previous years in small boats.

But after Briz has finished her MBA, her focus will return to the beach: she wants to fully transition to beach sprints ahead of their introduction at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

“It’s great here and I wish I could do another year here, but I’m also eager to start training in Spain,” she says.

“I do think though, everything is rowing, good training is always good training. The work is there, you can definitely feel it no matter what you do.”

Briz’s coastal experience might be useful on Saturday, as the forecast is currently for strong gusty wind blowing in the opposite direction to the tide on the river. She thinks Oxford will cope well with tricky conditions.

“We’ve been training in the dark with really shitty water, the boat feels really good right now and I’m confident in all our abilities to deal with rough water,” she says.

At the end of her year in Oxford, Briz is enthusiastic about the whole Boat Race experience, and would recommend it to other international rowers.

“Definitely do it,” she says. “It’s going to be one of the craziest experiences you’re going to live. I’ve been in different environments and nothing compares to this.”

The 80th Women’s Boat Race is at 14:21 BST on Saturday 4 April; the 171st Men’s Boat Race starts at 15:21 BST.