Matthew Edge, a second-year PhD student in the Goodman group, was part of the winning team in the prestigious Oxford vs. Cambridge Boat Race 2024. He was in the stroke position and is pictured wearing the 'Cambridge' visor in the above photo, along with other members of the winning eight.
Matthew describes the race: “We lead out of the blocks. The course was very windy and we got a good advantage at the start and made good use of it. It looked like Oxford were going to hold on around their bend but we managed to walk away. At the last bend we were well clear and I started to flag. I was saved by the seven guys behind me.”
The final leg of the race left Matthew feeling exhausted, but he recovered for the prize ceremony, pictured below.
The team won in 2023 and brought back the same spirit this year, winning by a decisive three and a half lengths, which is the largest margin since 2015, when Oxford won by six and a half lengths.The race was also noted for publicity about high levels of the bacteria E. coli in the Thames.
Matthew's PhD in the Goodman group is sponsored by AstraZeneca, and part of his research involves analysing their chromatographic data. He rowed for St Catharine’s College during his undergraduate degree here, and has kept rowing ever since.
“The whole season has been really fun, always a challenge with the PhD but we got here.”
Matt is top row, fourth from the right.