Olympians Claire Collins and Nick Rusher to Compete in The Boat Race

The 170th Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race will take place on April 13, 2025, featuring Olympians Claire Collins and Nick Rusher. Olympic bronze medalist Nick Rusher will be racing in seven seat for Oxford University, while Claire Collins will compete in six seat for Cambridge University. Yale University’s Sophia Hahn, a former U19 and U23 national team member, joins Collins in the Cambridge boat in three seat. Brown University's Simon Hatcher, a former U23 national team member, will race in the bow seat of the Cambridge crew, facing off against Rusher. 

The annual race between Oxford and Cambridge universities covers 4.25 miles on the Thames River in West London and is one of the world’s oldest and most famous amateur sporting events. The men’s race began in 1829, while the women’s race was first held in 1927 and became an annual event in 1964. The Cambridge women’s crew are looking to hold onto their record, having won the last seven races. Cambridge men took the victory for the past two years, but the Oxford crew features multiple Olympians looking to win again. The race can be watched on ESPN+ or the Boat Race’s YouTube. 

Nick Rusher won bronze in the men’s eight at the 2024 Paris Olympics. He graduated from Yale University in 2023 with a molecular, cellular, and developmental biology degree. His varsity eight earned silver at the IRA Championships in 2021 and 2022. At Yale, he was named a 2023 IRCA Scholar-Athlete and was selected to the First Team All-Ivy in 2022 and 2023. Rusher made his first national team appearance at the 2021 World Rowing Under 23 Championships, where he won silver in the men’s eight. Originally from Wisconsin, Rusher comes from an Olympic rowing family. His parents, both rowers, met on the national team and competed at the 1988 and 1992 Olympics. His sister, Alie Rusher, raced in the women’s quadruple sculls at the Tokyo Olympics.

Two-time Olympian Claire Collins finished fifth in the women’s eight at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. She won her first medal for the U.S. as a U19 athlete at the 2012 World Championships and has continued to excel ever since. An eight-time national team member, she has competed on the U19, U23, and senior national teams. Collins graduated from Princeton University in 2019 with a degree in economics. She earned silver and bronze medals in the U23 eight in 2017 and 2018. She was nominated for the NCAA Female Athlete of the Year, received Princeton University's C. Otto von Kienbusch Award for the top senior female athlete, and was a three-time All-American.