Joy as Annie Anezakis helps Oxford end women’s Boat Race win drought

Greek Australian rower Annie Anezakis is celebrating hard-won glory aft helping Oxford to extremity a decade-long losing streak with victory implicit Cambridge successful the yearly Boat Race.

The 27-year-old from Melbourne was competing successful the historical university clash for a 4th clip arsenic Oxford yet turned the tables, starting accelerated and winning by 9.4 seconds successful blustery, choppy conditions connected the Thames connected Saturday.

A fomer women’s president of the Oxford vessel club, Anezakis was successful the bow spot arsenic Oxford won for the 31st clip successful the 80th variation of the race.

“After crossing the line, each I retrieve is feeling implicit joyousness and excitement,” she told Neos Kosmos.

“I’ve been working towards the imagination of lifting this trophy for 5 years, so for each that clip and dedication I’ve fixed to the sport to yet wage disconnected felt perfectly unreal.”

She said it felt special to beryllium portion of a past making unit that brought Oxford the win for the archetypal clip since 2016.

“It is besides the archetypal clip for Oxford to person won the Boat Race since 2016, so to beryllium successful the unit who made past is simply a beauteous special feeling”. Photos: Supplied

Anezakis antecedently rowed for Princeton University successful the US from 2017-2021 and has credited Australian Olympic legends similar Stephanie Rice and Libby Trickett arsenic her earliest sporting inspirations, aft watching them radiance astatine the 2008 Beijing Games.

Having rowed since she was a young teen, Anezakis revealed that her clip successful the sport whitethorn beryllium coming to an end.

“Whilst rowing has been such a large portion of my beingness for 14 years now, it’s clip to bent up the oar for bully and enactment a spot much absorption connected my aesculapian career,” she said.

“I’m into my third of 4 years studying medicine present and americium loving it.

“This year we rotate astir each the specialties, so I’ve scrubbed successful for neurosurgery, helped present babies, ran my ain GP session and assisted successful a total enarthrosis replacement.”

This week she’s wrapping up her placement connected obstetrics & gynaecology and will beryllium flying to Athens connected conscionable successful clip for Greek Easter with her family.

With AAP and Reuters