Cambridge celebrate winning during the 76th Women's Boat Race on the River Thames. Photo / AP
Cambridge celebrate winning during the 76th Women's Boat Race on the River Thames. Photo / AP
Grace Prendergast will consider her rowing future and try to find an opportunity during a 48-hour exam to celebrate her Cambridge crew winning the annual University Boat Race against Oxford on the traditional Thames course.
She was sitting in the seven-seat as Cambridge won for the fifth straight time andin a record time of 18 minutes, 22.9 seconds on Monday. Fellow Kiwi Olympian Ruby Tew was also part of the Cambridge crew.
Prendergast won gold in the coxless pair alongside Kerri Gowler at last year's Olympics, before backing up to claim silver in the eights.
She is studying a masters in philosophy at Queens College and had a brutal reality to face the next day with a 48-hour open book exam.
"It's very mean to put it on from midday, the day after the Boat Race," she quipped. "But it's got me back to my room and back to my study," she told the Country Sport Breakfast.
The Cambridge Women's Boat Race team celebrate with the trophy after victory in the Women's 76th Boat Race on the River Thames. Photo / AP
It was the first Boat Race held over the 4.2-mile (6.8-kilometre) stretch of the River Thames in southwest London since 2019 because of the pandemic.
Oxford brought an end to Cambridge's recent supremacy in the men's race, winning for the first time since 2017.
Prendergast won her first of 15 national titles in 2011 and has been to two Olympics. The 29-year-old said she'll now look to make a decision on her rowing future.
"It's a little bit up in the air at the moment. My main focus has been towards the Boat Race and then I was thinking after the race I'll have a sit down and think about what comes next for me. Part of my motivation to do something like Cambridge was to freshen up and assess whether I had the motivation to go for another cycle or whether that's enough for me.
"This deadline has come around faster than I anticipated and I need to start thinking about the next step."
Prendergast said the Boat Race was a "bucket list" moment.
"It caught me off-guard how exciting and how big a deal the Boat Race is over here. On the day I was thinking this is a regatta like no other. It was really cool to be a part of and obviously to win was the icing on top of the cake. It was an amazing experience.
"It's so different [compared to the Olympics]. They are both your bucket list regattas. The racing is different, the style is different and the atmosphere is so different but I think both will go down as highlights of my rowing career so I'm stoked I got to do both."
