Rowing: Storm blows but still makes Blues

Srorm Uru (left) is training hard for The Boat Race while also studying hard at Oxford.

When Olympic rowing bronze medallist Storm Uru found himself panting halfway up a Wellington hill after the 2012 London Games, he knew it was time for a fresh physical challenge.

Hell, why not make that challenge mental, too? So Uru earned a Woolf Fisher Scholarship to pursue a Master of Business Administration at Oxford University, valued at $100,000. He sleeps at Keble College when he's not putting in at least 16 hours a day studying plus training for the 160th edition of The Boat Race against Cambridge.

Shortly after arrival on campus in September, he trialed for the Oxford University eight and was selected in the bow seat. Along with fellow New Zealander Sam O'Connor, Uru will line up at Putney on April 6 and endure 6.779km rowing to Mortlake along the Thames.

"I was about 10-15 minutes up quite a steep slope and completely blew my lid," Uru told the Herald on Sunday in between studying chapters on macro-economics.

"I was huffing and puffing and had never experienced being so unfit. I was like 'bloody hell, is this what it's like?"'

Before long, Uru recovered the mojo which took him and Peter Taylor to the lightweight double sculls podium at Eton Dorney.

"My body took a shock and rejected rowing a bit but I managed to sneak into the [Oxford] boat after overcoming a few niggling injuries. At times, training felt like a never-ending set of criteria to get the most out of you. What's different about this environment is that you're also studying for a degree which other full-time students are devoted to.

"There's a balancing act because you're trying to get as much out of Oxford by partaking in the social side, too. It's a monster effort, but a lot of fun."

Uru sought the advice of fellow Olympic bronze medallist and Oxford rower George Bridgewater, part of the winning crew in 2009.

"George's gold nugget was 'don't sleep during the term, there's always the holidays'. He said make the most of every day because it's probably the best year of your life. It's been all that and more."

Uru loves the fact Keble College, once home to Pakistan cricket all-rounder Imran Khan and 2004 British Olympic gold medallist Ed Coode, is steeped in tradition from manicured lawns to Sunday dinner suits to exclusive choir recitals.

"Our college was named after someone [John Keble] who wasn't born into money, which was unusual at the time [1870]. That resonates with New Zealand's mentality of entrepreneurship and making something out of nothing. I love strolling to the dining hall for Sunday dinners where the choir sometimes sings."

Uru's sense of awe extends campus-wide.

"Sam [crewmate O'Connor] got the boys in the squad over for dinner at his college, Christ Church, to show off what doubled as Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films. Sitting in the formal dining room picturing the scenes was pretty cool. Also, before seeing the Hobbit film, The Desolation of Smaug, we had a few brews at the pub [The Eagle And Child] where JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis spent afternoons writing and reading each other transcripts."