FOR the University of Oxford rower Sarah Marshall, her preparation for the annual Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race, which takes place on Saturday, is as much spiritual as physical. As for every race, she will spend some of the morning before the event in prayer.
This year will be her fourth Boat Race — a testament to both her ability and endurance — but, although she has experienced three successive losses to the Cambridge crew, she is thankful for each one. “I am very grateful for all the opportunities that God has given to me, and the Boat Race is part of my life,” she says.
She grew up in Cambridge, in a Christian household, going to church regularly. But her faith became personal later on as a teenager. “I gave my life to Jesus when I was a teenager, and have been growing and walking in faith since then,” she says.
Her faith has deepened during her time at Oxford, where she is studying economics and is now completing an M.Phil., after graduating with a First in 2024. She also now has an offer for a D.Phil. “Going to uni is a big change for everyone,” she reflects. “As I started deepening in faith, all the new decisions I had to make, the mundane and the big issues, [I was] trying to root in Jesus.”
She first took up rowing at home, at her local club, before university, then joined her college team in her first year. By 2023, she had made her Boat Race debut — the beginning of a run that has now reached four consecutive appearances.
Three losses, although disappointing, have not dented her love for rowing, and she displays equanimity about the outcome. “There’s no guarantee, when you start, you are going to win,” she says. “You just put in the practice, and it is a very binary outcome. You can put everything in, and sometimes it isn’t the result you want.”
Her faith has also helped her to deal with disappointments. “Faith puts a lot into perspective,” she says. “I believe God has a good plan for my life, and the Boat Race is one of the opportunities that has been given to me.”
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Her approach is shaped by the proverb “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord.” The words guide her approach to competing. “I’ve done my training, and I’m ready for what is to come. The outcome is not in my hands but in God’s hands — I just need to do my best on the day.”
The preparation for the race involves at least two training sessions every day. But the time on the water and in the gym helps the crew of eight to bond. “People in the team make it a wonderful thing to be part of,” she says.
Over her four years in the boat, her confidence has grown. Alongside her Boat Race experience, she has competed internationally, trialling for the GB crew, and she has also competed and won gold in the World University Games. That win has given confidence, and she has continued to develop both technically and mentally, she says. “I’ve come on so much as a rower and matured over the last few years.”
Even so, nerves remain part of the experience — especially in the long wait before the race begins, after an early-morning warm-up on the Thames.
“I find time to pray, to talk with God alone before the race.” She is also frank about her Christian faith with the rest of the crew: “I’m open about my faith with them, and before races we have sometimes prayed together.”
The growing number of élite athletes across all sports talking about their faith has increased her own confidence to do the same, she says. “Different athletes talking about their faith [is] really encouraging. There’s a resurgence of interest in Christianity and the idea that there is a God, especially among my generation. God is doing amazing things in my generation; there is new interest in Christianity, and a curiosity about faith.”
Away from training and her degree, she worships at St Aldate’s, Oxford, where she finds support and stability. “A few good friends and some close Christian friends . . . are a wonderful support network for me,” she says. “I feel supported by them and my parents and my sisters.”
And, when the moment comes on Saturday afternoon — as the two crews line up with 4.25 miles of the river ahead of then, and as the tension rises — she will remind herself that “the outcome is not in my hands but in God’s hands.”
