Ask Gemma King who will win the 78th Women's University Boat Race next month and she is unequivocal.
"Cambridge, of course," she says.
Ask her identical twin sister Catherine and the answer is slightly different.
"I'd definitely have to say Oxford."
But then they would say that. On March 30, the 24-year-old Kings could become the first twins - male or female - to row on opposite sides in the big race: Gemma for Cambridge, Catherine for Oxford.
Twins have fought on the same side before. Not least the Winklevoss brothers, who rowed for Oxford together in 2010 and whose cryptocurrency company Gemini appears to have aptly named sponsorship for this year's race.
But should the two kings be named in opposition when the respective crews are announced on March 13, this could be a family feud of a new order. There is an added whiff of potential resentment as the pair rowed together in Cambridge before Catherine defected to the other lot last summer.
"I'm not sure it will make much difference, actually," says Catherine, who is studying for a PhD in cardiovascular research at Balliol College and speaking to the Telegraph on the phone during a break from her studies.
"We have always been very competitive with each other. Even when we were on the same team, we were constantly comparing times."
Her sister agrees.
"When the two of us rowed, we were known to have disagreements," says Gemma, who researches platelets at St John's. "Let's just say that as twins we are open to honesty with each other. It's called sibling rivalry. For us it would just be another game."
Although that will not be the case for their parents. Liz, a chiropodist, and her husband Mike have kept a close eye on their twins since they first picked up an oar as 12 years old at Lady Eleanor Holles School in London, just down the Thames from Hampton School, where Mike works as an economist. . Rowing was almost love at first sight for two sporty young girls. Although it meant an important obligation for their parents.
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"From the beginning, our parents were our taxi drivers, therapists and biggest supporters," says Catherine. "It was a big thing for them. There were weekend competitions and rowing training almost every evening. They were known everywhere we went for being insanely supportive, the sharpest parents, present at every race.
And the kings followed their daughters as they attended Cambridge University, where they both studied natural sciences: Gemma at St. John's, Catherine at Gonville and Caius.
"When we first went to Cambridge we were initially in the lightweight crew because of our size, we're not that big," says Gemma. 'We always spent so much time together, but we went to different universities and had quite separate lives. We came together to row."
However, the pair were talented enough that despite their size they were selected for the Blondie boat, the second eight ladies, for the 2020 Boat Race. Much to their disappointment, the event was canceled due to Covid. But they were back the following year, albeit with closed racing in Ely, with a very limited crowd.
"I think we were allowed two supporters each, so it was clear who was coming, yes our parents were there," says Catherine. "But it was a very strange environment."
Fortunately for the Kings, their daughters made it to the Blondie crew the following year when the race returned to Putney. With Gemma in second place and Catherine in number 4, they won by a record distance, a wonderful, proud family moment.
But then, in mid-2022, Catherine slipped two discs in her back and had to undergo surgery. Her rowing was put on hold even as Gemma established herself in the Cambridge system, taking the bow spot in the first eight this year. And their chances of rowing together in the same college boat ended in the summer of 2023 with Catherine's decision to move to the dark (blue) side.
"I looked at postdoctoral research at various universities and thought Oxford looked interesting," she says.
So she headed west and, with her back healed, she was finally able to return to the water in January. She has been rowing in Oxford's second women's eight for most of the year, but is hoping for promotion by the time the teams are announced. She is particularly pleased to be involved again as the British Heart Foundation, which funds her research, is the race's official charity partner.
"I like to think that exercise in general is good for your heart," she says. "But rowing is particularly good."
The big question though is if the pair have to line up in opposite boats at the start line at Putney Bridge, who will their parents support?
"They are definitely more concerned about this than we are," Gemma says of the potential family rift. "My mother read that book Blood over Water, about two brothers who had an argument about the Boat Race and really had difficulty with it. She's afraid we'll face dire consequences. But I don't think we will. I suspect we'll still be talking at the end.
Half and half woolly hats
To maintain her impartiality should she be forced to face her daughters against each other, Liz King has taken an unexpected sartorial turn.
"You know those half-and-half scarves that people wear to football?" says Catherine. 'Mum's been joking for a while now, she's going to give her and Dad each a half-and-half woolen hat, light blue on one side, dark blue on the other.
"Anyway, she just called to say she found some to wear that day. That way they can support both of us."
To take on your own rowing challenge and raise money for the British Heart Foundation, visit _ bhf.org.uk/rowingchallenge
