Freischem sisters set for Boat Race showdown with bragging rights on line

Sisters Lilli and Mia Freischem will battle for the “ultimate bragging rights” when their sibling and university rivalries converge on the Thames in Saturday’s Boat Race.

Mia hopes Cambridge can make it nine straight victories, while older sister Lilli and Oxford, with world and Olympic medallist Heidi Long in the stroke seat, aim to finally flip the script.

The Freischems – the first sister-opponents in 22 years – presented their parents with handcrafted half-and-half Oxford and Cambridge jumpers at Christmas, but there will not be a drop of split loyalty on the water.

“It’s been epic,” Mia, nearly two years 26-year-old Lilli’s junior, told the Press Association.

“From the moment we realised it could be a possibility that we were racing each other, I think we were both just so excited, and, if anything, it would make us work harder to try to make it happen.

“It’s just such a special thing to know that you get to race against someone that you know so well. Since this is Lilli’s last year of her PhD, this is the race for the ultimate bragging rights. This is the one that we get.”

Lilli explained it will be the siblings’ first sporting clash other than family friendlies, such as spontaneous 100 metre sprints on holiday hikes, “speed-walking competitions, or trying to cycle as slow as possible”.

They played football on the same teams growing up, then Mia followed Lilli into rowing when they were both undergraduates at the University of Edinburgh – initially a hobby to stave off inertia during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Atmospheric physics PhD student Lilli joined Oxford’s rowing club with a year’s experience, with the mindset: “They do the Boat Race, but surely they’re all crazy athletes. I just kind of hoped I could continue improving and they wouldn’t send me away. I really didn’t think I’d be racing for Oxford.”

It was initially challenging, the sisters admit, to strike the right balance between bonding over their new shared passion and not giving away anything that might tip Saturday in their rival crew’s favour.

Mia, studying for a PhD in surgery, said: “There are definitely things and parts of the programme that maybe you don’t go into in so much detail, but I think we’ve really found a way of sharing our individual tasks and journeys with each other, rather than how the club approaches the Boat Race.

“The two then don’t stand in each other’s way. It’s more about how we can support each other as athletes and as people.”

Lilli revealed they have already decided how to “get an equal split of the family”.

Last year, their parents went to the Oxford dinner after Lilli’s maiden turn in the dark blue boat. This time, she will be “setting them free” to dine with debutant Mia and Cambridge, but has invited the sisters’ beloved cousins.

And, of course, mum and dad will be proudly sporting those jumpers.

“We made sure they could support us without having to choose,” Mia added. “If you see anyone around in light blue and dark blue, those are definitely our parents!”