U23 World Champions Geffen and Obholzer: From transatlantic rivals to Great Britain teammates

Ahead of racing in Seville at World Rowing Cup I, hear from Gabriel Obholzer and Harry Geffen about their intertwined rowing journeys

Rowing is full of historic rivalries. Right at the top of the list are the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Races and the Harvard/Yale (or Yale/Harvard, depending on which camp you are in) Regatta.

To be involved with one of these great races sees any rower write their name into the history books. To race in two of them is a special feat that few get to experience. Gabriel Obholzer and Harry Geffen are two of those who have lived and breathed these storied rivalries.

Obholzer, whose father Rupert previously raced for Great Britain, spent four years studying at Harvard while Geffen raced for the Yale Bulldogs under the watchful eye of the legendary Steve Gladstone. After finishing their studies in the US, the two returned to British soil, where Geffen rowed for the Dark Blues of Oxford University, and Obholzer represented the Light Blues of Cambridge University.

Despite their duals against one another around the world, the two members of the British Men’s Eight for World Rowing Cup I in Seville have supported one another throughout U23 campaigns in red, white, and blue. Most notably, the two sat in the Men’s Eight that won gold at the 2025 U23 World Rowing Championships.

“Gabe and I have been racing together for the last five years,” explained Geffen.

“I’ve won a couple of them and lost a few more, but it’s been good. He’s a really good rower, so it’s nice to be in the same boat as him!”

Back in April, the two squared off against one another for the final time. After Obholzer and Cambridge won the Boat Race, the two were looking forward to racing and supporting each other on the same team.

“Before we got in the boats for the race back in April, we came together and said that, ‘this is the last race we are going to do on opposite teams before coming together, so going forward, whether we win or lose, at least we’re on the same team,” said Obholzer.

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“I think doing the Boat Race has actually prepared me really well for coming and training at Caversham. It’s serious training with a great technical model at Cambridge, and I felt I was in the best shape of my life before coming into Caversham, so it was great preparation.

“It keeps you honest racing against a guy like Harry. You can’t slack off too much, and you have to keep hitting the weights and training hard.

“I think you can look across and when you see the same faces looking across the water, you realise that this could be your equivalent from the other programme. Harry has stepped on so much this year, and I saw that at U23s as well. It reminds you that even though I’m doing well at my programme, there’s a guy on the other team, in the other colours, who’s doing really well as well, so you have to train even harder.

Geffen has been doing more than well. After stroking the U23 Eight to gold in 2022, he won gold in the Pair and Four, before winning again in the Eight last year. After conquering the U23 scene, Geffen made his senior debut at the World Rowing Championships in Shanghai, racing with James Vogel in the Men’s Pair.

“Rowing has had an enormous impact on me,” said Geffen.

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“I’ve learned what it’s like to be a part of a team, to push, to be pushed, to fight your way into a seat. Those are soft skills that definitely take you further than rowing.

“We were lucky to be recruited out to the United States; that was a huge opportunity and something people are starting to take advantage of. There’s a whole network of people who have done that path and are willing to help, provide support, and offer advice. The sport is a great community.”

After the two impressed at U23 level, both have ambitions of racing at the Olympic Games, as Obholzer explained, “At university level, you always want to win all of your races for your university, but in the back of your mind, the pinnacle of rowing is the World Rowing Championships and the Olympics.

“As you’re progressing through college, you’re always wondering if you are going to be good enough to make it to that next level, so to make it here is great, but to win is the ultimate goal.”

“This was both of our goals when we were racing each other five years ago. We hoped that one day we would come together and race when we were trading shirts after duals in the United States,” added Geffen.

These goals haven’t just been set in the past couple of years. They have been shaping their lives for a decade, right from the moment they first set foot in a boat.

“When I was 15, I thought I could be pretty good at this,” said Obholzer.

“I set a goal for 10 years in the future to go to the Olympics and maybe win a gold medal. Working towards an overarching goal through different phases of your life is really helpful. It keeps you on track, keeps you focused, and rowing has helped me stay focused on that element of my life.”

“The first time I was in a big eight, it was carnage, but I got a real sense of how fast and exciting it was. There are nine guys all in the boat together trying to make it move fast with a lot of moving parts, and that’s pretty special,” added Geffen.

After years of racing against each other, Obholzer and Geffen are firmly entrenched in the same camp. The two will look to grow together as they embrace the international racing circuit and come to terms with new opposition from all four corners of the globe. Rivalries have been set aside and they will cheer on the same team… apart from form two days a year when light blue races dark blue, and the Crimson take on the Bulldogs.