Hello! We’re James Nash and Joe Stell, your men’s squad co-captains for the 2025-26 season. We’ll be running the squad together with joint input and decision making, using our chemistry built as bow pair of the 2025 Mays M1. We’re hoping that Joe’s previous experience at CUBC and James’ experience at school can bring some fresh ideas to the squad training ethos to give us an edge over the other colleges this season!
Joe Stell
Hello everyone, my name is Joe and I’m going to be one of the men’s squad co-captains for the coming season! I started my rowing career when I first came to Downing in 2022, learning to row in our novice programme.
I wasn’t so sure about the sport until Lent term of 2023, but by the time lent bumps came around I was already hooked, and I’ve rowed every set of bumps since! I was a keen cyclist and hiker in my school years, and I still enjoy these hobbies to this day.
Having spent the first half of last year within the CUBC training programme, my aim for this year is to bring some aspects of the training ethos and environment into our club to modernise the way we train, so we can maximise our potential while also giving us time to focus on the ever increasing academic workload that this university demands.
As I head into my final year at Downing, I only hope I can give you all the discipline, comraderie and joy that this sport has given me over the last three years, and inspire you to give it to others in the future.
James Nash
Hi, I’m James, a second-year land economist and this year’s Men’s Co-Captain alongside Joe. I’m really looking forward to leading this year’s men’s squad and cannot wait to see the progress we can make!
Having learned to scull at school I vowed to never sit in a boat again after hating my school boat club and yet the charm of a few guys in the squad along with the warm sense of camaraderie had me rowing in the 1st VIII within just a couple of weeks. Whilst I’ve only been a part of the club for a year, I’ve had the chance to experience some incredible racing both on and off the Cam. One highlight for me has to be our May Bumps campaign this year where I had the chance to race against Olympians and in front of thousands of spectators, a truly memorable experience for any college rower!
Whilst the racing is a really exciting part of rowing with DCBC, my favourite part is without a doubt the memories created during training sessions and off the water. The warm summer evenings in this year’s Mays campaign were a much-needed change to the usual cold and early mornings on the Cam and made for some incredible memories with the squad. Furthermore, the bond created between the crew and the squad made the rowing even more fun and led to many cricket and football games after training! Whilst rowing is definitely a gruelling sport, I have found it incredibly rewarding and after a day of lectures and supervisions there isn’t anything more therapeutic than a long row with the boys!
This year Joe and I will be looking to build on from last year and help to develop the squad into an unstoppable machine! We cannot wait to see the potential of this year’s athletes in Michaelmas and look forward to working with everyone to put up another set of awesome results. Whether it’s moving up in May Bumps, chasing down Headship in Lent Bumps or creating memories during sunrises and sunsets on the Cam, Joe and I are super excited to lead the Men’s Squad of 2025-2026 and look forward to welcoming those new and those returning to a year of great rowing!
Feroces ad Mortem,
James