MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - Identical twins Gemma and Catherine King had been poised to race against each other for the first time in Saturday's University Boat Race and although that is no longer happening, it will still be a weekend of divided loyalties for their family.
Catherine's back injury means she will not be in the Oxford boat in the elite women's race taking on Gemma in the Cambridge crew but the former will represent her new university in the reserve race.
That means a tricky time for their parents Liz and Mike.
"It's definitely been a change for them because they've always known who to support, so they've got a lot of Cambridge light blue supporters kit over the years. Since I've moved to Oxford I've been trying my best to change that and give them some Oxford supporter's kit," Catherine laughed during a three-way call with Reuters.
"They've actually got some half and half Oxford-Cambridge hats and scarves to wear on boat race day, it's quite funny," she added. "So they'll be supporting both of us. They've always supported the both of us in everything we did."
The 24-year-old Kings, from Bagshot, Surrey, played numerous sports as children and were introduced to rowing when they were 12 before going to Cambridge where they raced in the same boat.
"We're always competing a lot in everything we do," said Gemma, who is completing a PhD in stem cell biology at Cambridge. "And it's so easy to compare to each other because you're genetically the same. Mostly, it's been good because it's helped us to push each other on to become the best versions of ourselves."
Catherine moved to Oxford last year and it has been the first time the twins have lived apart.
"We still message a lot and I think we'll always be close," said Catherine who is doing a PhD in cardiovascular research at Cambridge.
The first men's Boat Race was rowed on the Thames at Henley in 1829 and the first women's race took place in 1927.
The women's event became a permanent fixture in the 1960s and since 2015 both races have been rowed on the same 4.5-mile course -- from Putney to Mortlake -- on the same day.
"Racing in the Boat Race is a pretty special experience, it's one of the biggest rivalries in British sport, it's a great tradition," Gemma said.
"But it's a weird race because you either win or lose, so there isn't really a second place as such.
"We both really want to win, but I would say the Boat Race is so much more than just who wins and loses, and at the end of the day we just want our crews to go out and put down the best race that we can."
(Reporting by Lori Ewing, editing by Ed Osmond)
