Please introduce yourself!

I’m Jess Poon, an MPhil student in Polar Studies at St. Catharine’s College, and the current President of the Cambridge University Athletics Club (CUAC).

This Saturday is the 150th Men’s Athletics Varsity and the 50th Anniversary since the first Women’s Athletics Varsity. How significant is this milestone in displaying the progression of women’s sport at Oxbridge?

It’s incredible to think that women only got involved in Varsity athletics 50 years ago. It shows amazing progress, and to be able to interact with some of the first women who competed in those matches today means we can draw on their experience to see how much sport has progressed, even in the past 50 years. It should prove significant to women in the club today too: I hope that we can continue to be role models so this progression continues into the future. To celebrate, we’ve also launched a Women’s Sponsorship Scheme so that alumni can donate to subsidise membership fees for women in the club. It aims to encourage women to get involved and stay involved in athletics by removing financial barriers to the sport.

“It’s incredible to think that women only got involved in Varsity athletics 50 years ago”

The second ever para-athletics Varsity is also taking place on the 17th of May. Why has this event been such a recent development?

Within the wider athletics community, para-athletics has always been noted as something we should facilitate to foster that environment of inclusivity and accessibility. I think with athletics being such a simple sport at its core – just throwing something, jumping, running – even those who aren’t able-bodied should be given the chance. Last year, both clubs had a growing number of para-athletes who wanted to get involved. Thanks to my predecessor Johanna, our Para-Captain Roz, as well as efforts on Oxford’s side, we were able to come together to establish a para-squad and input a Varsity match into the programme which we want to keep on promoting.

You’ve been CUAC president for nearly a year now. How would you describe your experience?

Quite a busy one! It has been challenging but rewarding. I’m thankful for my incredible committee who love the club just as much as I do. It feels like you’re managing lots of little clubs within a big club because each of our event disciplines has their own squad and their own needs, alongside managing the general club. But all in all, it’s been such an enjoyable experience. I can’t imagine this year without it.

Let’s chat about the Varsity event itself. Drawing from your memories from previous years, which part of the day are you most looking forward to?

In my first year, probably the dinner. There aren’t many occasions that we come together as a whole club, so the post-match dinner is a really special moment of the day. Being on the committee for the past couple of years, I’ve been thrown into the steeple-chase water jump at the end which is a massively memorable experience.

“Celebrating this occasion on both a university stage and a World Athletics stage will be really inspiring”

What is team morale like the week leading up to Varsity. Is there nervousness, excitement, or a mix of both?

Definitely a mix of both. We’ve got a lot of events this week to hype up the team – headshots, a pre-match social, and the pop-up exhibition that World Athletics are holding. With training and last minute preparations, there’s a bit of nervousness there too. Nobody wants to injure themselves right before they compete, so we don’t want to overtrain ourselves either.

The World Athletics President is coming to Varsity this year. How does it feel to have such big names at your event?

It’s an incredible opportunity to continue raising the profile of athletics here at Cambridge. Having someone of such notability attending is really exciting. He’s a Cambridge alumnus himself! To be able to celebrate this occasion on both a university stage as well as a World Athletics stage will be really inspiring for the club.

You’ve mentioned that there will be a World Athletics Exhibition at the match. Can you tell me a bit more about that?

World Athletics got in touch with us to ask if they could bring a pop-up ‘Women in Athletics’ exhibition to Varsity this year in celebration of the 50th Anniversary. It opens the evening before the event! The first female presidents as well as first women’s captains of both CUAC and OUAC are coming along to share their experiences and reflections too. We’d love to invite anyone who’s available on Friday (16th) to come along to see how women’s athletics has been shaped over time. It’s at Wilberforce Road in the Pavilion upstairs - on the match day itself you can go in for free!