Last year’s race was won by Oxford University under tricky conditions. The choppy water and adverse weather meant that the race times were never going to be groundbreaking, yet, as per usual, the contest was a thrilling encounter.

This year sees the Boat Race’s heaviest ever crew, with Oxford University’s boat weighing in at 15st 9lb and 13 ounces (100kg) on average, beating the old record of 15st 6lb set in 2005, again by Oxford.

Cambridge’s boat won’t be too lightweight either though, with an average mass of 15st 1lb and 13 ounces (96kg) filling the eight seats. As such this race has been dubbed ‘the battle of the giants’.

The selection process is notoriously tough; often as many as 40 potential oarsmen and coxes amass at each of Oxford and Cambridge Universities hoping to demonstrate their potential and gain a seat in the ‘Blue’ boat on Race Day.

By December, after a series of cuts, both clubs have approximately 24 – 28 athletes left in their squad. The coaches then race two crews from their squad over the Boat Race course to test their grit under competition settings. Little by little, the Blue Boats and reserve crews take shape and an official announcement of the line-ups takes place in early spring, in this year’s case the 4th March.

The old argument will still arise as to whether the academical credentials of the crews involved are valid enough to warrant a place at such prestigious universities. With 5 Olympians in their crew, Oxford University must have had to disappoint many hopeful young undergraduates looking to gain a rowing blue.

Let’s just hope the Boat Race 2009 lives up to all expectations and that the competitors have still found time for all the studying they applied to their respective universities for.

Boat Race crews:

Oxford: Michal Plotkowiak, Colin Smith, Alex Hearne, Ben Harrison, Sjoerd Hamburger, Tom Solesbury, George Bridgewater, Ante Kusurin, cox: Colin Groshong

Cambridge: Rob Weitemeyer, Henry Pelly, Deaglan McEachern, Peter Marsland, Ryan Monaghan, Hardy Cubasch, Tom Ransley, Silas Stafford, cox: Rebecca Dowbiggin