Rowing: Boat Race betting

The end of March sees all eyes turn to the Boat Race between Oxford and last year's winners Cambridge, due to take place this weekend. Both teams have unveiled their crews, although there were some traditionalists spluttering into their college scarves at Cambridge Coach Duncan Holland naming nine oarsmen and not eight, plus the Cox of Rebecca Dowbiggin. Holland stated that rival No. 4s Tobias Garnett from London, and Poland's Bartosz Szczyrba, are still competing for the slot. Most bookmakers make the defending title holders favourites at 8/11, although on Betfair you can get slightly better than that at 1.86. That way of thinking was not shared by the Cambridge coach at the weigh-in. In a bid to deflect the focus away from his crew he said: "This year's crew is younger, lighter and less experienced than last year. I expect Oxford will be the favourites. We're happy with that and will just have to row better to win." Dowbiggin steered the Light Blues to a one-and-a-quarter length success last year and she is bidding to make history by being the first woman to steer a crew to consecutive victories in the 154-year history of the contest. She is joined by a distinctly Anglo-American mix with four Brits and Stateside Stroke Shane O'Mara making up the bulk of the crew. Aussies Tim Perkins and Tom Edwards make up the numbers. Oxford have gone for a more cosmopolitan blend with four Americans, and Australian, three Brits and one German, Jan Herzog. Oxford coach Sean Bowden seemed to agree with his rival coach in making his side favourites. "We are definitely working towards creating a higher-quality, stronger technical crew than last year," said Bowden. "They have good focus and are physically strong, so technically they will be better". History is on Cambridge's side however as the younger University leads the series by 79 wins to 73.