Oxford President Barney Williams won the toss for this afternoon’s Boat Race and chose to row from Surrey Station.

It means they will aim to stay in touch Cambridge on the Fulham bend so they can then take full advantage of the big Surrey bend, which can be worth a length’s advantage.

Williams said: "It will favour either crew at some point in the Race."

Cambridge President Tom Edwards said he was happy with the toss result. "It’s fine for us," he said. "We’re prepared for each station, so we’re looking forward to getting out there.

The crew starting from Surrey Station has won the Boat Race 74 times. Forty five times the crew winning the toss and selected Surrey went on to win the race.

Oxford were the last crew to win from Surrey, which they did in 2005.

The Boat Race toss uses an 1829 gold sovereign.

Earlier today Goldie, the Cambridge Reserve Boat, won the toss for the Reserve Boat Race and also chose to row from Surrey.

The Boat Race, which is sponsored by Xchanging, gets underway at 4.35pm, with the Reserve Race starting 30 minutes earlier.