British stroke Tom Stallard is expecting the eights final at the World Championships at Eton on Sunday to equal the atmosphere of Boat Race day.

Stallard who was Cambridge President in 2002, is set for a battle royal after Great Britain qualified second in 5:49.90 behind Australia in their semi-finals today in front of an enthusiastic home crowd.

"It is not just the home crowd, it’s a bigger crowd than elsewhere especially the noise in the last 500(m) you don’t actually hear Great Britain, it’s just a tremendous wall of sound. It’s because in this country we get a lot more people out to watch rowing than elsewhere in the world, it’s fantastic!"

Crowds, of course, also traditionally line the banks of the River Thames in London for the 4 _ miles Boat Race from Putney to Mortlake held annually in the Spring, sponsored by Xchanging.

"It is just another example of how popular rowing really is here in Britain. Thousands of people come out to watch The Boat Race and at the end the noise is incredible. It is very much the same here at Eton, it just builds and builds and with that you row harder and harder. In some way the harder you row the louder they shout.

"When I did The Boat Race there was an arena feeling at the start with crowds on all three sides, which is what you get at the World Rowing championships too as you come into the last 500m."

The British eight at Dorney Lake also includes Josh and Kieran West(no relation and both Cambridge Blues) and is coxed by Acer Nethercott who coxed Oxford to victory more than once.

In all, eleven competitors in the eights at the 2006 World Rowing Championships have taken part in the University event which was first raced in 1829.

Today there was delight for Cambridge Blues Sebastian Schulte, Thorsten Engelmann and Bernd Heidicker, whose German eight also qualified for the final in second place behind the reigning world champions, the USA - whose crew featured Oxford Blues Chris Liwski and Paul Daniels.

Frenchman and 2006 Oxford strokeman Bastien Ripoll was not so lucky. His French eight were fourth, a place behind Canada, whose eight featured Kip McDaniel, of 2006 Cambridge vintage.