British oarsmen Peter Champion and Kieran West were agreed – today’s Boat Race victory for Cambridge was a triumph for ‘sticking at it’ when under pressure.

“Oxford were really tough and took it out to us,” said 29-year-old West, a 2000 Olympic champion with Great Britain who this afternoon tasted victory in his last Boat Race.

“What was truly awesome was that we relaxed and stuck to our rhythm,” he said. “We knew that it was going to be hard but we also knew we had it in us.”

“We always knew they would give us a good fight,” agreed Champion, a 24-year-old psychology student who raced for Britain in the World Universities Championships in 2003. “They never give up and they stuck in there right to the end.

“We expected them to hang tough and we knew they would be with us for a long time, but we stayed relaxed and trusted ourselves. They’ve got a lot of power but we stuck to our rhythm and did what we have to do.

“It was neck and neck all the way but we just stuck at it and stuck at it,” he added. “We knew if we stuck to our guns we would be tough to beat and that’s what we did.”

However, despite their superior experience and power, Champion admitted that Oxford’s gallant performance meant the Cambridge eight were never sure of victory until they crossed the finish line just before Chiswick Bridge.

“We came through Barnes Bridge in a good position but we still had three minutes hard rowing to go,” he said.

“Anything can happen in a race like this so the outcome was never certain. But the guys in front of me were fantastic and I just followed them.”