Oxford and Cambridge’s coaches have confirmed their crews are both fit and well for today’s (Saturday) 153rd Boat Race, which is sponsored by Xchanging.

It means there will be no late changes to the Blue Boats ahead of the race.

The 2007 Boat Race gets underway on the gruelling four and a quarter mile Tideway course from Putney to Mortlake at 4.30pm (BST) today.

ITV will broadcast the race live in the UK, LBC will provide live radio commentary, and more than 120 million TV viewers will tune in worldwide.

Some 250,000 people are expected to line the course on both banks of the river Thames and, for the first time, there will be live coverage of the race in the United States via cable channel ESPN.

Cambridge are favourites for this year’s race, and they lead the series 78-73, but Oxford have won four of the last five encounters, including the 2006 race.