Cambridge’s Rebecca Dowbiggin is looking forward to being the first woman in five years to cox a Blue Boat at the Boat Race, which is sponsored by Xchanging.

The 23-year-old was initially due to cox the Goldie crew in the reserve race – the traditional forerunner to the Boat Race.

But last week Cambridge head coach Duncan Holland decided to replace American Russell Glenn with Dowbiggin for the 153rd Boat Race, which gets underway at 4.30pm on Saturday (7th April).

Dowbiggin, who coxed the Cambridge Lightweight Blue Boat in 2004 and the Cambridge University crew at last year’s women’s Boat Race, said she was initially ‘very, very upset’ at not winning this year’s Blue Boat berth.

“I was very disappointed. In fact I was very, very upset about the initial decision, but I didn’t want to stop improving once the announcement was made,” she said today.

“I didn’t think they would switch the coxes after the initial crew announcement was made. But as a cox, your seat is never safe until you’re sitting on the start line.”

Dowbiggin said she was surprised when she learned she was to cox the Blue Boat after all.

“It was quite a surprise, but I’ve been enjoying it ever since. It’s fantastic for me.

“I’ve had to adjust to the different personalities, but Goldie and the Blue Boat train together, so it wasn’t as difficult transition as you might think.

“I’d like to think I‘m very calm under pressure and that I can keep an eye on all the different things that are going on in the heat of the moment. There are so many things you need to think about.

“I can’t wait until Saturday,” she added. “I’m sure there will be some nerves at such a big event, but as long as you get the preparation right, on the day nerves can help you perform better. It won’t worry me if I’m a bit nervous on the day.”

Dowbiggin becomes the seventh woman to cox the Cambridge Blue Boat at the Boat Race. Six women have coxed the Dark Blue crew – two of them (Sue Brown and Liz Chick) on two occasions each.