It was lucky seven rather than unlucky 13 for Cambridge cox Rebecca Dowbiggin in this afternoon’s 153rd Boat Race, sponsored by Xchanging.

Dowbiggin went into today’s race as the 13th woman to cox a Boat Race and the seventh Cambridge woman cox. She became the first woman to cox a winning crew since 2000.

And it’s the perfect pre-birthday tonic for the Light Blue cox, who celebrates her 24th birthday on Wednesday (11th April).

Dowbiggin urged her crew to relax as Oxford took an early lead in this afternoon’s race.

And afterwards she said she never doubted her crew would cross the finish line first.

“It was a really hard race, there wasn’t a second to relax. It was a very full-on race, right to the line. It was great to cross the finish line first,” said Dowbiggin – a late replacement for Russell Glenn in the Blue Boat.

She said she didn’t panic when Oxford took an early lead. “I could see them pushing so I knew what it was costing them. I knew we could absorb it and ten make our own push.

“They never got too far ahead and it never felt like we were out of the race. I always had confidence.”

Oxford won the 153rd Boat Race, sponsored by Xchanging, by one and a quarter lengths.