Oxford President Robin Ejsmond-Frey said Cambridge’s extra weight won’t necessarily give them an advantage in Saturday’s 153rd Boat Race, which is sponsored by Xchanging.

Ejsmond-Frey is the only returning member of the Dark Blue crew that won last year’s race by five lengths.

They go into this year’s race 4.3kg per man lighter than their Cambridge counerparts.

“We’re happy. We knew Cambridge would be big guys, and there are no surprises,” said Ejsmond-Frey at today’s crew weigh-in.

“Being heavier can be a bit of a mixed blessing. They’ve got lots of powerful guys, but they’ve got to carry that weight down the course, and it’s a long course.

“We’ve made some good progress. The fixture against Leander was a bit of a wake-up call and we’ve taken some valuable lessons from it."

The Oxford President said he enjoys the Tideway Week build-up to the Boat Race.

“It’s always an exciting time,” he said. “We can start really enjoying the boat and getting a lot of feedback from it.

“It’s just a mater of finding an extra couple of inches in the stroke. It’s always the last one or two per cent that are the most difficult to find.

"To get it right on the day takes a lot of preparation, both physically and mentally."