The Boat Race may be famed for its huge crowds but for Cambridge oarsman Jake Cornelius it was in the few quieter stretches of the Tideway where the 153rd race was won this afternoon.

Cornelius, a 22-year-old engineering student from Arkansas in the United States, said that as soon as Cambridge found their rhythm, pulling through the Chiswick Reach, the race was theirs to lose.

“I know that when we’re in our rhythm we go really fast,” he said. “But it wasn’t until we were away from the crowds that we could do that with ease.

“We knew that if we couldn’t get more than a length on Oxford it was going to be a long race,” he added. “We knew it was going to be hard so I think it was what we expected.

“But you get such a high from racing at such a speed, and with a kind of perfect rhythm, that afterwards it’s almost a let down.

“Now I just feel tired,” he said.