Oxford oarsman Andrew Wright is under no illusions about the challenge all of the rowers will face in Saturday’s 153rd Boat Race, which is sponsored by Xchanging.

The Canadian-American was a member of last year’s losing Isis crew in the reserve race, which traditionally precedes the race between the Blue Boats.

He steps up to the Oxford Blue Boat this time around for Saturday’s (7th April) race, which gets underway at 4.30pm.

“Even if we win by 10 lengths, it’s still not going to be comfortable 16 to 20 minutes," he said.

“That’s my main focus. I want to be ready for the pain, ready to push through it and enjoy more pain,” he added.

“Making the Blue Boat was a huge deal, to win the race would be very legitimate accomplishment.

“This is definitely the pinnacle of our rowing. This is above and beyond anything I’ve done before, it’s completely different.”

Wright says he and the rest of the Oxford crew have huge faith in head coach Sean Bowden’s programme.

“I think he has the winning formula,” said Wright. “It’s also a big advantage for us that we don’t have a lot of big egos. We’re a bunch of guys who are just really eager to win this race

“I don’t think Cambridge are as fast as they thought they’d be,” he added