Ten years on from their previous victory in the Women’s Boat Race, Oxford finally found a way to win as they powered into an immediate lead over Cambridge which they held to the finish line in rough and windy conditions.

With both coxes making strategic decisions down the course to cut the corners, the result felt in the balance until the final few hundred metres as Cambridge never let go.

For Annie Anezakis and Sarah Marshall, it was their first victory at the fourth attempt. For Lilli Freischem, Kyra Delray and President Heidi Long, it was a reversal of last year’s defeat.