KEY POINTS:
LONDON - Favourites Cambridge won the 153rd University Boat Race against Oxford on the River Thames today.
Oxford led for much of the race but a bigger, stronger Cambridge crew forged ahead in the final stages to secure the university's first win since 2004.
"I think it was the hardest race I've ever raced," Cambridge stroke Thorsten Engelmann told British broadcaster ITV.
"I was a bit surprised the first one, two miles that they were really so fast but we handled it quite well and we won," added the 25-year-old.
Englemann, who was a member of Germany's world title winning men's eight team, was the heaviest oarsman to take part in the boat race at 110.8kg.
Cambridge president Tom James was taking part in his fourth and final race and was victorious for the first time, having missed the 2004 win.
"We knew it was going to so tough... We just said to ourselves stick in it, stay loose, stay relaxed and keep in the rhythm and trust each other and it worked," James said.
"I've no regrets about the three years I've lost, they have been amazing years but this it is icing on the cake for my time time at Cambridge," he added.
Cambridge lead the series 79-73 with one dead heat in 1877.
- REUTERS
