“At no point in the race did I think we were going to lose,” said Canadian rower Dan O’Shaughnessy after his Cambridge eight had to come from behind and beat off a strong challenge from their Oxford rivals to win the 153rd Boat Race, sponsored by Xchanging, this afternoon.

“We just stayed patient and calm,” said the 25-year-old economics student when asked whether there was any concern as Oxford took an early lead.

“We just waited and waited and waited. Then as soon we’d finished the Surrey bend I knew we were going to win.

“In this race you are tired from pretty early on, and it would be easy to lose heart.

“But you just trust the training you’ve done and believe in your abilities. And that’s what we did.”