Cambridge name squad for Boat Race

Half of the Cambridge squad of 28 students is made up of home-grown talent from Britain, including last year’s President Henry Pelly, one of four returning Blues from 2009. The others are this year’s President Deaglan McEachern (USA), last year’s bow Rob Weitemeyer (Canada) and Australian Hardy Cubasch.

McEachern, 26, is studying History at Hughes Hall and is the first student from the College to be elected to the prestigious post. He rowed at Five in the last Race, opposite his rival President this year.

There are also five returning Goldie crew members from 2009 – Britons George Nash, Fred Gill and Joel Jennings; and Americans Code Sternal and Shane O’Mara, whose illness took him out of the 2008 Blue Boat on the eve of the Race.

In all, there are eight different nationalities in the Light Blue squad: 14 Britons, four Americans, three Canadians, two Australians, two Germans, one Dutchman, one New Zealander and, for the first time, a Czech.

For Oxford there are nine countries represented in a squad of 26 that includes nine Britons, six Americans, three Swiss, two Dutchmen, two Germans, one South African, one Canadian, one Irishman and a female cox from France.

The 156th Boat Race sponsored by Xchanging will be staged at 16:30 on Saturday 3 April and screened live on BBC 1 within a two-hour programme.

The 2009 Race was televised in 153 countries around the world.