Cambridge University made it seven successive Boat Race victories - and were then hailed at the greatest crew of all time by their coach Robin Williams, who has been in charge of crews at the university since 1995. "This is the best team I have ever had," he said. "They may not have been as fast as last year's boat, but they rowed to their absolute limit and you rarely get a crew to row the perfect race.

"I don't think there was a moment where I could have said: `That should have been better guys' and that is a true measure of how good they were."

Despite Oxford being the bookies' favourites, Williams knew his crew had the ability to take the race.

"We knew we had a good crew and it worked out well for us that Oxford were favourites. It meant that we were left alone for much of the preparation and we went about out training in relative peace."

Cambridge were awesome. It was the heart and souls which went into this win which highlighted the difficulty of Oxford's task.

As with last year, there was a battle of the coxes within two minutes of the start and the unknown quantity, Vian Sharif, made her mark.

She took the battle to Oxford cox Neil O'Donnell and eventually forced him to give way. It was a hugely brave move and something her coach will never forget.

"She was wonderful out there and never once panicked despite flying close to the wind," he said.

"She was just what we were looking for when we were selecting the crew and proved herself out there. It was the seminal moment of the race. Oxford had lost half a length and Cambridge still had the huge advantage of the inside of the Hammersmith bend, which would give them even more distance.

"By the three-quarter mark, they had opened up a seven-second lead and it was all over. I am so proud of what they achieved," added Williams.

In the end the race became a procession and when they crossed the line in 16 minutes 41 seconds, three-and-a-half lengths clear, the Dark blues were left to scratch their heads and wonder what might have been.