Even though Oxford are older, heavier and taller than Cambridge, their coa-ch Sean Bowden, involved in his 12th Boat Race, is taking nothing for granted tomorrow.

For the 155th contest in this historic series, which starts at 4.30pm, the Dark Blues are the heaviest crew ever at 15st 9lb per man, while Cambridge themselves average 15st 1lb.

Even though two out of three Boat Races have been won by the heavier crew, Bowden is cautious.

He said: “The weight is not an issue for us and the crews are pretty evenly matched size-wise. It is a question of getting it right on the day.”

Colin Smith, the Oxford president, will be racing in his third Boat Race and is the lightest man in the Oxford crew at 13st 9lb, but he has got an Olympic silver medal to his credit.

“I expected us to be the heaviest crew,” he said. “Hopefully, we can turn that into going pretty fast as well.”

Cambridge’s new New Zealand coach, Chris Nilsson, in his first year there after coaching at Oxford ten years ago, seems unworried.

“The crew has a spirit and camaraderie second to none,” he said.

Oxford have four men over 16 stone, the heaviest being American Ben Harrison at 16st 10lb and the others include Croatian Ante Kus-urin, Oxford’s stroke for the second time.

Cambridge have just two over 16-stoners, but they do have five old Blues to Oxford’s three and experience counts in Boat Races.

“That experience is a big plus and it rubs off on the new guys,” said Nilsson.

In world experience, Oxf-ord excel with five Olympic performers in their crew, two of them Smith and Kiwi George Bridgewater, with medals to their credit.

Cambridge have no Oly-mpians, but they have six Under 23 internationals to Oxford’s four.

Of the smaller weight issues, Cambridge will have to pull less weight over the four-and-a-quarter-mile Put-ney to Mortlake course as their cox Rebecca Dowbiggin, in her third record-breaking appearance, is 12lb lighter than her Oxford counterpart Colin Groshong.

The bookmakers made Oxford the 4-11 favourites after the weigh-in, the last to be masterminded by ITV before the BBC take over again in 2010.