OXFORD coach Sean Bowden will hope that his vast experience will help lead the Dark Blues to victory on the Thames on Saturday evening (5pm), but is taking nothing for granted.

While his Cambridge counterpart, Steve Trapmore, is in charge for the first time, Bowden has been connected with the event for 19 years.

He has guided the Dark Blues to seven wins since Trapmore stroked the British eight to victory at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

The last debutant coach to win the Boat Race was Robin Williams with Cambridge in 1995, so the odds are against Trapmore in one sense.

However, Bowden does not view Trapmore as a rookie, but a threat – a young coach brimming with fresh ideas that could ultimately prove the difference on the Tideway.

He said: “Some of the best work I ever did was in the first year I ever coached.

“I wouldn’t be looking at Steve thinking ‘it’s his first year’. I think ‘here is a guy who will come in with some really good ideas and what challenge will he bring?’.”

Oxford have included 19-year-old Constantine Loulou-dis, a first-year undergraduate who has a chance of competing for Great Britain at London 2012.

The Dark Blues also feature cancer survivor Simon Hislop, George Whittaker, who Trapmore coached at Imperial College before he moved to Cambridge, and Alec Dent who is from Bampton, near Witney.

Hislop, a medical student, was nearing his finals at Imperial last year when he found a lump on his right testicle.

After deliberation Hislop visited the doctor immediately, rather than wait until after the exams. It proved a potential life-saving decision.

Within five days Hislop had been operated on and the experience has put tomorrow’s race into a certain perspective, although his desire to win is no less fierce.

“It affected me in good ways. You know things could be a lot worse. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

“I won’t get so nervous before a race. We are likely to be the underdogs we we are the type of crew that revel in that title.”

Despite being underdogs, Bowden remains upbeat about Oxford’s chances.

“The guys are in good shape and good spirits. They are a bit nervous and keyed up for it. Our prospects? We have a chance,” Bowden said..