After the announcement of the squad selection for the 2011 Xchanging Boat Race, the Cambridge rowers have stepped up their preparation a full four months before they take to the river Thames to face Oxford in the annual battle for rowing supremacy.

The light blue rowers are operating now at a 35-and-a -half-hour weekly time commitment to the sport, not including compulsory video anaylsis and talks from dieticians.

Having Monday as a rest day, the Blues squad then have two sessions (two hours in the morning, four and a half in the afternoon) every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Morning sessions are split between ergs and weights. Friday is a two hour weights session at the Goldie Boathouse before spending seven hours in Ely on the water on both Saturday and Sunday.

The weekend water sessions are typically 20k each, and with two on both of the Saturday and the Sunday, the Blues squad members are training on 80k every weekend, along with their daily sessions.

With such commitment and attention to fine detail, the Blues will be confident of a repeat performance of last year’s Xchanging Boat Race, especially as they have the more experienced crew this time round. The light blue squad benefit from having four returning Blues compared to Oxford’s one, while Cambridge also have five returning Goldie Boat members. Oxford by contrast only have four who have rowed in the Isis Boat.