The University Boat Race season begins in earnest in December when defending champions Oxford and this season's favourites Cambridge both take to the Thames for trial races over the 4.25-mile course

Oxford's squad has five Olympians but only Colin Smith � GB silver-medallist in Beijing - has done the Boat Race before and says: �We�re coming from a long way back [on Cambridge] in building a team�

New Zealander George Bridgewater, who won bronze in Beijing, tells BBC Sport: �Training is slightly less than for a national squad but people aren�t full-time athletes � we�ve all got to rush off to class."

Bridgewater�s crew, called Bear, lose their early lead when one of their crew loses his blade but American cox Adam Barhamand steers aggressively and they win by a length and a half in 18 mins 35 secs

Coach Sean Bowden says: �There isn�t a lot of Boat Race experience but these guys are experienced at racing� but Smith, in defeated crew Bull, says: �We don�t know whether that�s good enough�

Cambridge's new coach, New Zealander Chris Nilsson, receives his UK visa after a six-week wait, just in time to see the Light Blue trial � between boats named Looks and Personality

Tom Ransley, in Looks, has been part of Great Britain�s Under-23 squad and he says: �London 2012 is the aim. International racing is 2,000m multi-lane: here it�s one-on-one over a unique course�

American Shane O'Mara pulled out of the 2008 race at the last minute with a heart problem; he races in Personality and says: "It's seemed like one massive, two-year endeavour to reach one Boat Race"

Looks are faster but the crews clash halfway through their race and O'Mara explains: "I just held on to my blade as tight as I could; my blade struck his blade pretty hard and his popped out"

Umpire Boris Rankov disqualifies Looks, something that last happened in the Boat Race proper in 1849, but would Rankov dare do the same in front of a crowd of 100,000? "If exactly that thing happened, yes"

Oxford and Cambridge both have training camps in Europe in January and will be back on the Thames for a fortnight of preparation leading up to the 155th Boat Race on 29 March