UNIVERSITY BOAT RACE: OXFORD v CAMBRIDGE
Venue: River Thames, London Date: 3 April 2010, 1630 BST
Coverage: Watch live on the BBC

Hamburger was part of Oxford's victorious crew last March

Dutchman Sjoerd Hamburger will be the first non-native English-speaker to lead a University Boat Race crew after being elected as Oxford president.

Hamburger finished 13th in the single scull at last year's Olympics and was part of Oxford's winning crew in March.

"It is a great honour for me to be elected president of Oxford and I am very proud," he said.

His opposite number as Cambridge president for the 3 April 2010 race, will be American Deaglan McEachern.

McEachern, who briefly worked on Barack Obama's presidential campaign team in 2008, is a former US national champion in single sculls.

Having lost to Sjoerd in my first Boat Race, it's great to have another opportunity to come up against him Deaglan McEachern

He will lead the Cambridge effort to win the Boat Race for the first time in three years.

"I'm looking forward to preparing the Cambridge squad so that we can secure our 80th victory," he said.

"Having lost to Sjoerd in my first Boat Race, it's great to have another opportunity to come up against him."

Hamburger, who is 6ft 9in tall, was part of the heaviest crew in the history of the race, who won the 2009 race by three-and-a-half lengths.

The university crews begin training this month, with their first public outing the Head of the River Fours time trial event in London on 14 November.

Both squads hold selection events before announcing their final line-ups in the new year.

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