Despite the sudden appearance of an elephant behind the starter, neither British crew could match the pace of the University of Johannesburg boat that took first place. “We just hit it as hard as we could, we knew there was one big croc there who had been watching us all week in training. We just got going and that was that,” Grant Cellier, of the winning boat, said.

To the delight of the crowd, Cambridge lost out to Oxford by just a foot.

David Gillard of the Cambridge eight said: “It was absolutely unbelievable. What a setting. The start was delayed because some hippos strayed on to the course. We were told not to drag our hands in the water because the white of the palms could attract the crocodiles!”

The 2,000 metre race is part of a host of activities to mark Dr Livingstone’s sighting of Mosi-ou-Tunya — loosely translated as the Smoke that Thunders — on November 16, 1855, which he immediately named after Queen Victoria.

He described it in his notebook as a scene so wonderful that it must have been “gazed upon by angels in flight”.

The regatta took place just outside the small Zambian town of Livingstone, which is keen to try and take advantage of the chaos in neighbouring Zimbabwe to develop its tourism potential.

This year, the explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes is planning to retrace the anti-slavery campaigner’s steps. For many Africans, Livingstone’s expedition marked the beginning of colonialism, but the residents of Livingstone chose to forget that, at least for the duration of the event.

“I am very happy we are having this party,” said a hotel porter called Livingstone; a common name in these parts.

Oxford and Cambridge had two brothers competing, named, to the amusement of many locals, James and David Livingston.

“I went into the bank to change some money, and when they asked my name the whole place fell apart. They insisted on seeing my ID,” David said.

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