This time last year, Rebecca Dowbiggin, the Cambridge cox, made headlines for her last-minute replacement of a male rival in the Blue boat, but the PhD student will weigh in tomorrow for this year's Xchanging Boat Race with the assuredness of someone who has survived being thrown into the deep end.

The Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic graduate displaced Russell Glenn, an American with a Blue in boxing, last year because he was deemed too aggressive, thus becoming only the thirteenth female cox in 153 Boat Races. Yet she serenely guided Cambridge to victory through the tumult of crossed oars and choppy waters. The 24-year-old, who is in the final year of a doctorate on the Anglo-Saxon economy, says the experience will stand her in good stead as she tries to become the first Cambridge woman to win back-to-back races.

“I'm definitely more used to things this year, which is a big advantage,” she said. “I'm enjoying the build-up much more because I'm under less pressure. I felt like I was jumping into the deep end last year, but all of us are used to dealing with pressure in one way or another.”

It seems odd that Dowbiggin, at 5ft, is charged with roaring eight man-mountains beyond their pain thresholds. But then she was chosen for the opposite reason. It is her quietly assured demeanour that has made her a popular figure in the crew.

“I'm the leader on the water and I think that does spill out to when we're not on the water,” she said. “They automatically expect me to be the person who organises things and knows what's going on.”

But being a 7st 9lb female in the company of male colossuses does not earn her special privileges. Indeed, the consensus seems to be that she can hold her own. “They don't make any allowances,” she said. “They find I'm not really a girl most of the time - that or they've become oblivious to my femininity. I have to say I don't feel smaller around them. I'm not sure what that says about me.”

Dowbiggin took up rowing in her first term at Emmanuel College, but has gone on to cox an England women's eight to a Commonwealth gold and last year won bronze at

the European Championships with a Great Britain women's eight. The latter was all the more impressive considering it was essentially a development crew.

Despite the honours, Dowbiggin says she was attracted to rowing for its social scene. She said the importance of the Boat Race struck her only after the victory last year. “You're taught to ignore all of that - the people on the banks, the press,” she said.

“But when we came back for the new term, so many people came up to me in the street to say congratulations. For about six weeks I was in a bubble. I was quite overwhelmed.”

Before she can savour victory for a second time, she must divide her research time between the economics of Anglo-Saxon churches and Boat Races of years gone by, because as helpful as experience is, the unpredictability of the day means that consecutive races may not be alike.

“I spend a lot of my training watching previous races, which is very important,” she said. “The Boat Race can be such a different race each year. You have to experience that, and I do it vicariously by watching videos.”

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