Cambridge University took on a Croatian eight on the Tideway this afternoon winning twice over two different sections of The Boat Race course.
The fixture was a tune-up for this year's Boat Race, the 149th in the series between Oxford and Cambridge, which will take place on Sunday April 6th, sponsored by Aberdeen Asset Management.
Cambridge's victories - by almost a length and two-thirds of a length - underlined the quality of The Boat Race crews.
The Croatian crew was carrying four of the eight who were fourth in the world final last year*. Croatia were Olympic bronze medallists in the eight in Sydney in 2000.
Conditions today were good with light winds and flat water.
"I'm pleased with how it went today. Now we go to Nottingham for a week to do our final tuning", said Cambridge coach Robin Williams afterwards.
Yesterday, Oxford lost to a Leander Club crew containing five current or former world champions, including Matthew Pinsent and James Cracknell.
It was a race which tested Boat Race umpire Boris Rankov when the crews clashed early on.