A trio of River Dee rowers are set to launch out in the Women's Boat Race on Sunday after being named in the Oxford and Cambridge crews at Westminster's Central Hall this week
Dark Blue oarswomen Emma Spruce has been named at two and Ruth Siddorn at four to take on Cambridge's Hannah Roberts at seven in the 71st women's varsity race.
And the rivalry even extends to the clubs where the trio learnt to row, Oxford's duo first picking up an oar at Royal Chester and Roberts launching her career at Grosvenor.
Spruce, 23, from Higher Kinnerton, took European Universities silver in the eights in Moscow in 2011, and rowed for Wales in the 2012 Home Countries Regatta on Cardiff Bay, where the event returns this July.
Former Abbey Gate College pupil Siddorn, 20, from Chester, helped Oxford Women's second boat Osiris beat Cambridge's Blondie last year by 45 seconds over the full Tideway course, having previously won the junior girls' singles title at the GB Festival of Sculling.
Queen's School product Roberts, 21, from Hope, was elected Cambridge Women's Boat Club president at the end of last year, and despite losing out in Blondie last year to Siddorn's boat, helped the Light Blues take women's eights silver in the British Championships last October, ahead of Oxford in fourth.
This year will only be the second time the women have raced in tandem with the men over the full Putney to Chiswick 4 1/4-mile course, having previously raced the 2,000m stretch at Henley.
Oxford have dominated the last few years, but Cambridge lead 41-29 since the women's race was established in 1927.
Both crews have also raced top British club Molesey in the build-up, containing Wales caps Helen Roberts and Beccy Girling, with the Dark Blues beating the Hampton-based outfit by two lengths and 4L in two two-mile clashes on the Boat Race stretch, and the Light Blues winning by 6L in a three-mile race.
Cambridge have a slight weight advantage of 3.5kg per rower.
The trio all qualify to row for Wales, with Principality rowing bosses hoping to get them on board for their home Home Countries Regatta this summer.
They are not the only Welsh rowers to make crews for the Cancer Research UK Boat Races, with Great Britain U23 cap Josh Bugajski, 24, picked in the four seat of the Oxford men's eight.
He became only the second man to win three Home Countries titles in one day for Wales landing the men's singles, fours and eights titles last year in Glasgow, and was on board Oxford's second eight last year that rowed down Cambridge's reserves from a clear water deficit.
In the men's race, first held at Henley in 1829, Cambridge lead 81-79, with one dead-heat in 1877.
Oxford have won the last three, but pre-Boat Race fixtures would appear to make Cambridge early favourites in the men's race after they rowed back through British champions Oxford Brookes on the Tideway, who subsequently beat the Dark Blues.
