Oxford president Malcolm Howard expressed sympathy for one of the Cambridge rowers after leading the Dark Blues to a commanding 11-length victory in the 160th BNY Mellon University Boat Race yesterday.

A clash of oars saw Cambridge’s Luke Juckett briefly fall from his number two seat and Oxford took advantage to win by the biggest margin for 41 years.

“Any time you have a victory like that you have to be gracious,” said Canadian former Olympic gold medallist Howard.

“You can’t help but feel pain for the two seat of Cambridge – it’s tough.

“However, I don’t think that changes what we did. I’m really proud of the effort of the whole squad and I couldn’t be happier.”

Oxford have now won 10 of the 15 races since the turn of the century but Cambridge president, 25-year-old American Steve Dudek, was philosophical after another loss.

He said “It’s frustrating but, as a group of men, I couldn’t be more proud of the way they handled the day.

“The only thing I would change is the result.

l Report & picture: Page 36