When Peter Marsland crosses the finish line at Mortlake tomorrow he need only take a few more oar strokes to reach the home in which he was raised.

While not the only Londoner competing in the 154th University Boat Race, Marsland is certainly the most local. He spent his childhood on the exclusive Trowlock Island in the middle of the Thames near Teddington.

The 23-year-old environmental policy student is aiming to help Cambridge to their 80th win.

The heaviest of the Light Blues eight at 16st, he converted to rowing after sustaining serious injuries as a rugby player for Hampton School and Richmond. He said: "My shoulder kept dislocating, then I broke my wrist badly.

"I spent a year just getting drunk but a couple of years ago I was so desperate to get back into team sport and, because I'm quite big, I thought I'd have a go at that.

"I actually grew up on the river on a little island until I was 10; we got flooded all the time.

"I used to come to watch the Boat Race long before I considered rowing. So it's a bit of a homecoming for me."

Cambridge's Kiwi coach Duncan Holland said Marsland was a rare convert from rugby.

He said: "There are not many crossover skills but the attitude to training and learning are there. He has the discipline of training and working hard which is a fundamental aspect of top sport."

Despite Marsland's sheer bulk, opponents Oxford are an average 12lb per man heavier, making them 1-2 favourites to register three wins out of the past four races.

However, Holland believes the Thames course, with all its bends making conditions changeable, means experience is as important as strength.

The forecast 21mph south-westerly winds may not be ideal but they should present few problems, especially as Cambridge have trained on the Thames in recent weeks in winds of up to 50mph.

Cambridge's chances suffered a further setback on Wednesday when Ryan Monaghan was called up as a replacement to stroke Shane O'Mara, who was forced to withdraw due to a minor heart condition.

The Cambridge crew contains two Australians and an American. But the multinational Oxford Boat will have only two Brits in it and all but one rower is on a one-year course, which would not be permitted in the United States, where colleges are only allowed to pick from undergraduates.

Oxford also boast the oldest rower in the race's history: Michael Wherley, a 36-year-old economics student from Wisconsin who has also competed at the Olympics in Sydney and Athens and is a triple world men's eight champion.

Tomorrow sees one of the latest starts in the race's history, with it going off at 5.15pm to coincide with the faster "flood tide".

Race organisers hope the tea-time start will also be a boost to ratings and that ITV can match the eight million viewers it attracted four years ago after taking over from the BBC.

Holland believes the race's tradition is undiminished. He said: "It's not losing it's appeal. None of us are really quite sure why it is so popular.

"It is a London ritual and it's dramatic and it is one of the sporting events that Britain seems to specialise in which transcends the normal market."

Countering claims that the race falls some way below international standard, he said: "The best boat race crews would make Olympic finals. These really are world-class crews."