SEB Pearce, a former pupil of the King's School, Worcester, is today a proud member of the Oxford crew that won the 152nd boat race.

Pearce, who was cox, used a pump to keep remove water from his boat during choppy conditions on the Thames.

Once the boats reached the halfway point yesterday strong winds created choppy conditions and Oxford had the clear advantage because their boat had a pump. The Cambridge crew were forced to carry the extra weight of any water they shipped.

Pearce made that tell, and the dark-blue Oxford boat soon moved two lengths ahead. He said: "I was pretty pleased with the fact that we were so far up at the start.

"We hit the rough water and we were awesome, we pumped through it and it was wicked.

Before he received the traditional ducking in the Thames from his crew-mates he added: "I think we were under-estimated. I had a lot of money on us to win."

Diminutive Pearce, aged 23, from Bromsgrove, is a member of Worcester Rowing Club. His eight-man crew defied poor conditions to win the four-mile race from Putney to Mortlake in a time of 18 minutes and 25 seconds and clinch Oxford's second straight win and fourth in five years.

Favourites Cambridge came in two lengths behind.

Pearce first took an interest in rowing while he was a pupil at King's. In 1998 he won gold at the helm of the Junior Women's Eight at the Home Internationals.

After leaving King's he spent four years at Imperial College where he gained invaluable experience on The Tideway, along with a masters in mechanical engineering.

He was placed fifth at the World University Rowing Championships coxing the GB Men's Eight in 2002 and won the first men's Student Fours at Henley Royal Regatta in 2004.

Pearce, who is now studying for a masters in financial economics at the Said Business School in Oxford as a member of Pembroke College, can now claim to have led Oxford University to their 73rd victory on the Thames.

The annual race between the rival universities is as much a social occasion as a sporting contest. Pubs and bars along the route in Putney, Hammersmith and Chiswick were packed with onlookers braving the wind and rain.