Participating in the Boat Race was an experience I will never forget.

Jake Cornelius

Jake Cornelius and Tom James win the Boat Race

Jake an MPhil. student on the Department's Engineering for Sustainable Development course, was part of the winning Cambridge crew in the Boat Race on Easter Saturday.

Talking about the race, Jake said, "Participating in the Boat Race was an experience I will never forget. The training brought me extraordinarily close with my team-mates, and the race itself was a true test of character that helped me grow a lot personally. The pressure before the race is unreal. In the US, rowing is not a high-priority sport, so all the attention was a big shock to me. All the attention made it an especially stressful race, so in many ways I am glad it is over."

Jake began Rowing in 2000 in the US for Cascadilla Boat Club. In 2006, while an undergraduate in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University, he rowed for the US National Team Under 23.

It was a particularly sweet victory for Cambridge president and Engineering undergraduate Tom James, who finally became a Boat Race winner at his fourth and final attempt.

"I didn't really want to think about losing again. I don't know what I would have done, but I wasn't thinking beyond this race," he said.

"We knew they were going to hammer off the start and we had to stick to our guns and keep moving. "We kept pounding and coming down the straights. It was just a matter of listening to the calls and staying on your blades.

"Having lost three times, it's a great relief not to be in that situation again." Tom, who was in the GB first eight in the Athens Olympics, had little time to recover after the Race as he went straight on, with fellow Cambridge crewman Kieran West, to the GB National Trials for the 2008 Olympics.

Duane Rowe wins the Varsity Chess Match

Duane Rowe an MPhil. student on the Department's Engineering for Sustainable Development course has represented Cambridge University in the recent 125th Varsity Chess Match against Oxford University, which was held on March 10, 2007 at the Royal Automobile Club in London. Cambridge won the match with a score of 5-3.

Duane won the Cambridge Best Game prize for his spectacular game against WIM Olena Boytsun. Duane says it feels very satisfying to have participated in this prestigious and traditional varsity event, which has earned him a half blue.

Duane is the current and a four-time National Chess Champion of Jamaica where he is a “National Master” - a title he received in 1996. He has represented his country in the last four World Chess Olympiads in Turkey 2000, Slovenia 2002, Spain 2004 and Italy 2006.