A FORMER pupil of Marling School in Stroud has been selected to take part in The Boat Race 2018.

Zachary Johnson, 21, who grew up in Ruscombe, will be the Oxford cox for the 163rd edition of the event which takes place on the River Thames this Saturday.

The race, between the two oldest universities in the world, Oxford and Cambridge, will be televised live on the BBC.

Despite the prestigious nature and rich history of the event Zak is taking it all in his stride.

“I’m not nervous about the race. I’m just very excited for it - we’ve been building towards it for so long and finally it’s almost upon us,” said Zak, who is studying music.

“I tend to think about it as simply a job to do, or a performance, if I do get nervous.

“I expect on the day I’ll be quite nervous in the few hours of waiting before the race, but I know that as soon as the boat is on the water I’ll be focussed and ready and the nerves will go.”

Growing up in Stroud there are limited opportunities to become involved in rowing and therefore Zak’s rise to become the first choice cox is somewhat surprising.

“The story of how I became the Oxford cox probably says a lot about my personality,” said Zak.

“In my first year I was watching the inter-college rowing event called Summer VIIIs and enjoyed the atmosphere so much that I decided that my way of getting fit would be to start rowing (as a rower, not a cox).

“One of my closest friends immediately called my bluff and bet me that I wouldn’t see it through.

“Without her doubting me and my desire to prove her wrong, there’s a fair to good chance I wouldn’t be where I am today.

“I got into coxing specifically because I was already a conductor and so had developed a good set of leadership skills and enjoyed those sorts of roles, and my college was needing coxes so I tried it out and immediately loved it.”

In the past five years Oxford have been victorious on four occasions and there is now an added pressure to continue their recent dominance.

“There definitely a bit of a pressure to take home another win,” said Zak.

“The crews are predicted to be very close this year so it’s really all to play for but hopefully that’ll just give us that extra bit of willpower and confidence to win.

“At the same time, we’re a very different crew to last year’s Blue Boat, so we don’t have the pressure we’d maybe have if there were five returners.”

Training for The Boat Race is a notoriously gruelling and physical process, with the competitors going above and beyond to make sure they are in top shape for the race.

“I obviously don’t have the physical component draining me like the rest of the team,” said Zak.

“However, it’s both emotionally draining and mentally draining.

“I’ve found the exhaustion from needing to focus 100 per cent for periods of up to two hours is comparable to having to sit an exam of that length day in day out.

“The training programme is an incredible thing to be a part of, it’s very successful and rigorous, but it is also without a doubt the most challenging thing I’ve ever come up against.

“Trying to balance rowing and work is one of toughest things about the programme because you lose the middle of every day to training.

“You learn to be very disciplined at waking up at a good time, and then cracking on with academics in the morning, then going rowing, then giving yourself just enough time off after rowing to recover and rest but not waste the evening away.

“Oxford is a wonderful wonderful place that I’ve fallen in love with over the three and a bit years I’ve been here. Of course it is a bit of a love-hate relationship.”

Having been selected to compete in one of the most prestigious events in the British sporting calendar, Zak and his family are incredibly proud of his achievement.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to have several moments in my life that I’ve been immensely proud of but I think this is certainly my most considerable achievement to date,” he said.

“My family are all very excited about it, and are very happy for me. They’ve been amazing through the whole trialling process and supported me immensely, I owe a lot to them and I’d love us to win for them.”

It is traditional for the winning cox to be thrown into the river after the race and Zak is planning to embrace this tradition if his crew are triumphant.

“Being thrown in the water is all part of the victory celebration, and anyway who doesn’t love a bit of dirty Thames water.”

The men’s race will take place on Saturday, March 24 at 5.32pm following the women’s race at 4.31pm.