TEENAGE pupil Rebecca Te Water Naude saw an advert on the school notice board to try rowing three years ago and now she's gearing up to launch out in front of 100 million TV viewers in the Women's Boat Race, writes Nick Hartland.

The former Stanwell School student said she never imagined she'd be launching out in the Oxford crew to take on Cambridge when she first pushed out in a sculling boat on Cardiff Bay in 2014.

And the 20-year-old medical student said: "I'm really excited. It crossed my mind that it would be cool to make the Boat Race crew when I applied for Oxford, but never thought it would happen.

"It's amazing. My Welsh Rowing coach Liz Lewis said I'd maybe row for my college in year one, but I got into the reserve crew which was incredible, let alone the Boat Race crew in my second year.

"I only took up rowing when I was 17 after seeing an ad on the notice board for tall women to take a talent spotting test.

"Some friends had rowed and it was something I'd thought I'd like to try after watching the men's boat race on television.

"I wasn't very sporty, but I fancied giving it a go.

"I did some tests and Welsh Rowing took me on with their academy, where I got sent out in a sculling boat on Cardiff Bay.

"Everyone was quite surprised when I didn't fall in, me included."

Rebecca, who rowed for Oxford's reserves and Wales in the Home Countries Regatta on Cardiff Bay last year, added: "When I started, I didn't really know where it would take me, as I wasn't really sporty or driven.

"But I got hooked and wanted to see how far I could go."

Mum and dad Alison and Johann and her sister and brother Anna and Andrew are heading to the Thames to cheer her boat on this Sunday afternoon.

And now the Women's Boat Race, 80 years old this year, shares equal billing with the men's race, Rebecca's delighted to be showcasing women's team sport in such a high profile event.

"With 100 million watching on TV and 200,000 on the banks of the Thames, it's great for women's sport. It's one of the most high profile women's sports events in the world and that's really exciting," she said.

"It's huge that it has equal billing. People still say 'you don't row the full course, do you?' which is just ridiculous.

"To have equal billing isn't just important for rowing, it's important for women in a much wider sense.

"This is only the third Women's Boat Race with equal billing, and before I took up rowing, I didn't know the women's race existed.

"It's such a good team sport and it's massive to be showing women's rowing on the bigger stage."

But Rebecca has had to work incredibly hard to secure the three seat in the Dark Blues crew, training 12 times a week.

"We train twice a day, with around six rowing sessions of 12 to 18km a week and six strength and conditioning workouts in the gym," she adds.

"We've all got studies, so it's tough fitting training around that.

"It can be really hard heading for the river 10 miles away at 5.45am on a freezing cold and dark morning, but that's what we have to do, then after a day studying, we're hard at it again.

"I'm studying medicine, which is very demanding, and I've got exams the week after the Boat Race, so it's really full on. But we train so hard and we're really committed."

Both crews are top standard, with Cambridge coming second just four seconds behind a boat stuffed with Olympic and world medallists in the Women's Head Race last month in London.

"That shows their quality," said Rebecca, "but we're not worrying about them, it's all about maximising our own speed.

"Our squad is quite fresh and young compared to Cambridge, but our boat is moving nicely.

"We've come on well in the last few weeks and we're coming to the boil.

"We drew 1-1 with top club Molesey in two races in rough conditions on the Boat Race course.

"And we beat Oxford Brookes, one of the best crews in the country, and Newcastle University, and it was exciting to see how well we could cope with the different conditions.

"It can be really rough on the Tideway as last year's race showed when Cambridge almost sank, and there could be clashing, so we've got to be ready for the unexpected.

"It's a high pressure one-off, with so many unpredictable conditions, and it can throw anything at you.

"It's very spicy when a clash happens but we're ready for anything."

Although millions will be watching, Rebecca says: "I was in Oxford's reserve crew last year, in the first ever reserves race held on the Tideway on the same day as the Boat Race, and once you push off it's just you and your crew.

"It's simply about what your crew can do, and the focus is inside the boat, which is what you've been training for all those months.

"It was really hard losing the reserves race last year – six months work for one race, and not the result you want.

"It felt really tough, and I don't want to experience that feeling again, so last year is firing me up to turn the tide this time."

The Cancer UK Boat Race coverage begins at 4pm on Sunday, April 2, on BBC1, with the 72nd Women Boat Race at 4.35pm and the men's 163rd Boat Race at 5.35pm.