Meet the Boat Race's most glamourous star, Savannah Adamo, a jet-setting American swimsuit model who has swapped the sunny California beaches for the River Thames

Savannah Adamo is set to bring the glamour to this year's Boat Race with Oxford and Cambridge due to battle it out on the River Thames this Saturday.

The American, 24, has been named as part of Cambridge's 30-person team for the historic event, which will see the Light Blues look to defend their title after wrestling the Newton Trophy off their rivals in 2023. 

Adamo, who hails from Ladera Ranch, California, is a postgraduate student at Peterhouse College and studies Digital Humanities. 

She has swapped the sunny Californian beaches for the River Thames and could feature as cox - the team-member who faces forwards, steers the boat and motivates the other crew members.

In September, she was part of the Cambridge University Boat Club that travelled to take part in the Head of Shanghai River Regatta, in China, where she coxed the second team.

Last year, Adamo graduated from the University of California, Berkley, before moving to the United Kingdom, swapping the stunning California beaches and coastline for The River Thames. 

Away from rowing, Adamo also enjoys horse riding and skiing in the winter months. 

During her studies at Berkley, she won several honours including coxing her boats to clinch the Eric Will Trophy and the IRA National Championship. 

She also won the Pac-12 championship in 2022 and 2023 with Berkley, as well as the San Diego Crew Classic.  

Adamo says she first tried rowing when she was introduced to the sport after attending boarding school.

'I was going to attend a boarding school (Kent School) that offered rowing, and I was excited to try it out to meet new friends and get involved in a sport that was a very large part of the school’s culture,' she said during an interview with the Boat Race's official website. 

When asked what winning the boat race would mean to her, she replied: 'Everything.' 

On studying Digital Humanities at Cambridge, she added: 'Taking this course is a unique offering that Cambridge provides, and I feel very grateful to be able to learn about these digital methods of today and, inevitably, of our future.'

This Saturday's race will be the 169th time Oxford and Cambridge's men's sides have raced against each other and the 78th time the women's crews have done so too.  

The race is set to start in Putney and will finish in Mortlake, with approximately 250,000 people set to line the banks of the Thames. 

Rowers this year were told to take precautions ahead of the event with scientists urging competitors to cover up any cuts and to 'avoid swallowing any river water' after tests revealed high levels of E.coli along the circuit near the Fulham Reach Boat Club. 

The bacteria was discovered during regular testing by River Action between February 28 and March 26. 

Both teams have been warned not to partake in the tradition of throwing the winning cox into the river amid the dangerous levels of E.coli.

Last year, Cambridge won each of the four races and with the men's crews now leading Oxford by 86 wins to 81 while the women's teams also lead with 47 victories to their rival's 30.