Returning Rio Olympians are about to add their strength to a struggle between two of Australia's most prestigious universities.

Based on the famous Cambridge and Oxford University Boat Race, rowing crews from the University of Sydney and University of Melbourne will compete in the gruelling 4.3-kilometre Australian Boat Race from Woolwich to Darling Harbour on Sunday.

Fresh off the plane after winning silver at the Rio Olympics, Sasha Belonogoff​ said he was feeling confident the Sydney University Boat Club could defend their title.

"I think we've got the talent to hold our title and we do have a lot of depth in our crew," the 26-year-old said. 

"We had a row in the harbour this morning and things are feeling good and things are moving in the right direction – it sort of got the lungs firing and blew out the cobwebs." 

Belonogoff will be joined by fellow silver medallist Cameron Girdlestone.

The University of Sydney has won the men's race five times but is yet to taste victory in the women's race. Melbourne University has won the men's event once and the women's six times. 

Melbourne's Sarah Banting, who also returned from Rio, said the experience she and fellow Olympian Jennifer Cleary gained from competing overseas will hopefully help them retain their title.  

"There's obviously a lot of rivalry between New South Wales and Victoria, Sydney University and Melbourne University," the 22-year-old said.

"We have a lot to do with each other throughout the year and to bring it together in this sort of setting is very exciting and everyone's obviously very loyal to their universities, so there's a lot of pride on the line."

Event convener Chris Noel encourages Sydneysiders to head to the city on Sunday to watch the race.

The races will be televised on a big screen near IMAX and there will be running commentary via a loud speaker.

The first race on the program, St Andrew's v Ormond Women's Eights, is set to start at 8:20am, with the main women's and men's Australian Boat Races to commence at 9am.