In this Issue ...

Boat Christening

As it turned out, the women's 1st Torpid actually raced in Catz Me if You Can and the men's 2nd Torpid Tony Hancox - the boats that they had been training in for most of the term. And, yes, they all came through the event in one piece.

Torpids 1st-4th March
Crew	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Finish
Men's I	+1	+1	+1	+1	6th Div I
Women's I	+1	+2	+2	=	3rd Div I
Men's II	+1	=	+1	+1	9th Div V
The Men's (mixed) 3rd Torpid failed to row on

Bumps Charts
Men	Women

Amy Banham-Hall, Women's Captain

The Women's 1st Torpid closing on Merton on Thursday

Of all the challenges that I've faced in my rowing career, this term has proved to be one of the toughest. Because of this, the huge success that we have enjoyed this term is so much sweeter.

We had a small squad, in every sense of the word, but what they lacked in size they made up in spirit and sheer grit. By Torpids, many of the girls were pulling ergs that Matthew and I never imagined they could at the beginning of the term. A boat club is only as good as the people in it, and this term has shown once again that Catz girls are the most tenacious, determined and fun in Oxford, so I would like to thank all the girls for making this term the success it has been, both on and off the water.

Olympic athletes will tell you that it is all about peaking at the right time, and we did, but not before we had a few shaky weeks. I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried at times during the term, but with Matthew at the helm, and Timmy Cat in the cox's seat, we overcame some pretty large odds to pull off what many people said we couldn't do.

Our first race lasted all of five strokes, as the late arrival of Somerville left them flustered and starting only a boat length ahead of our bows. We dispatched them with clinical ease, and the scene was set for the rest of the week. Thursday saw us pitted against Merton. Unfortunately our phenomenal start was to be our ultimate downfall. Having hit 42 off the start, Merton's stern was soon bouncing off the aptly named Catz Me if You Can, but New College chose today to crash into the bank, allowing all boats in the division to row clean past them, which meant that they were no longer there for us to bump later in the week. If only we hadn't been so fast! Friday brought more woes. After we had pulled out the sensation of Div 1 and bumped Osler before the Gut, they went on to bump the falling Christ Church. We were rapidly running out of crews to bump, but were certain that with a good row, Queen's were certainly not unassailable. As the race came round and there still hadn't been a Catz crew to have made it through the Gut, the pressure was incredible and all the crew ready to prove themselves again. We went through the Gut a length and half behind, but with some powerful pushes, narrowed the gap to only a length, but unfortunately this was to be the closest we got. After our gutsiest row of the week, we finished up 5 places and third in Div 1, a feat that we could have only dreamed of at the start of racing.

Peter Goult, Men's Captain

The Men's 2nd Torpid in pursuit of Queen's II on Friday.

This term began with a very successful training camp, with a record attendance of 35 people during 0th week. Much progress was made early on and the boats began to order themselves. With senior rowers back the squad was looking very strong and, while hit by a few academic losses, things looked hopeful. A steady pattern of training below the lock and added support from Anu Dudhia and Matt Denmark helped Catz form very strong M1, M2 and W1 boats.

We approached Henley mid-term, entering 3 VIIIs with half the men's 1st boat also rowing in a IV. All crews rowed the 3000m head of the river race well, settling to good rhythm and particular mention should go the the men's 1st boat who, due to recent illness, had been stroked by Danish International Stephan Moelvig, and he helped them on their way to winning the S3 event - silver pots all round. Well done to all concerned, and particular thanks to Matthew Elliot for trailering support and Anu for coaching M2.

Finally, Torpids. With illness and academic trouble, the outlook 1 week before the races was bleak, but a combination of huge erg scores and a little luck helped all crews fall into shape in time. M2 pulled four bumps out of the bag and were exceedingly unlucky to get bumped on the second day by a Wadham schools crew, costing them their blades. M1 however, got off to a flying start on all four days, moving from 10th to 6th on the river, and demolished every crew in Div 1 in front of them in 30 strokes or so. With only one Catz crew actually rowing through the Gut all week, this is if nothing else, a testament to some impressive starts.

The Men's 1st Torpid taking the Boat Club flag for an airing after racing on Saturday.

A good night was had by all at the Rowing Society dinner. Blades for the men's 1st Torpid are being painted and chalked up as you read this. Very well done to all crews, and looking forward to Eights.

Men's 1st Torpid	Women's 1st Torpid
B James Bolton	B Emily Burfoot
2 John Anderson	2 Bailey Cahall
3 Dominik Moser	3 Joelle Abrahams
4 Darren Chadwick	4 Alice Newton
5 James Hutton	5 Kate Stinson
6 Peter Goult	6 Bianca Rautenbach
7 Steve Wicks	7 Charlotte Alldritt
S Alexander Zdravkovic	S Amy Banham-Hall
C Fleur-Estelle Shaw	C Timothy Rooney
Men's 2nd Torpid	Men's 3rd Torpid
B Christian Toennesen	B John Robbins
2 Malcolm Spencer	2 Leila Higgins
3 Simon Christian-Edwards	3 Grace Shortland
4 James Draper	4 Megan Steuer
5 Leo Masson	5 Adrian Johnston
6 James Mee	6 Ziqi Wu
7 Ralf Scheider	7 Joseph Ronca
S Michael Tran	S Rajan Jandoo
C Alyssa Lubet	C Annika Goldman

The 1971 St Catherine's 1st Torpid, photographed on the upper deck of the Barge.
From left to right, back row: Michael Pocklington (7), Geoffrey Lloyd (3), Roger Bricknell (5), Alan Swanborough (6), Peter Kelen (2),
middle: John Rollason (4), Nigel Henderson (str), Stephen Smith (bow),
front: R. Flack (cox).

1970-71 St Catherine's Association Chronicle

A History of St Catherine's Rowing 1875-1999

Now is the opportunity for those who have ever rowed for St Catherine's to obtain the second edition of the 'History', published in hardback with a maroon cover, with the arms of the College and the Boat Club magnificently impressed in gold and with a gloss dust-jacket - before the remaining copies sell out - but not by the route published in the February edition of the Rowing Society Newsletter; the telephone number quoted is not in use and should be expunged from any record of it which may have been made.

As the crews currently stand, Bastien Ripoll (Stroke) and Colin Smith (2) are rowing for OUBC, Bruce Magee (Stroke) and Nick Brodie (cox) for Isis. I thought Clare Shakespeare had been the women's lightweights but she doesn't appear on the crew web-page so I guess we'll see who shows up.

In the next issue there will be the reports on the Boat Races, prospects and arrangements for Eights and a look at the Boat Club of 1960/61 when Robert Bloefeld was Captain. Contributions for 'News from Alumni' are always welcome, but particularly from anyone from that era.

1 Apr 2006	Henley Boat Races
2 Apr 2006	The Boat Race
24-27 May 2006	Eights