The weather can make a big difference to the rowing in Hilary, and this term it seemed content to make our life as difficult as possible: snow transforming the towpath into a riverside icerink and then making the river unrowable for several weeks. Not even the 1st VIII's hot air was enough to melt the 6'' of ice we found when we arrived for a weekend trip to Dorney.

Despite these setbacks we managed to train hard on and off the water, with seasoned veterans alongside promising novices under Anu's integrated senior squad plan. We entered IWL D with multiple versions of each boat as a form of seat racing. Our 1st VIIIs came 3rd and 4th overall and our 2nd boats also achieved some solid results.

The weather cleared just in time for Torpids, into which the men entered three boats. M3, having had almost no water time due to the weather, put in a brave effort but unfortunately failed to row on.

The 2nd boat, being the top of Div 6, were tasked with reclaiming Catz' position in the fixed divisions above. On the first day they were able to outpace the Magdalen crew behind them, but unfortunately were hit with a case of the crabs in the second race so failed to catch Regent's. Spurred on by the thought of having to row twice three days running (and feeling fresher after their first race was klaxoned midway through) M2 proceeded to overbump Linacre on Thursday, followed by Hertford on Friday, after being bumped by a rapid Wolfson crew, and finally overbumping St Benet's and Brasenose after some mid-Gut carnage!

The Men's 2nd Torpid starting on the Saturday.

Men's 1st Torpid closing for the bump on the Thursday

The 1st boat were chasing Christ Church on the first day (the boats behind on each day were of no consequence), who went on to win Headship, and they managed to keep pace with them, finishing about a length behind Oriel after Christ Church bumped out. After this strong start they were able to seal the deal with Oriel on the Thursday, moving up to 4th. Friday saw them pitted against former head crew Magdalen. In a day of few bumps in Div 1 they managed to close to about a half a length but failed to catch them. Coming into Saturday with fresh determination it was a nail-biting race as Catz got closer at the crossover but Magdalen just managed to pull away, crossing the line before we could finish them off.

Still, good results all round; M2 are comfortably back in Div 5 and M1 made history by finishing in the highest position a Catz men's crew has ever achieved. I suppose the women did alright too.

Whilst I'm on the subject, I'd also like to thank Catherine for putting up with me for another term, Mal for all his help coaching and of course Anu, who not only is a brilliant coach but also allows us to go out in Amber Flag conditions and must have managed to cox everyone in the Boat Club over just the course of a single weekend (and, despite what Donnington bridge may say, Anu is not omnipresent).

I'd like to take this moment to say goodbye to everyone for whom this has been their last term of rowing (although I'm still not sold on this 'Finals and Summer Eights are in the same week' excuse, and I'm sure you will be back in a boat one way or another). I look forward to next term when the sun will be out and the Blues will be back.

Term began well with many girls from both the first and second boats attending a training camp in 0th week. It was great to have 12 girls competing for seats in the 1st VIII. Crews were finally decided and, for the first time in a long while [1996], Catz women had 3 boats set to enter Torpids. Unfortunately, though, the onset of snow meant we were forced to turn to ergs, circuits, weights and more ergs along with some giant snowman building. Despite the weather and limited water time one Isis Winter League race went ahead which all three crews took advantage of. The 2nd and 3rd VIIIs recorded some respectable times whilst the 1st VIII continued their winning streak! With the flag continuing to limit training and Torpids less than two weeks away the 1st VIII went to a completely deserted Dorney Lake for a hard but successful day of training. We all had to make the most of the water time on the Isis with the flag only dropping to Amber less than a week before Torpids. Despite this both the 2nd and 3rd VIIIs set some strong qualifying times in Rowing On with the 2nd VIII the fourth fastest crew.

The Women's 3rd Torpid (centre) in the thick of it on the Saturday ...

... while the Women's 1st Torpid had a slightly more relaxed time rowing over Head of Div I each day.

Following a huge build up, Torpids finally got under way with W3 proving their strength to overbump on each of the first three days and bump up on the final day to win blades! Huge congratulations must go to them. Unfortunately it wasn't meant to be for W2 who suffered a tough draw and a few crabs. Despite this they have still shown themselves to be a good crew who I expect to come through strongly next term in Eights now they have some bumps experience behind them. Finally I am very pleased to be able to say that W1 rowed over every day to retain the title of Head of the River. A klaxon on the first day meant that racing stopped after the first minute but on both the second and third days we rowed over comfortably. On the final day we were chased by Christ Church instead of Oriel but this didn't change anything, all the girls put in a tremendous effort to once again row over well ahead of all the chasing crews reflecting all the hard work that had been put in by everyone both during term time and the holidays.

With Torpids over we're now focussing on training for Summer Eights and the chance to finally bump some crews and the possibility of more blades! I'm expecting the women to be entering three VIIIs and we very much hope to build on the successes that we enjoyed this term!

This tankard belongs to my grandfather and was won by his father, E(dward) E(ltringham) Milner, who was in the bow in 1903. My grandfather and I would be really interested to know more about the event. I know that my great-grandfather was at Keble and then trained as a minister at Wycliffe Hall, so clearly the Torpid Fours were open to different colleges, but we don't know any more than that.

The other names on the tankard are: 2, J F Penson (could be I J); 3, A F Corney (again, could A J); Str., G W Tyndale-Biscoe; Cox, D Morgan.

Google reveals that Rev G W Tyndale-Biscoe was born in 1869 and although he graduated from Trinity in 1913, in 1903 my suspicion is that he may also have been at Wycliffe or some other theological institution included in the 'non-Collegiate' students category represented by St Catherine's Society.

Anu Dudhia (email: dudhia@atm.ox.ac.uk )