Newsletter#2, Hilary Term, 1996 (17th March)

It was the best of times... Adrienne Gumm, the Women's Captain, writes:

The women's boat club has been very successful this term. We entered three crews for Torpids and had enough women wanting to row to make up a 4th VIII squad of 14 as well. They were coached by Alex Fielding and Becky Killick, and rowed on a slightly more social level than the rest of us. The 2nd Torpid were the 3rd fastest crew to Row On and started 5th in Div IV. The 3rd Torpid became the first Catz Women's 3rd Torpid ever to Row On, and this also resulted in Catz being the only college to have 3 women's crews in Torpids.

The 3rd Torpid (coached by Bluebell Martin) held their place (12th) although they had the experience of being bumped and bumping. Fun was the number one priority, especially on Saturday when the all wore paper Cat(z) ears and serenaded the bank-standers with choruses of "you are my Catz girls" on their way back to OUBC.

The 2nd Torpid had a frustrating few days of being bumped and then bumping, holding 5th place until Saturday when a beautiful bump on New College II left them in 4th position. Coaching of the 2nd Torpid combined the talents of Matt Holdcroft and Anu.

The 1st Torpid were expecting to row over every day as would anyone in the top half of Division I, so bumping up three places and ending Torpids Second-on-the-River [Well, Head of the college crews I suppose, since Osler are a faculty rather than a college], was a proud moment for us all and especially myself. We overbumped Somerville on Wednesday, bumped Wadham on Friday, and finally the rumoured 'uncatchable' New College on Saturday (a double blow for New).

The hard work and persistence of all must be congratulated. In the face of bad weather, cancelled outings and fairly fluid crews I have always found Catz women rowers to be consistently cheerful and enthusiastic. I would like to thank them all for the tremendous results of Torpids.

...It was the worst of times...Dom Layfield, joint Men's Captain:

As I am sure you are all by now aware, this term has not been one of unbridled success for Catz men. The 1st Torpid fell four places, and the 2nd five.

The failure of the 1st boat was not, as those of you who attended the Rowing Society dinner will have heard me remark, due to lack of determination or commitment. Our slightness of stature (with certain notable exceptions) might have proved a problem, but we trained hard, and ultimately I do not feel that our lack of success could fairly be attributed to lack of strength or fitness. Generally, our greatest deficiency was lack of experience, a situation not improved by the cancellation of the external events we entered [Peterborough Head cancelled due to ice, Burway Head due to floods]. I think the fact that we fell four places rather belittles the quality of the crew, and mention in our defence, that three of the four crews that bumped us won blades.

Our 2nd Torpid, under the captaincy of Tom Wright, suffered even more from lack of experience, the crew containing some seven novice rowers. Their progress was hampered by the withdrawal of one of the crew with a broken hand, by the usual fluctuations in the level of the Isis, and by erratic coaching. Having bumped up on the Wednesday, 'black' Thursday saw them plunge four places after getting fouled up in a melee of boats in the Gut. Subsequent protestations to OURCs resulted only in a fine for late concession. That, as they say, is Bumps Racing.

The future, at least, looks bright for the men's boat club. This summer's 'dream team' 1st VIII is set to materialise. The only question mark is Damien West, shortly to row at no.4 in the Blue Boat, who has promised to row if the National Squad permits. Most of the 1st Torpid will thus row in the 2nd VIII, where they look likely to do some real damage. With luck, we shall have much to celebrate at the Eights Dinner.

For the record, the Catz 1996 Torpids were:

Women's 1st Torpid	Men's 1st Torpid	Men's 2nd Torpid
B Anna-Marie Ullmann	B Jerry Bretherton	B Peter Murphy
2 Adrienne Gumm	2 Richard Law	2 Chris Lalonde
3 Daljit Gill	3 Ollie Jones	3 Paul Hearn
4 Emily Skor	4 Matt Holdcroft	4 Chris Davies
5 Rebecca Killick	5 Samer Hakoura	5 Nick Greenhouse
6 Cheryl Hardy	6 Chris Walsh	6 Duncan Gouck
7 Bluebell Martin	7 Frank Wagner	7 Ben Brookes
S Emily Dana	S Dom Layfield	S Tom Wright
C Sarah Askew	C Heather Balmer	C Howard Cohen
Women's 2nd Torpid	Women's 3rd Torpid
B Jo Keable	B Liz Stuart
2 Alex Fielding	2 Theresa Lo
3 Pam Schuch	3 Louise Weldrick
4 Anna Berry	4 Emily Woodfield
5 Sinead Costello	5 Louise Ringrose
6 Lindsay McHale	6 Emma Brett
7 Emily Thomas	7 Catherine Snook
S Caroline Trotter	S Liz Sinclair
C Pete Morland	C Katharine Long

This year's Rowing Society Dinner & AGM was attended by 55 people, and they heard the Chairman, Richard Peters, announce that contracts for the new boathouse have been signed and work, scheduled to take 40 weeks, will start any day now. We're just £16,000 short of the required £150,000, so if you were always meaning to do something about that appeal letter but haven't quite got around to it, now would be a good time to contact Margaret Simon at the St Catz Development Office. Also at the AGM, Richard Copley (M.89), Charlotte Elmitt (M.90) and Becky Henwood (M.91) were elected to the Rowing Society Committee, Becky taking over as Treasurer from James Sergeant. Talking of which, Helen (née Sagar) and James have just become the knackered, and possibly even proud, parents of a Henry.

Thanks to the efforts of Jen Atkinson (M.89), the Rowing Society now has specially designed brooches for those of us who've never felt entirely comfortable in a tie. These are circular, about 1" across, and feature the Boat Club crest in light blue and maroon enamel. The cost is £6, inc p&p. For these, or one of the silk ties or bow ties (£14), contact Richard Peters on 0181 540 8205 (evenings).

Finally, Good Luck to our prospective Blues, Emily Lloyd, in the Women's Boat Race on March 31st, and Damien West, in the Men's Boat Race on April 6th.

Anu Dudhia (e-mail: dudhia@atm.ox.ac.uk)

Links

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Oxford University Rowing Clubs

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