Newsletter#2, Hilary Term, 1997 (27th March)

The Men's Captain, Richard Law, writes:

The best way to sum up the term would be to say it was mixed. The prospects for the 1st Torpid looked somewhat bad initially, but with a lot of hard work it became a very respectable crew. Burway Head early on in the term produced a reasonable performance but more work needed to done. Henley Head was much better with the crew finishing 3rd out of the 8 Oxford College crews, and involving the infamous 'running-over-Wolfson' incident! The crew rowed well in Torpids but unfortunately were caught by the blade-winning Queen's crew on the second day so went down one place.

The 2nd Torpid, all novices, worked hard too, but had a torrid time. They learnt a lot during the term from the able coaching of Peter Murphy but went down four places. The 3rd Torpid had many exciting rows and ended up with the best results: going up one place.

The Rowing Society Dinner this term was a great success. Combining it with the Boat Club Dinner made for a fantastic evening and this should be repeated in the future. (including the lack of the AGM!)

The Women's Captain, Em Thomas, writes:

Three women's boats were training this term. The 1st Torpid under the guidance of Susan Erb and Matt Pinsent knew that this term would be tough, chasing Osler-Green for the Headship. The 2nd and 3rd Torpids, however, first had to face the challenge of Rowing-On. It seemed likely that the Torpids curse on the weather had struck again when the river was closed the week before racing, but fortunately the rain abated and Rowing-On happened a couple of days late. A good performance from the 2nd Torpid saw them qualify and resume their position 4th in Div IV. The 3rd Torpid put up a brave fight but unfortunately did not qualify. The 2nd Torpid under Ollie Jones' guidance had made the transition from a Christ Church Regatta Novice VIII to a 2nd Torpid very effectively (if not very smoothly). They soon began charging down the opposition, bumping Regent's Park, Pembroke II, Magdalen II, L.M.H. II and Somerville II to earn themselves a long-awaited fixed position (11th in Div. III) and blades.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the Women's divisions, the 1st Torpid set about scaring Osler. They were put under great pressure throughout the week and despite Catz producing a tremendous performance they managed to escape! But, as someone said to me, 'It was very exciting to watch - Great entertainment!' A great consolation!

Finally I would like to say a big 'thank you' to Susan who has coached Catz Women for the last three bumps races, taking us to second on the river in both Torpids and Eights. She is going back to America now and we are all very sad to be losing her, and we wish her well.

On the Saturday of Torpids there was, of course, the Rowing Celebration Dinner, with Rupert Obholzer, Matthew Pinsent and Steven Redgrave as guests of honour. Since a large number of those 250 people attending the dinner will be reading this newsletter, I won't repeat the details (which are, in any case, at little hazy), but I'd like to apologize to all those people who know me but with whom I did not have time to speak. I trust your evening was not unduly spoiled by the omission of my lengthy and opinionated views on Catz rowing and life in general. There is one image which sticks in my mind, though: that of the women's 1st Torpid dragging Steve Redgrave into the JCR pit to pose for some 'informal' group photos, and of him eventually escaping back to relative sanctuary of the bar muttering 'They're all mad!'. I don't know, but, to me, he looked scared.

Oh yes, and we got our own boathouse this term - a mere 120-odd years after Catz boats first took to the river. The club room upstairs is still a bit bare, but I hope the refreshments organised by Jessica Alexander and other boat club members made it feel more welcoming. If you were there, however, you will undoubtedly have noticed that it is an ideal location for spectators, giving easy access to the towpath and wonderful views of coxes getting it completely wrong coming out of the Gut (or not). The advantages of having a boathouse as a focus for alumni and other supporters of Catz crews, are, I think, obvious, but I would just like to reiterate what Matt Pinsent said in his speech at the dinner. It makes a huge difference for a coach and a crew to have somewhere private to talk before and after a race, somewhere to leave kit without worrying if it'll still be there when you get back, somewhere with rafts where you don't have to queue-up to boat, somewhere quiet to sit and sort your thoughts out, and generally just somewhere aside from the general mayhem. Having spent rather more of SCCBC's wilderness years than most having to make do with the OUBC 'facilities', it'll be difficult for me to get used to it. Although I'm sure I'll manage it.

Women's 1st Torpid	Men's 1st Torpid	Men's 2nd Torpid
B. Sinead Costello	B. Peter Murphy	B. James Stringer
2. Catherine Snook	2. Nick Greenhouse	2. Nick LeMasurier
3. Adrienne Gumm	3. Chris Davies	3. Andy Harding
4. Caroline Trotter	4. Paul Hearn	4. Ludovico Mazzola
5. Rebecca Killick	5. Ollie Jones	5. Ben Parry
6. Emily Thomas	6. Ben Brookes	6. Brian O'Malley
7. Bluebell Martin	7. Austin Clayton	7. Mat Edwards
S. Jane Golley	S. Richard Law	S. Greg Halton
C. Sarah Jones	C. Helen Barnes	C. James Conolly
Women's 2nd Torpid	Men's 3rd Torpid
B. Frances Burge	B. Ben Boddice
2. Jo Hardcastle	2. Michael Spence
3. Frances Whittle	3. Ed Hodge
4. Liz Smith	4. Laura Rose
5. Suzanne Maguire	5. Ed Smith
6. Liz Sinclair	6. Will Treves
7. Eleanor Cock	7. Mike Davison
S. Emily Sweet	S. John Halsall
C. Elizabeth Wright	C. Peter Morland

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

Links

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Oxford University Rowing Clubs

St Catherine's College Boat Club

St Catherine's Rowing Society