St Catherine's College Rowing Society

[Prev] Newsletter#1, Michaelmas Term, 1998 (31st October) [Next]

Dear Alumnus,

As I mentioned in a previous newsletter, I've been gradually compiling records of everyone who's ever rowed at Catz, those who've also rowed in University crews and past Captains of Boats (everything I have is now on the Rowing Society web pages, by the way). This is with a view to publishing the complete list as part of the next edition of the Boat Club History and maybe decorating the inside of the boathouse club room with some panels. I might have to concede that I'll never find out who was Captain of Boats in 1902-3, but someone must know the name of the Captain in 1976-7: the year after Roland Hill and before Jon Wilmshurst, the year the Men's 1st Eight got blades and the college barge sank - I believe the two events were not unconnected. Please get in touch if you know, or better still, if it was you yourself! I don't think anyone's blaming you for the barge, by the way.

Where was I? Ah, yes: the post-Gaudy paddle. Drink all night and still make an early(ish) morning outing, just like we all used to do when we were students (seemed like a bloody silly idea then, too). Displaying only a couple of minor cases of twisted arms, the following gentlemen turned up one fine Sunday morning in June and took Brain of Pooh, the men's 2nd VIII, out for a spin:

B Nigel Lloyd (M.67)
2 Chris Byrne (M.66)
3 Stewart Mann (M.66)
4 Kevin O'Hara (M.65)
5 Stephen Jepps (M.67)
6 Stephen Church (M.66)
7 Andrew Forbes (M.66)
S Chris Little (M.67)
C Simon Clark (M.66)
Simon hadn't coxed since he left Catz, but seemed to get the knack of all these fangled new devices (ratemeters, microphones, rudder strings) fairly quickly. I think I heard him say something about 'racing start' but the rest of the sentence was drowned out by coughing, wheezing, and possibly even whimpering noises from the rest of the crew. Bow and Stroke are regular rowers, but I suppose the others may have noticed one or two little changes in equipment during the 30 years or so since their previous outing. Even the seriously inattentive would have realised that, instead of repairing to the college barge (or was that 'repairing the college barge'?) after the outing they headed upstairs in the boathouse for tea and sympathy. They all said they'd enjoyed it. We should make this a regular morning-after-Gaudy fixture in future, open to all RS members, not just those attending the Gaudy. I'll give you all more warning next time. Thanks to Nigel for the original idea (and the arm-twisting).

That same week various other Catz members old and new (but younger and less overhung), were being put through their races at Henley Royal Regatta: Ben Brookes rowing for Nephthys (lightweight 2nd crew), and Ed Foster, Ollie Jones, Rob Kesterton and Ben Manners forming half the Isis crew in the Temple Cup. Luke Howells (M.88), rowing for Thames Tradesmen in the Thames Cup, had his Henley terminated by a Molesey crew coxed by Neil Chugani (M.87) (not the sort of behaviour we like to encourage amongst our old boys). The GB coxless four, stroked by that well-known former coach of Catz women's 1st VIII, Matthew Pinsent (M.89), defended their title in the Stewards Cup. You may have heard that this crew had had a bit of a nightmare start to the season when no.3 Tim Foster (also a former coach of Catz women's 1st VIII) cut his hand 'by putting it through a window while dancing at a party in OUBC'. That's the official line: the 'real story', according to towpath rumour, is slightly more credible but a whole lot less creditable. Anyway, they rounded off the year by retaining their World Championship title in Cologne. Also in Cologne, the new GB men's pair rowed well above expectations to make the final. I only mention this because it contained Steve Williams, of Oxford-Brookes University, who coached Catz women's 1st VIII last year. Incidentally, if there are any aspiring international oarsmen out there reading this, the address you want is: The Women's Captain of Boats, c/o St Catherine's College, Manor Rd, Oxford OX1 3UJ. Please enclose a CV detailing your previous coaching experience.

Meanwhile, far away in the rugged, but eerily beautiful wilderness of British Columbia, where men are men, women are women, but no one quite knows what to make of 'lightweights' (Is that some kind of low-alcohol beer?) 'English Bloke' Jerry Bretherton (M.92) is one of a small group of hardy missionaries trying to spread the gospel that there really is a difference between rowing and lumberjacking. Here's The Lightweight's Tale:

Having resolved to remain a student after my time at Catz, I declined a place at Cambridge to study in Vancouver. Here I am two years later, reflecting on a rewarding year of rowing for the newly assembled University of British Columbia Lightweight VIII. Not a substantial change, really.

During the Autumn head racing season and the Spring sprint season, I've rowed and raced in seven cities, on some spectacular water. Apart from the memorable surfeit of unisuits in San Diego, the head races provided me with the best memories. The only bind was the excess of starboard turns. Ah, yes, the different terminology. Our coxswain's reaction to my initial language barrier: 'Your bladework is pretty good for a novice.' Between you and me, these Canadians are a bit simple.

First; Victoria 'The Gorge'. After a two hour delay, as we took turns diluting the harbour, Two began grumbling about hunger. Even before the completion of ablutions, Bow exclaimed, 'Martin, what are you doing?' Splash. Confusion. Two is seen dashing along Victoria's busy waterfront sporting 'sparse' undies. Having terrified a Chinese gentleman out of two dollars, he dived off the dock to retake his seat, with chocolate. We raced approximately 3 minutes later, finishing 4th, ahead of our heavyweight crew.

Next, to the Willamette River, Portland. Ordinarily, losing a fin before the start would be terminal ... but ... if accosted by eight damp oarsmen, wouldn't you donate your spare Janousek fin? After a slalom past hundreds of smaller boats, we spanked the only other Lightweight VIII by 30 seconds. A pattern emerges.

For our first lightweight event on Lake Union, Seattle, no-one left the boat, but bow's backstay did sever early on. We won. Next season, we will race without a coxswain. This is the largest disadvantage that we can safely give ourselves.

My compliments to my crewmates for the year, and to those at Catz who provided me with my rowing education.

Back home in Oxford, the novices were sorted into fixed crews last weekend, and then it started raining. Then it rained some more, then, just for a change, it absolutely chucked it down for a bit before settling back to normal raining. Luckily for Catz, a number of our rowers are geographers in their spare time, so we were all prepared for what happened next: the river started to flow quicker. Nothing to match the Great Easter Uprising, but still fast enough for all novice rowing to be stopped. There were a tantalising couple of hours this morning when novices were allowed out (in the rain, naturally) but by 10am it was closed down again. Does anyone think the City Council would object if we submitted a plan to extend Catz moat slightly and turn it into our own private 2000m rowing lake?

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

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