The Men's 1st Eight chasing Hertford on the Thursday

The men's first boat was left with something to prove after our drop in Torpids, and the majority of the crew arrived back in Oxford early to take part in an Easter training camp. We were in the unfortunate position of having lost three finalists from the Torpids crew due to exams, although the damage was limited by the return of two previous M1 rowers: David Zimmer, who returned after competing for the Lightweights reserve crew over the past year, and Hugh Taylor. The third place was filled by George Shankar, a new rower this year promoted from the 2nd Torpid.

Following the training camp we had two weeks of good training until the rains hit us. Within a day or two we had the red flag, preventing any water sessions on the Isis. Believing it would soon pass over, the first few days were spent land training while we waited for the river calm down, but it soon became apparent that this wouldn't happen any time soon. However, alternative venues were also unavailable to us due to EA red boards or wind. As a result we continued with land training and we were certainly fitter than we were in Torpids, however we lacked the time on the water to complement it. Time in the OUBC tank only went so far to compensate, and by the time that we were able to return to the water in 4th week, we had it all to do. However, we rose to the occasion and made huge improvements in the final run-up to Summer Eights.

On the first day of Eights we found ourselves in no-man's land, with both boats ahead and behind bumping out. This left us chasing a slower Hertford on the next day, but we were also being chased by a very fast Magdalen crew. Unfortunately, although we got within ¼ of a length of Hertford, Magdalen (who narrowly missed out on blades on the final day) managed to catch us before we could clinch the deal. After rowing over on the next day, Magdalen handed Hertford down for us to have another crack at, but they had a better row than last time and we couldn't bridge the gap.

The men's third boat was another affair altogether, and after qualifying in Rowing On, the crew changed daily. The highlight for many of the rowers was undoubtedly the opportunity to row with Zoe de Toledo, the 2012 OUBC cox. Although they lost two places overall, they came close to bumping many times, and arguably should have been awarded one, but were unfortunate to be awarded a technical row over after it was decided that New College were impeded by another crew.

As it is my last opportunity to address you all, I would like to thank everyone for making this year so enjoyable. Although I won’t have space to thank everyone deserving a mention, there are a few I would especially like to highlight, both for this term, and for this year as a whole. Thanks to Rory, for his unending enthusiasm, to Josh for his unbelievably hard work with the lower boats, to Henry and Inge for their unrivalled work behind the scenes and to David for his support and leadership with M1 this term. Finally, I would like to wish the new committee the best of luck for the coming year, I have every faith that you will help the Boat Club move from strength to strength.

The Men's 2nd Eight 'relaxing' after their last race

Following some very bad luck in Torpids, the girls were determined to come back with a bang this term, and we were all very happy with the result! The 1st boat was quickly set as everyone arrived back in Oxford. The majority of our 1st Torpid returned undeterred, bolstered by Charlotte and Inge, fresh from their victory over Cambridge. We settled into our training schedule from 1st week, but a high river forced us to turn to ergs, team runs and extra circuits for 2nd and 3rd week. The river opened in 4th week, giving us just one week to pull it together with as many outings as we could fit in.

Due to this lack of river time, Eights began with everyone unsure how the week would turn out. However, with most of us in the boat being used to having boats behind chasing us hard, the sight of the two boats behind fading away very quickly on the first day gave us a great confidence boost! Closing in fast on Worcester, a klaxon forced us to wait until the next day to catch them. Day 2 brought the first ever bump for everyone in the boat (except for Josh!), so we were all pretty excited. We started day 3 with confidence, and caught Somerville by the top end of the Green Bank. On the final day, despite a strong push from Somerville to bump us back, we bumped New in front of all the crowds on Boathouse Island - a perfect end to the week. I'm really proud of everyone in the boat, and glad all their hard work was finally rewarded with a result they all deserved!

The river closures had a large effect on our 2nd boat, leaving them to enter Rowing On having never rowed together as a boat, nevertheless they qualified easily. We had a struggle to get a full crew out every day, so I am very grateful to everyone who helped by subbing in. Unfortunately the start order placed us at the top of all the Rowing On boats, leaving us to chase boats from fixed divisions, and be followed by boats who had qualified with faster times. This led to us being bumped on two days, and overbumped on the other two. I am really proud of the girls for rowing well and remaining in high spirits throughout. I hope they enjoyed what was, for some of them, their first taste of bumps racing, and will be motivated to continue into next year.

Despite shortage of time, there has also been the opportunity for some novice rowers to try out rowing, and we hope they will also want to continue next year!

I would like to thank Jo and Josh, not only as enthusiastic and committed members of the crew, but also for being a great support throughout. Thanks must go to Rory and Mal for their coaching. I'd like to wish Izzy and the rest of the new committee the best of luck for next year.

The Women's 1st Eight, having added another stripe, celebrate their best result since 1996. Left to right: Josh Morgan, Katherine Pears, Linda Geaves, Emily Risness, Jo Harrall, Charlotte Marshall, Hege Larsen, Inge Hertzog, Izzy Renton, Rory Copus (coach).

Jo is the stroke of the Women's 1st Eight and cox of the Women's 2nd Eight.

Although her 'official' role is Women's Captain of Lower Boats, it is a measure of her contribution to the 'rowing life' of St Catherine's that the many people who nominated came from all sections of the Boat Club.

They described her as 'a dynamic force in the Boat Club all year, working wonders with the novice women and generally leading by example among every one of its senior members' and known for her catch phrase 'Let's do this, Girls!' yet still 'the friendliest person in the Boat Club'. The word 'legend' also came up a couple of times.

Swimmers!

Olympics

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