Newsletter#1, Trinity Term, 1996 (8th May)

The various Oxford-Cambridge Boat Races over the Easter vacation would not be regarded as suitable viewing for those of a Dark Blue disposition. No doubt you'll know that Cambridge won the Men's Boat Race by 2 3/4 lengths, and the Men's Reserves' race by 11 lengths (!) (still, that's 3 lengths less than last year - so maybe things are looking up), but they also won the Women's Boat Race (4 lengths), the Women's Reserves' race (5 lengths) and the Women's Lightweights' race (a canvas). The only crumb of comfort was the Oxford Men's Lightweights beating their Cambridge counterparts on a disqualification after the crews collided. Hardly satisfying, but these are lean times. Actually, the umpiring for this year's Henley Races was generally 'high-profile': the Women's Reserves' and Women's Lightweights' races were also stopped, but restarted. For the record, the two college representatives were Damien West rowing at no.4 in for OUBC, and Emily Lloyd at no.6 for OUWBC.

Our rowing alumni fared more successfully. In the Head of the River Race, I believe Neil Chugani (M.87) coxed the winning Leander Crew, containing Matt Pinsent (M.89); and Rupert Obholzer (M.88), rowing with University of London, finished 2nd. And in the Tideway Scullers Head - an event well down on my 'stupid things to do before I die' list - Hellen Newport (M.83) won the Women's Senior 1 Pennant.

We're now in 3rd Week and some of the top Catz crews, at least, seem to be settling down. At present the 1st VIIIs are: (*denoting ex-1st Torpid/Eight):

Men's 1st Eight	Women's 1st Eight
B Dom Layfield*	B Heather Booth*
2 Anthony Holt	2 Emily Skor*
3 Damien West	3 Rebecca Killick*
4 Richard Copley*	4 Daljit Gill*
5 Sam Hakoura*	5 Emily Lloyd
6 Harry Bond	6 Cheryl Hardy*
7 Dan Tollin	7 Blubell Martin*
S Hassan Ahari*	S Emily Dana*
C Heather Balmer*	C Sarah Jones*

Only Dom, Sam and Heather survive from 1st VIII Torpid. Richard and Hassan return to Catz rowing after a year's absence. Anthony is a fresher who'd rowed at Cheltenham, and Harry follows the well-worn Eton 1st VIII-Catz Geography path. Dan Tollin is an American graduate who either didn't notice or didn't mind that I accused him of being Canadian a couple of newsletters back. Damien West hasn't actually shown up yet, having been whisked off immediately after the Boat Race into trialling for the GB Olympic Quad, but I understand he'll be in the boat from Monday. The men are once again training down at Radley under Jean le Manac'h and the worst horrors he can throw at them (we're talking Radley 2nd VIII, of course). Is it just me, or are there other alumni who still shudder at the sight of red and white?

In the Women's 1st VIII, Sarah Jones and Heather Booth return after a year's absence; and Emily Lloyd finally gets to change out of her dark blue kit. The scary bit is, to fit in the newcomers, they've had to drop three of the crew that went 2nd on the River in Torpids ('not the sort of group you'd want to meet in a dark alley', as someone memorably, but anonymously, described them). Susan Erb continues the coaching, with occasional appearances by Matt Pinsent who, even when he's not saying anything, is pretty good just for intimidation value.

Catz crews had a brief (=unsuccessful) foray to Wallingford Regatta last weekend - the Men's 1st VIII and Fours from the Women's 1st and 2nd VIII all going out in the first round. It probably didn't help the Women's Sen 3 IV to have me coxing. The only other time I coxed in an ARA regatta was because I had too many points to row in the crew. Spookily, one of that crew, a certain Graham Elliot (M.80), was the coach of the Bryanston crew to whom we lost on Saturday. We're also running 'serious' 2nd VIIIs this term, with Jon Haynes coaching the women and me coaching the men (the rest of the 1st Torpid) with, hopefully, a little help from Peter Ainsley (M.54). I'm not sure what the other crews are planning, but the Men's 2nd VIII will be racing at Coate Water Regatta on May 18th.

Summer Eights will be from Wednesday, 22nd May until Saturday, 25th May. As last year, Saturday's divisions start an hour earlier for the very civilised reason of making sure that everyone gets to their Boat Club dinners in good time. The Women's 1st VIII start 6th in Div 1 (6.15/5.15), Men's 1st VIII 6th in Div 2 (5.45/4.45), Men's 2nd VIII top of Div 5 (3.30/2.30), Men's 3rd VIII 8th in Div 6 (2.20/1.20) and the other crews will have to Row On on May 17th. On paper, if not on the water, there could be a total of 5 men's VIIIs and 5 women's VIIIs this term (amazing what a little sunshine does). Given that we've had to put a boat ('Toes) into storage to free a rack for a Hertford boat while the new boathouse is being built, we do have a teensy bit of a boat crisis at the moment. If lots of Catz crews manage to Row On, then we're going to have a GREAT BIG boat crisis. However, that's the Captains' problem. The College should have sent you an application form for tickets for the Marquee (free) and the Alumni Buffet (£14 adults, £7 J15s). This is the last year we'll have the marquee (new boathouse, remember!) and it's finally going be sited where you can see some racing - just upstream of Donnington Bridge, on the opposite bank to the towpath. You can use your RS Membership card (which Bruce Mitchell will have included with this newsletter) instead of a marquee ticket.

The Rowing Society summer event this year will be something less strenuous than a row up to Godstow. Instead, there will be a joint Rowing Society/Boat Club 'Paddle & Picnic' at OUBC at 12.00 noon, Sunday, 16th June (end of 8th Week), with plenty of opportunities to take out eighs, fours or sculls for some informal racing, a gentle spin down to Timms and back, or maybe an impromptu capsize drill (there's a nasty rumour going around that Matt Holdcroft, the Men's Vice-Captain, has yet to experience actually stepping out of a sculling boat at the end of an outing). Food and soft drinks will be supplied by the Rowing Society, but bring your own hard stuff. There are also vague plans to invite Christ's College Cambridge to send a Men's and a Women's crew down on the same day to race against the College's finest, but that's all a bit tentative at the moment. If you are interested in the P & P, please complete and return the enclosed slip, which also includes details of Rowing Society Ties and Badges.

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

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