St. Catherine's College Rowing Society

[Prev] Newsletter#2, Trinity Term, 1996 (18th June) [Next]

Dear Alumnus,

Definitely one of Catz' better terms. From Dom Layfield, Men's Joint Captain:

The 1st VIII were lucky enough to decamp to Radley for the month preceding Eights week. Jean Le Manach (who coached Catz crews almost annually from '85 to '93) barked instructions at us from a launch as we ploughed up and down the river alongside Radley 2nd VIII.

Despite this superb training environment, we had copious troubles. Damien West endlessly postponed his arrival. Harry Bond was assaulted by tonsilitis, accompanied by suspected glandular fever. Tony Holt herniated a lumbar disc. I eventually retired to row with the 2nd VIII. Thus, the final crew did not row together until the Monday of Eights Week.

The 1st's found themselves rowing in a vacuum on the first day of racing, as Lincoln had bumped out ahead of them. Thursday saw a tidy bump on St Peter's. Chasing Lincoln again on Friday, they made regrettably little impact. However, after a change in race strategy for the last day, they were delighted to catch an exhausted Lincoln just past OUBC.

In the meantime, the 2nd's had been humming along nicely, even venturing as far as to compete in an external regatta. Never a crew with confidence problems, they romped to four easy bumps, including an overbump on St John's II. Having risen six places, they were the most successful single crew on the river. And apparently their coach wasn't bad either.

In the frothy waters of Division VI, the men's 3rd's excelled themselves. On Wednesday, they bumped Magdalen III almost before the start gun fired. Entertainingly, they made short work of the same crew again on Saturday, Magdalen III having managed to leapfrog ahead by double-overbumping the staggeringly bad Christ Church III on Thursday.

Lastly, I am happy to report that the 5th (or 4.5th) VIII, undaunted by their failure to row on for Eights, entered Oriel Regatta, and won the Novice category. A notable appearance in the boat was the college Dean, Mike Spence, rowing in the no.2 seat.

From the Women's Captain, Adrienne Gumm:
Once again Catz women have been hugely successful on the river with five crews rowing and four competing in Eights.

We had the crews and coaches sorted out early in the term. Susan Erb returned as coach of the Women's 1st VIII. Jon Haynes, captain of Osler-Green Boat Club, coached the 2nd VIII in which I myself rowed, since we were fortunate enough to have a surfeit of 1st VIII rowers. The 3rd VIII were made up of 'beery birds' who rowed for the social scene and were coached by Richard Copley. Chris Walsh brought in his Georgetown experience to coach the 4th VIII. The 5th VIII were a squad of novices and intermediate rowers with masses of enthusiasm who I hope will continue to row and achieve great things for us next year. I am extremely grateful to all those who coached and produced such superb results.

As you will know from our press coverage the Women's 1st VIII got 1st Division blades, bumping Somerville, Pembroke, St Hilda's and New to reach 2nd place from 6th. The 2nd and 4th VIIIs bumped up 3 places each, the 4ths managing a bump on the 3rd VIII in the process!

I would like to thank everybody who made being Captain such a pleasure and helped me in however small a fashion - it was always appreciated - especially Cheryl Hardy who has done so much for Catz. I wish the new captains every success in the coming year, and I hope that they have a chance to be as proud as I have been at every success and achievement of the Women's Boat Club this year.

Some more stats for the week: the Women's 1st VIII are now at their highest ever position in Summer Eights and, to match the 'quality', this was also the first time Catz has ever had 4 women's crews competing in bumps (no one else managed more than 3 this year). The men? Well, their 3 crews merely averaged a gain of 4 places each, but it was nice to see so many members of the well-hammered 1st and 2nd Torpids now doing their share of the hammering as the 2nd and 3rd Eights. Overall, Catz crews gained a total of 19 places, which was also more than any other college.

Another 'first' this year was the women's late-night redecoration of Donnington Bridge ('Tiggers have two speeds: fast and faster!') - apparently spending two hours in the middle of the night with paint, rollers and bike lights does wonders from crew-bonding - and a more modest effort from the Men's 2nd VIII which is something I'd rather not talk about. I suppose I could change my name.

Following the ceremonial stone-laying for the new boathouse on the Saturday, various Catz and Hertford dignitaries adjourned to the newly-sited marquee for lunch (a prime spot, just upstream of the bridge - why didn't we do this before?). The men's 3rd VIII then obligingly provided the cabaret by winning their blades right in front of the picnic tables. Mercifully, not on a Hertford crew, otherwise things might have got ugly.

Finally, good luck to all those training for Henley with the various University summer crews. Oh yes, and also those off to Atlanta. Remember, taking part is the important thing. And if you believe that, I know of a freshly-painted bridge I can let you have cheap.
Women's 1st Eight Men's 1st Eight Men's 2nd Eight
B Heather Booth B Frank Wagner B Andy Rushton
2 Emily Skor 2 Richard Copley 2 Dom Layfield
3 Rebecca Killick 3 Anthony Holt 3 Carl Mossfeldt
4 Daljit Gill 4 Harry Bond 4 Chris Walsh
5 Emily Lloyd 5 Samer Hakoura 5 Ollie Jones
6 Cheryl Hardy 6 Damien West 6 Matt Holdcroft
7 Bluebell Martin 7 Hassan Ahari 7 Jerry Bretherton
S Emily Dana S Dan Tollin S Richard Law
C Sarah Jones C Heather Balmer C Howard Cohen
Men's 3rd Eight Women's 2nd Eight Women's 3rd Eight
B Jon Flintoft B Jo Keable B Shona Revers
2 Peter Murphy 2 Theresa Lo 2 Cecilia Newbould
3 Chris Davies 3 Sinead Costello 3 Louise Ringrose
4 Paul Hearn 4 Anna Berry 4 Kirsty Lyall
5 Duncan Gouck 5 Frances Shattock 5 Pam Schuch
6 Nick Greenhouse 6 Caroline Trotter 6 Sarah Poolman
7 Tom Wright 7 Adrienne Gumm 7 Anna-Marie Ullmann
S Ben Brookes S Emily Thomas S Jane Golley
C Pete Morland C Sarah Askew C Sarah Haynes
Women's 4th Eight
B Liz Stuart
2 Emily Woodfield
3 Louise Weldrick
4 Amy Carter
5 Emma Brett
6 Catherine Snook
7 Mavi Tzaig
S Liz Sinclair
C Katherine Long

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

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