Newsletter#2, Trinity Term, 1998 (20th June)

From Laura Rose, the Women's Captain this term:

The glorious Summer Term should bring more time on the water, less in the gym, a tan and gorgeous men in abundance. However it began with a rowing camp in Chester that brought snow and tidal waves and then large flooding in Oxford. Eventually rowing began and, as always, the women's crews were both busy and successful with four crews rowing altogether and two competing in Eights Week.

We took both the 1st and 2nd VIIIs to Coate Water Park Regatta totalling, with the men, one tenth of the college on this day trip! After a bad start due to my decision that cheap coaches are better than reliable ones [I assume Laura's referring to the vehicles] we eventually made it. Good job Tom and I decided to allow several hours to get there! The 2nd VIII were closely beaten in the first heat by Pembroke 1st VIII, whom the 1st's then went on to beat in the final along with St John's 1st VIII. We were all thrilled to receive our novice tankards, and it gave us a huge confidence boost for the fast approaching Eights Week.

Unfortunately the 3rd Eight did not qualify for Eights; maybe next year's captain needs to improve her coaching skills, or alternatively find a cox who will get up before 9am! The 2nd Eight just missed out on blades, bumping every day except Wednesday: L.M.H. II, Somerville II and Mansfield successively. Adding to which I heard several comments on the bank to the effect of "best 2nd VIII on the river", so things look good for next year's 1st VIII, even though several of us are leaving the crew.

The Women's 1st's maintained our place of 3rd on the river. Annoyingly we never quite managed to exact our revenge on New College - not from lack of trying though! There were several near misses, and only one moment of desperation where, three quarters of the way down the course and feeling strong, the klaxon sounded and we had to do it all again!

The Womens 3rds, due to inconsiderate field trips could not compete in Oriel Regatta. The 4ths got a bye into the final and did well to lose narrowly.

Several members of the 1st and 2nd Eights are trialling for various squad positions - maybe they'll have more luck with the sun! Good luck to them and everyone next year, and thanks for all the support!

Looking back on the start of the year, I don't think I could have begun to imagine the success and improvement of the men's boat club over the year. Starting with only a handful of rowers from last year, some keen novices, and a couple of American visiting students, things weren't looking as hopeful as they might have done. However, hard work during Michaelmas and Hilary saw solid foundations set up.

Trinity Term began as a new start for all the crews - the 1st VIII saw the return of Samer Hakoura (captain 2 years ago) and Olly Jones (returning from Isis) as well as a stroke side of new talent from school. The 2nd VIII was the most undisturbed boat - consisting of 5 members of the 1st Torpid, and leaving injuries and exams aside, this left a solid core for the 3rd VIII. Both the 1st and 2nd VIIIs went to Coate Water Park Regatta at the end of 3rd week, and this proved to be a very successful day. The 2nd VIII beat St John's 1st VIII to win the Novice final, and the 1st VIII reached the Senior 2 final, losing only to a very strong University of Wales Cardiff crew. Rowing aside, the weather was beautiful, and sharing a 57-seater coach with three other colleges made it a very enjoyable day out.

In all, six men's crews were entered for Summer Eights. Of these, three were required to row-on to qualify, and unfortunately none of them was successful. The 3rd Eight on the other hand, trained hard all term under the coxing (whip?) of Heather Balmer, and won their blades, bumping Christ Church III, Linacre II, Regent's Park and New III. The 2nd Eight managed an overbump on Worcester II on the Wednesday, as well as bumping Magdalen II on Thursday. On Friday, they rowed over behind a solid Somerville 1st VIII, before bumping again (Univ II) on Saturday. The 1st Eight had a nervous first day, bumping Trinity just seconds before they would have caught St John's. After that, the next two days proved easy in comparison, as we made short work of St John's then Worcester. Chasing Lincoln on Saturday was always going to be a hard task, and infuriatingly, on the day, they somehow managed to stay just centimetres ahead of us to the finish. I guess that's bumps racing for you.

Oriel regatta at the end of 7th week also included its share of excitement, with one IV winning the Open competition, and the other losing in the final of the Juniors. Clearly the fear inspired by myself and Ben Brookes (Nephthys) rowing in the pair was more than Oriel could bear, as they failed to turn up on the start line.

One final note: since some of those attending the Gaudy have expressed a wish to do some rowing the following morning, we thought we'd make it an official Rowing Society event: Sunday, 5th July, 11am-2pm at the new boathouse: the Boat Club will supply the equipment (and maybe a couple of spare rowers and coxes if any college members are around then?), you supply friends, families, and picnics (or head for the Isis Tavern). I hope to see some of you then.

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

Links

St Catherine's College

Oxford University Rowing Clubs

St Catherine's College Boat Club

St Catherine's Rowing Society