![[Darren Chadwick]](../../rsarchives/mt04/rsmt042b.jpg)
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I've been reliably informed by Steve Wicks that the men's 1st VIII is the tallest and heaviest crew Catz have fielded for 6 or 7 years. I am pleased to say it was also one of the fastest and most successful Torpids in recent years. Up three in Torpids, and inches away (I know, I have asked the Wadham cox who had a pretty good view from her seat!) from blades !! After the problems of last year, I think we can safely say that we have turned things around. The club has been going from strength to strength with both men and women competing, and doing well, in all Isis Winter League matches this term.
The 2nd Torpid did not fair so well. They over-bumped on the first day, but narrowly missed out on a bump on Merton on the Thursday, which left them vulnerable to the fast crews ascending from the division below. Overall, they dropped four places, but they rowed well and partied harder afterwards, spraying monks, parents and video cameras alike with beer and champagne as they celebrated the end of racing on the Saturday!
This term has not been without its problems. Racing as a crew is made much harder when half of them are in London, New York, Blues sailing etc so my sincerest thanks to Theo, Sasha and David who stepped up into the breach. I think Theo has done nearly twice the number of outings as everyone else --- dedication or lunacy? The jury is still out on that one!
This term has been basically a warm up to torpids --- which were freezing by the way! (Racing against crews in white Lycra in snow flurries shouldn't allowed --- you can't see by just how much we were beating them by!). The training has been hard --- at one point on the training camp we were doing 7 hours a day in the gym, on the water and in the tank. That commitment showed through into some very respectable performances in Torpids, at Burway Head (where we finished fourth overall and 3rd in S3.), in the Isis Winter League, (two second places and a third in various categories) and recently at the Head of the River, where Catz rowers teamed up with Balliol and Wadham to produce a composite crew that came 240th. The dedication I have felt in the team this term has been encouraging, and where the results were unflattering, I know that the commitment was there, where perhaps we were missing a little bit of experience. This will come, and I know that the hard work will not stop until we have all crews going up in summer Eights. I would like to thank our head coach, John Hill, who has worked tirelessly over the last two years to produce the results we have had.
As a club, there is still a long way to go, but I really feel we are moving in the right direction. I would also like to thank Mike Bull for his stalwart work in coaching the men's 2nds in the final few weeks before torpids. We, as a club are looking forward to what will come in the summer because we have the talent, the drive and the facilities to make boats fly. Watch out the House, we are coming!
![[Lydia Hutchinson]](../../rsarchives/mt04/rsmt042c.jpg)
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Hilary term has been a successful one for the women. we got off to an excellent start with the pre-term training camp in 0th week. We had two boats training for Torpids, although sadly the second eight did not manage to row on. The first boat entered Burway which took place the Saturday before Torpids. We were entered in the S3 class and managed to come 25th/34 overall and 2nd in our class. We were very pleased with this result. As well as this we entered a number of the Isis Winter League races this term, not only in eights but also in fours and a double.
The womens 1st eight started 10th in division one in Torpids. We rowed over on the first day, bumped on the Thursday and Friday, then narrowly missed bumping on Saturday. Giving us a total of two row overs and 2 bumps, meaning we finished eighth on the river. A huge improvement on last year! We hope to have six members of the Torpids crew rowing in Eights, which gives us a good chance of doing well.
Although we did not enter the womens Head of the River this term, we do intend to enter a four in womens Henley in June. We plan to repeat the training camp for Trinity term and we will train not only in eights but also in fours. We hope to have 3 womens boats for Eights.
Attendance at a 0th week training camp suggested that there was an appetite for rowing from a wide range of people. More would have attended had the dates been confirmed before personal vacation arrangements had been made which prevented some from being available.
The week's activities covered sessions in the tank, on the water and in the gym. It was difficult to match the aspirations and competences of people who ranged substantially in their abilities and experience. Future camps might better deliver benefit by separating the squads by ability.
1st and 2nd crews were selected after the first erg test at the end of the training camp. Numbers suggested that men and women had adequate numbers to support two competitive crews each.
As it turned out, the lower boats' crews were thinly spread and it proved difficult to maintain regular crews for the men. My commitment to supervise the early sessions of the lower boats was compromised by professional commitments that coincided with the men's 2nds outings. Cover for my absences was not managed well and this did cause issues with that crew.
Future coaching will need to be better monitored with senior rowers - preferably those not involved in competitive rowing - taking some more responsibility for picking up any shortfall in my availability.
Allow me to thank Mike Bull for his sterling work with the men's 2nds in the later weeks which deserved a better return, given his and their commitment.
The women's 2nds were inspirationally led by Miriam Nemeth whose driving force was in sharp contrast to her slight frame. It is a shame that their overall pulling power prevented their Rowing On despite the best efforts from their more experienced crew members who would have challenged for 1st crew places had they been more available.
The men's 3rds were too loosely defined to comprise a proper crew for Rowing On. Having to draw on my own involvement, stroking with my broken arm, and calling in a Rugby crew member who hadn't rowed since last year, suggests that our slowest time (13secs slower than our non-qualifying women's 2nds ) was a fair reflection of our competence.
We should have had more experienced rowers guesting in and I'm disappointed that noone showed an interest in having a splash in a schools boat. I'm sure that many readers will be relieved to see the first boats bumping up after last year's results. Last year we had eleven novices in the two first boats. This year, we had two (three including the men's cox). And both those two have exceptional potential. Ten of the rowers learnt their rowing at St Catz, eight of them under my tutelage.
This year, we were fortunate to have some experienced rowers joining the boat club, three of whom brought with them existing competences which contributed greatly to our success. It's not the easiest task to adapt established skills to a new boat under a new regime. I have to applaud the ease with which Carl, Amy and Clare took their places and adapted to the task in hand.
As a coach, I am aware that too often I am focussing on the less competent rowers in a crew, often at the cost of not giving more gifted rowers the feedback they deserve. This needs to change.
We have a robust programme for bringing in novices and developing existing rowers. With the high turnover in College rowing, it is essential that a consistency is adhered to in order to ensure continuity between crews and from one year to the next. The Captains must seek to balance this longer term view with their own short term influence on the club during their year's tenure. We have learnt more this year than we did last year and it bodes well that Catz is seen as a College of rowing competence as well as a College of good sportsmanship.
I am planning to use smaller boats to develop skills in the senior rowers in preparation for Summer Eights. We are discussing a Training Camp which will be offering a substantial challenge to those who attend it. There are no easy wins in the first divisions and, looking at the order for Eights, our work is cut out for us. We will be working hard to achieve the best performances next term and welcome the continued support of the Society and the College.