St Catherine's College Rowing Society
President: Prof Ceri Peach
Vice Presidents: Don Barton, Neil Chugani, Richard Peters, Sir Matthew Pinsent CBE, Ben Sylvester, Andrew Triggs Hodge MBE.

The Benjamin F. Sylvester Jr Award

The winner of the 2016 award is James Wills

James Wills with this year's Ben Sylvester medal awarded at the Boat Club Dinner

[BFS Award]

James has fulfilled a variety of roles, official and unofficial, this past year, reflected in the nominations he received:

"He was Lower boats captain in MT ... which resulted in a good number of novices continuing after Christmas in the Senior Squad"

"His coxing was always aimed at achieving the best possible result for the crew"

"Even away from the river, James keeps an eye out for his rowers"

Proxime Accessit Alice Pickthall, for her continued enthusiasm and support, and always being available to step in at the last minute

Also nominated were: Martin Cusack, Kristian Kostadinov, Adam Weston, Rebecca Lenihan, and Katy-Louise Whelan.

Background of the Award

At the North American alumni reunion on March 16, 2002, Sir Peter Williams announced the establishment of an award to commemorate the splendid and varied contributions made by Benjamin F. Sylvester, Jr to the College. The award has been funded by the St Catherine's College (Oxford) Foundation.
A Benjamin F. Sylvester, Jr medal will be given annually to the member of the Boat Club who has most significantly contributed to enhancing the rowing life of St Catherine's College, Oxford.
Names of winners will also be displayed on a plaque to be mounted in the boathouse club room. Nominations will be solicited from members of the Boat Club and will be judged by a committee of former College oarsmen. The medal, designed by Dana Edmondson, depicts a Catherine wheel comprised of oars on a background of water. At the ends of the oars are flames symbolizing warmth and illumination. At the center of the medal is the crest of St Catherine's College, Oxford.

Design for the Benjamin F. Sylvester, Jr medal
[BFS Medal]

Previous Winners

2014 Ben Baron
2013 Joshua Morgan
2012 Joanna Harrall
2011 Theresa Kevorkian (Phillip McCullough proxime accessit)
2010 Jack Plummer
2009 Anu Dudhia (Special Award)
2009 Malcolm Spencer
2008 James Dunbar (Dane van den Akker proxime accessit)
2007 Michael Tran (Katharine Pierce proxime accessit)
2006 Darren Chadwick (Michael Tran proxime accessit)
2005 Steve Wicks
2004 Dan Robson
2003 Mike Bull
2002 Emily Woodeson
Back to RS page