However, that isn't to say that the Boat Club has been inactive; we have the Captains' Reports and acknowledge the names of those who have been in training.

In other news, the College has announced the first recipient of the new Rowing Society Foundation Scholarship and I've been crunching the numbers on Boat Club results in last year's Finals. One of our alumni has been appointed to a senior, if temporary, position within British Rowing and there is a look at Oxford's prospects in the Boat Races that will take place over the next couple of weeks. Finally, our Secretary, Darren Chadwick, has planned some social events.

A week in the life of a lady who rows (Catz, Hilary Term 2014):

• Monday morning, 7am: Gym.
• Tuesday morning, 7am: Gym.
• Wednesday, any time you please: Gym.
• Thursday morning, 7am: Gym.

• Saturday: Morrell Avenue and hill sprints.
• Sunday: Uni parks and circuits.

If we were really pushing the boat out, as it were, we treated ourselves to a tank session as well. W1 had relief from this (productive) monotony in the form of a trip to Dorney, where our technical work on the ergs definitely showed its worth.

We have seen impressive gains in strength in all of our members, technical improvement by a clever use of our land-based resources, and the creation of a squad that is more than set for success come Summer Eights. I wish good luck and enjoyment to those rowing, and good luck and fortitude to all of those leaving to take on Finals — we've managed the first, so the latter should be a walk in the park!

Hilary 2014 will be remembered for many things, perhaps most for the vast amounts of rainfall that preceded and pervaded it. As a result of the flooding and the effect it had on the Isis river levels, there can be no denying that this was a deeply frustrating term. Plans were made to take a freshly selected M1 to Bedford Head, only for it to be cancelled with days to spare.

Despite the appalling river conditions, the Men's squad hit the gym. Hard. Erg scores steadily improved at a rate that reflected the impressive commitment of the squad to the increased volume of land training. Several of the Boat Club's new recruits from the Christ Church campaign joined the Senior Squad, and made especially impressive progress in the gym, and it's a fitting testament to the atmosphere fostered in the Michaelmas Novice programme by our Lower Boats Captains, that two novices made it into the St Catherine's M1 for Torpids.

Off the water, as always, the annual Rowing Society dinner was a fantastic event, and very well enjoyed by the Men's squad, and it was great to see some of our alumni come back for the occasion. The Boat Club Hustings also took place, with an enthusiastic and capable committee elected to take over after Summer Eights.

Now the squads attention turns to what will be, as always, a challenging Summer Eights campaign, kicking off with a training camp on the Isis in -1st Week.

The St Catherine's College, Oxford, Rowing Society's 21st Anniversary Foundation Scholarship has been awarded to Katie Power (2012, History). Katie is a member of the Boat Club and is Captain of the Women's Lower Boats. Commenting on the Scholarship, Katie said:

Katie Power

'Receiving a Scholarship has prevented stress that I may have had about finances and has enabled me to purchase essential copies of some of the often expensive key texts for my course. It has also enhanced my university experience by allowing me to enjoy the broad range of activities that are on offer, especially the rowing team. It has been brilliant training with the Women's 1st VIII this term (despite the lack of bumps racing!) and being on the Boat Club Committee as Lower Boats Captain. A big thank you to the Rowing Society who have established this scholarship! It was truly very much appreciated and I hope to be able to donate towards a scholarship myself in years to come.'

'In this academic year (2013-2014), the Rowing Society, celebrating its 30th year and the Boat Club its 140th, endowed its first Foundation Scholarship. It is for any undergraduate — not necessarily one who rows: it was awarded to Katie Power who, as the first Scholar, already looks to the circumstances of others. She may reflect with some satisfaction that her contribution to St Catherine's is not only reserved for future years. Katie — well done, many thanks, and best wishes!'

I've divided up all the results into 4 categories: those who've appeared in the 1st VIIIs, those who've appeared in 2nd VIIIs but no higher, those who've only appeared in lower boats, and those who don't feature at all in our records. Following the Norrington Table system — the mostly widely-used method for rating Colleges by finals results — I've also assigned a score of 5 points for a first, 3 for an upper second, 2 for a lower second and 1 for a third. The total score is then expressed as a percentage of the maximum number of point possible, i.e., 5 x (number of candidates).

2013 St Catherine's Finals Results
Number of students and Norrington Score
Category	I	II(i)	II(ii)	III	Score
1st VIII	7	4	1	0	81.7%
2nd VIII	1	6	0	0	65.7%
Lower Boats	3	9	1	0	67.7%
All Boat Club	11	19	2	0	72.5%
Non Rowers	25	64	8	1	68.2%
All College	36	83	10	1	69.2%

Of course one can read many things into statistics, particularly the statistics of small samples, and it was after all only the fact that I'd noticed our ex-1st VIII members doing so well that prompted the analysis. Nevertheless I'll just quietly draw attention to the fact that the Boat Club on its own (72.5%) would have ranked among the top 10 Colleges. Moreover, this is largely due to the results of ex-1st VIII members who, on their own, would have headed the Norrington table by a comfortable margin (81.7%). And which, perhaps, allows the very last part of the Women's Captain's report to be read in a new light.

British Rowing is pleased to announce the appointment of an interim Chief Executive Officer, following Kate Burt's decision to leave British Rowing last month. Neil Chugani has stepped into the role on a part-time basis, with immediate effect.

Neil has been actively involved in rowing for over 25 years, both as an athlete and a senior volunteer. He was a member of the Organising Committee for the Samsung World Rowing Cup held at Eton Dorney in 2013, and is a serving British Rowing Umpire and Steward of Henley Royal Regatta.

In the past Chugani has represented Great Britain as both an Under-23 and senior international, winning a World Championship gold medal in the coxed pair with Matthew Pinsent and James Cracknell in 2001. He has also represented Oxford University Boat Club, Leander Club and Molesey Boat Club, where he is still an active member

Prior to this, Neil held senior executive roles including Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director at BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, Deputy Chief Financial Officer at BSkyB Group plc, and was also a banker at Goldman Sachs. He was selected as a member of the Forum of Young Global Leaders at the World Economic Forum in 2009.

Annamarie Phelps, Chairman of British Rowing, said: 'Neil Chugani brings an invaluable combination of commercial and sporting experience to British Rowing, as well as an intense passion for our sport. I am delighted that he is able to join us at this important time for rowing.'

From British Rowing HQ, Neil said today: 'I am looking forward to an exciting and challenging start to 2014. I have a great love for the sport of rowing, so I am energised by the opportunity to lead forward the '2020 Vision' that is being developed for the future of the sport.'

Our sole triallist for University selection this year is David Zimmer in the men's lightweight squad. There's been no official crew announcement yet, but he was in the winning crew in their trials race last December and was more recently spotted in the OULRC bow-seat at Dorney Lake, so there's a good chance he'll be lining up against Cambridge at Henley on March 30th. The women's lightweights have announced their crew and it includes, at no.7, former Catz oarswoman Emma Clifton (now at Magdalen).

The men's Blue boats were officially announced on 10th March, although Oxford have subsequently made a further change. Oxford are on average 2 years older than Cambridge but 5 kg (9 lbs) lighter and 7 cm (3'') shorter. The bookies certainly favour Oxford at the moment, which might reflect their surplus in Olympic medallists (3-0) or returning Blues (3-1), or just that Cambridge were fairly comprehensively thrashed by Molesey last weekend. Oxford themselves have a stern test against Leander this weekend, which will almost certainly change the odds one way or another. However, since the end of the long Cambridge winning streak in 2000, the bookies have been notoriously poor at predicting the winning crew.

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