Life in Oxford seems, at last, to be returning to normal. Well, normal plus face-masks and regular testing. We're not there yet but, for the moment, everyone just seems so ... what's the word? ... happy.

I signed off the last newsletter saying I wasn't aware of any Catz participation in the Tokyo Olympics but, casting an eye over the new student intake, it seems I'll have to update the medal table after all. More details under 'University Crews'.

Back in September the Boat Club loaded up a trailer and headed to Wales for a training camp on Lake Bala — Niamh Louwmann provides a report.

In the countdown of Catz rowers and coxes with the most bumps races we now reach 22nd place, with a quartet of people all on 36 starts.

Very much in the present, inter-college competition resumed today with the first of the Isis Winter League races. If there was a lesson to be learned from the frustratingly stop-start past 12 months, it was: 'race early, and race often'. Catz crews were out in force.

This summer, the club hosted a week-long training camp at Lake Bala in North Wales. This was a great way to kickstart training after the long vacation and allowed us to train without the constraints of the Isis. The lake was beautiful, set in the hills of Snowdonia. We stayed in a house all together and took turns cooking each night, including a homemade pizza night and a barbecue.

Overall the camp was a big success. I'd like to say a huge thank you to RS for their generous contribution which helped with trailering and coaching as well as helping subsidise costs for athletes. Thanks to the captains for organising the training sessions, and to Rowan, James Duckitt and James Wills for providing coaching over the week.

Just happy to be racing again. The Women's VIII pushing off for IWL-A, Catz' first race of the season.

I know of 6 Catz students trialling for places in the University Crews.

Augustin Wambersie, going for his third Boat Race with OUBC, is joined by two freshers, both of whom are stepping out of the 2 seat of a quad scull to try their hand at sweep rowing. In Freddy Orpin's case it was with York City RC at Henley Royal Regatta, for Angus Groom it was the GB quad at the Tokyo Olympics (to be fair the latter has 10 years on the former). Wambersie himself was a Belgian Junior International, also in a quad. That's 75% of a pretty handy Catz quad sorted, should the opportunity arise.

Elizabeth Rees is trialling for OUWBC. After rowing in the Women's 1st VIII last year, she joined the OUWBC summer squad and had a good run at Women's Henley. I have a feeling we might not see her back in a Catz boat again until next summer.

Cici Hong, having coxed the men's lightweights to the only Oxford victory last year, is once again trialling with OULRC. Although, when it comes to returning coxes, a more accurate description of the trialling process would be 'being invited to reapply for their position'.

And our final triallist is former Women's Co-Captain and rower-turned-cox, Kaylin Chong, with the women's lightweights.

There's been very little news from the Oxford or Cambridge camps so far, apart from vague rumours that Oxford might have 'out-recruited' Cambridge. The Fours Head, on Saturday 13th November, will provide the first test of strength of the squads although, for reasons best known to themselves (and sadly for any prospects of a 'Catz' quad) OUBC seem to have decided not to play this year.

Pos	Starts	Name	Active
=22nd	36	C.D.R. Murray	1923–26
=22nd	36	Lewis Stevens	1956–62
=22nd	36	Emily Dana	1992–96
=22nd	36	Paul Hearn	1996–2001

We know very little of C.D.R. Murray, not even his first name. He rowed bow in the 1st (only) Torpid and Eight for two years, and then moved into the cox's seat for the next two, notching up 6 events in total, all of which ran for 6 days back then.

More recent, but almost equally evanescent, is Lewis Stevens, who never rowed higher than the 2nd VIII but rowed for 7 years, the last four of those in the 4th Eight, probably as a graduate. The Conservative MP for Nuneaton from 1983--92 had the same name, and was born in 1936, but I don't have any other evidence that they might be the same person.

The other two made rather more of a splash. Emily Dana is the second highest woman in the list. As a medical student, she rowed in the Women's 1st VIII for 5 years, more often than not in the stroke seat, moving both the Torpid and the Eight up to 2nd on the river and winning two blades in the process. Dr Dana is now a consultant anaesthetist for West Sussex Hospitals.

Paul Hearn having read Chemistry as an undergraduate, stayed on to complete his DPhil. Meanwhile, out of the lab, he worked his way up from the 3rd VIII to the the 1st, most notably as stroke of the 1999 1st Torpid which moved Catz up into the 1st Division where — apart from one day — they have remained ever since. He's also got his name on three sets of blades. Nowadays he is Head of Modelling at Imagile Infrastructure Management, based in Bristol.

Students are no longer required to wear face masks in the boathouse, coxes no longer need visors, and no one is going to miss the tiresome routine of washing down all the equipment after every outing. More importantly, crew dates and post-outing crew breakfasts are now back on the menu. Moreover, with all lectures routinely recorded, there's no actual need to rush breakfast for a 9am start.

As for Covid, it hasn't gone away of course but, within Oxford, it does seem to be lying low. Positive cases within the University are running at 2 or 3 a day and only half of those are undergraduates (it was 20 times that figure this time last year). It probably helps that now everyone is being asked to test themselves twice a week and the students, having experienced the alternative, are, if anything, probably more assiduous, and more vaccinated, than most.

Let's hope their 'Oxford experience' continues to converge towards the one we all remember.

Got the t-shirt. Got the cat ears. All set to race ...

Coming Up ...