Considering that some of these people rowed in the day when we boated from the old OUBC boathouse (site of the present Univ boathouse), it was pleasantly surprising to see that there was indeed sufficient residual technique, and physique, to get the boat both sat and moving. I think we would even have managed to Row On, at least for the women's divisions.

Also rowing were Mike Bull (M.99), Peter Murphy (M.95), Dilveer Panesar (M.99), Ben Parry (M.96), Jen Rees (M.98), Emmy Skinner (M.93) and Aisha Sowky (M.98). I coxed these youngsters.

As you were. The 1995 Women's 2nd Eight, in front of the old OUBC boathouse. Anna-Marie Ullmann is 4th from left and Bluebell Martin kneeling.

A few of these trophies have come to our attention (1883, 1885, 1903) and we assume these were awarded for an internal boat club competition, probably for novices in Michaelmas Term. We know that Minard and Spear both subsequently rowed in the 1907 Torpid, and Spear also in the 1909 Eight.

Searching the internet, Edgely is probably the Justice N G A Edgely who, in 1929, was the District and Sessions Judge of Sylhet and Cachar (Assam, India) and in 1946 was President of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal, but I could find no other details.

A similar search for A E Minard proved rather more successful ...

A E Minard (centre) from the 1907 St Catherine's Torpid

I found this on a web-site associated with North Dakota State University. The dates seem to suggest it could well be the same person who rowed for St Catherine's in 1906–07. I'll leave you to judge from the photos.

Archibald Ellsworth Minard was born in King's County, Nova Scotia, Jan. 18, 1878. He moved to the United States with his parents in 1889. Minard earned both bachelor's and master's degrees from Harvard University. He also studied at the University of Chicago, University of Wisconsin and Oxford University in England.

Minard became an instructor of English and philosophy at North Dakota Agricultural College (NDAC) in 1904. He was head of the English Department and later served as Dean of the School of Applied Arts and Sciences from 1919 to 1949. Minard also served as acting president of NDAC from July to September 1929, after President Coulter resigned.

Minard married twice, first to Gladys May Pease on September 2, 1908. She died December 23, 1939. On August 6, 1941, he married Mrs Elita Olson McArdle.

Minard died May 9, 1950, in Bethesda, Md. In his memory, friends and colleagues provided a memorial shelf of philosophy and science books in the NDAC library. The science building, which housed the School of Applied Arts and Sciences, was rededicated as Minard Hall on June 4, 1951.

A E Minard at the North Dakota Agricultural College. Photo from NDSU.

Apart from their winning three rounds to make the final, Catz' only other 'wins' were in the MNR: the men's novice VIII won their race but, racing as a 'friendly' crew (i.e., couldn't find enough 'legally' novice rowers) they could progress no further; and the women's only win came when their novices rowed over in their repêchage.

Michaelmas Term Regattas
	Men		Women
	2022	2023	2022	2023
Entries	8	5	5	2
Races	17	8	8	3
Wins	10	4	2	1
Win%	59%	50%	25%	33%
Best results shown in bold

In a flood-affected season, only two Isis Winter League races could be run, and a supplementary 'Isis Spring League' event was therefore held at the start of Trinity Term. Catz had men's and women's VIIIs racing in every event. The best results were from the first IWL, with the men finishing 2nd while the women, although 7th, were only 6.5 s off the winning time.

Fastest Catz VIIIs in IWL Races
Date	Event	Men		Women
		Pos	Time	Pos	Time
30-10-22	IWL-A	2nd	+12.0 s	7th	+6.5 s
05-02-23	IWL-D	9th	+33.0 s	5th	+19.5 s
30-04-23	ISL-A	3rd	+16.5	8th	+21.5 s
'Time' is difference from winning time

There were five Catz students in the December Trial VIIIs races, our largest contingent since 2005. Of these, three were selected (in the OULRC, Osiris and OUBC crews) to race Cambridge but, as with all Oxford crews last year, they lost.

A late Easter training camp was once again held at Lago di Monate in northern Italy, and straight after that the men put together a scratch crew to compete in the City Bumps, raced this time in VIIIs rather than the usual IVs.

Four crews were entered for Eights, one fewer than last year in the absence of a Men's 3rd Eight. The best result, once again defined by being the only Catz crew to get a bump (albeit a penalty bump), was from the Men's 2nd Eight, who were also the only Catz boat not to get bumped this year. The Men's 1st and Women's 2nd Eights lost three places each, the men just managing to row over on the last day to keep themselves in Division I, while the women's 1st Eight lost 5 places through an additional penalty bump.

Catz Crews: Current Positions
(& highest-lowest positions, 2014–2023)
	Men		Women
	2023	Range	2023	Range
1st Torpid	9th	(3–9)	29th	(8–29)
2nd Torpid	42nd	(33–47)	64th	(48–64)
3rd Torpid			—	(60–63)
1st Eight	12th	(7–14)	19th	(14–24)
2nd Eight	44th	(42–49)	62nd	(51–74)
3rd Eight	—	(56–89)	—	(75–79)
4th Eight	—	(88–91)

Since there was an extra women's division in Torpids, and also more women's crews in Eights, the number of points available for women's crews has increased this year.

St Catherine's dropped this year from 9th down to 14th. The last time we had such a drop, from 11th to 17th in 2015, it was immediately turned around and Catz rose every subsequent year until last year. The trick will be to repeat that turnaround.

At the top, Wolfson drop from 1st to 3rd, mainly due to losses from their women's crews, and Christ Church are now the leading college, having taken Headships in both the Men's Torpids and Women's Eights this year.

St Benet's Hall officially closed a year ago but the boat club lives on. They haven't actually raced since then but, had they raced, I think they might have officially been 'Blackfriars'. But from this term they, and presumably their places in the bumps finishing order, will be inherited by Reuben College, a new graduate college based on Parks Rd, on the site of the former Radcliffe Science Library.

The Women's Senior VIII, after racing in last weekend's Isis Winter League A.