The Boat Races, on the other hand, stubbornly refuse to oscillate and once again the light blues dominated, although Oxford did pick up one win this year (albeit, from a Catz perspective, probably the one we least wanted). We have to rely on our alumni in the veterans' boat race to remind us of how things used to be.

There has already been some early racing on the Isis. A scratch Catz men's VIII, including some recent alumni, entered City Bumps — like Torpids but with 4 days' racing compressed into one — and near approximations to both our 1st Eights racing last weekend in an impromptu Isis Summer League.

The ISL results in particular also provide some insight as we peer into the murky waters in which our 1st Eights hope to be able to swim come Summer Eights (22–25 May).

Listening to the radio, I overheard a familiar name in connection with sand dunes and, sure enough, it was indeed the same Catz oarsman I remember from a millennium ago. The recent St Catherine's Year, however, provided less welcome news of three of his near contemporaries.

'It's not the despair ... I can take the despair. It's the hope that I can't stand.'

In the women's race, Oxford took an early lead and had stretched this out to almost a length by Hammersmith Bridge, to no great surprise. But then it seemed the weight of institutional disappointment began to take its toll and Cambridge, on the inside of the Surrey band, started to pull back and just rowed through Oxford. One should not read too much into the 7 length verdict, most of that must surely represent the state-of-mind of the Oxford women once they realised that, in spite of everything, it still wasn't going to be their year.

In the men's race, Oxford lacked the spark shown in their match races and, having struggled to stay in contention for the first few minutes, eventually had to let Cambridge slip away.

In the post-race interviews it emerged that several of the Oxford men's crew had been ill, with polluted river water the likely suspect. That, and the fact that the winning crews had been warned against throwing their coxes into the river after the races has at least served to highlight the state of the Thames. The winter flooding led to regular sewage overflows and British Rowing is one of several water-sports governing bodies now pushing for action on this.

Isis and both lightweight crews also lost (Freddy Orpin was in Isis, Luca Nadig in the men's lightweights). The one glimmer of hope came from the women's reserve boat, Osiris, registering their first win over Blondie since 2015 and, indeed, the only win by any Oxford women's boat in the last 5 years. Unfortunately, from Catz' viewpoint, that also meant our alumna Helen Nielsen-Scott, in the Blondie crew, lost out to her older sister, stroking Osiris.

The Oxford Men's Veteran crew. Photo from BigBlade.

A couple of Catz alumni also took part in the Veterans' Boat Race held, for obvious reasons, over a shorter course. Ante Kusurin (M.06) was at stroke and Colin Smith (M.03) at 2, according to the Boat Race web-site (although I'd have to say that's not how it looks in the photo). The Oxford men, with an average age of 43, beat Cambridge (av.47) by 2.5 s while the women's race was declared a dead heat. However, since the average age of the Oxford women was 48 against 46 for Cambridge, I would interpret that as 'a dead heat to Oxford, by 2 years'. The women's vets race has only been going for a few years, but Catz alumnae are yet to take part (the Oxford women's ages varied from 40–56, and I know there are 5 ex-OUWBC/Osiris/Lightweight Catz alumnae who fit into that age bracket).

After the dust (silt?) had settled, Sean Bowden, the OUBC coach for the past 27 years, announced that he is stepping down and moves are now afoot to find a replacement (The OUWBC head coach, Allan French, is generally well-regarded but has only been in post for a year). The OUBC management has also been undergoing something of a reorganisation. I note the new Treasurer is Catz alumnus, ex-OUBC cox (and rapid Parkrunner) Nick Brodie (M.04).

With the merger, the floods and coaching changes at the top it's been a turbulent year for OUBC, but not without encouraging signs. They were favourites for this year's Boat Races with good reason. Next year's races will probably be determined mostly just by who gets the best post-Olympic athletes, so it may be 2026 before we can really see how the new Oxford structure is panning out.

Catz in close (but unsuccessful) pursuit of Worcester in the last round of City Bumps.

The Boat Club didn't run their usual Easter training camp this year so most Catz rowers have started the term with just a handful of outings since last October. The same will be true for many other colleges, although for Catz the problem is exacerbated by having very few returners from the previous year as well.

Eights 2024
Starting positions of Catz 1st Eights and last year's change in position
Men's Div I			Women's Div II
7	S.E.H.	+1	1	St John's	+3
8	Magdalen	+2	2	New College	−4
9	University	+2	3	G.T.C.	+2
10	Wadham	−4	4	Hertford	−4
11	L.M.H.	+3	5	Lincoln	+2
12	St Catherine's	−3	6	Trinity	+4
Men's Div II			7	St Catherine's	−5
1	Jesus	=	8	Exeter	+5
2	New College	+1	9	Linacre	−3
3	Hertford	+3	10	Mansfield	+2
4	Trinity	−4	11	L.M.H.	−2
5	Lincoln	+2	12	Somerville	−4

The men's 1st Eight start at the foot of Division I, meaning that they will be chased by the sandwich boat which, given that Jesus men don't appear to have raced in an VIII all year, will probably be New College. I also expect Hertford to be quick since they've managed to keep 2 men's VIIIs training, and racing, throughout the year. Starting ahead of Catz are L.M.H. who, like Jesus, also seem not to have raced this year. Ahead of L.M.H. are Wadham, who competed in City Bumps. That's them ahead of Worcester in the photo (Worcester went on to bump them). Wadham had also entered Bedford Regatta next weekend, but have now scratched.

Apart from the 1st Eights, there will probably be a Catz men's 2nd Eight consisting of novices (hopefully undertaking a crash-course in rowing at we speak) and possibly a women's 2nd Eight consisting of anyone who can be persuaded, so that may well depend on whether or not summer finally reaches Oxford in the next week or so.

Eights will be from Wednesday 22nd until Saturday 25th May. Racing will be from 12:15 until 6:45 Wed–Fri, and everything moved forwards an hour on the Saturday. In the spirit of egality, and rationality, these days there are seven men's divisions and seven women's divisions, racing every 30 minutes and alternating each year, so that this time it will be Women's Div VII racing first, and Men's Div I last. The standing rule that anyone can choose not to enter fixed-division crews for Eights, at the cost of a 4-place penalty in the finishing order, and I'm expecting a lot of captains to take that option. Last Eights (a 'normal' year), there were only 7 more entries than places available, so I'd be surprised if Rowing On this year serves any useful purpose other than proof of life.

Catz women racing in the Isis Summer League last weekend.