Veterans' Boat Races 12th April
Men's Veterans
Cambridge bt	Oxford	dqd	7:35*
Women's Veterans
Oxford bt	Cambridge	4 L	8:25
* Oxford's time, Cambridge at 7:37

Isis Spring League 4th May
89 crews raced
1st	4:04.5	Wolfson B	1st/32 M8
21st	4:55.0	St Catherine's B1	21st/32 M8
28th	5:07.5	Lincoln A
35th	5:14.5	St Catherine's B1	3rd/25 W8
38th	5:17.0	St Catherine's D2	30th/32 M8
50th	5:33.0	St Catherine's C2	32nd/32 M8
58th	5:45.5	St Catherine's A2	13th/25 W8
	ntt	St Catherine's A1	(race klaxoned)
1Variations of the probable 1st Eights
2Variations of the probable 2nd Eights

Our training camp this year took us to the edge of the Alps to Lake Bled in Slovenia. Driving in from Ljubljana airport we were greeted by a double Olympic medallist as our driver — who was happy to tell us that he thought Lake Bled was the best place in the world to row!

We started our camp with a little bit of snow fall, whilst rowing in coxless fours that the Slovenian national team had taken to multiple Olympic games. This then built a good platform and technique improvements for moving into eights later in the week. However after this the weather luckily turned for the better with sunshine and smooth water, perfect for training. Our mixed boat of novices enjoyed developing their skills amongst scenic views of churches, castles and mountains, whilst our men’s first boat had a point to prove after a disappointing Torpids campaign. With our coaches Sydney and Lauren (who’d kindly stepped in), strong progress was seen throughout with M1 finding a great rhythm and strong platform for Trinity.

Four days were well spent making the most of open water and consistent training. We ended with a few battle paddles between eights and a small boats session in which some of our doubles had to rescue a stranded launch.

The last evening saw most go for a dip in the lake followed by a social in the house we were being put up in for the week, with our lovely hosts David and Suzana being very accommodating. Overall it was a great week of rowing and team bonding, with everyone feeling lots of progress and we hope to be back in Bled next year!

The only Dark Blue crews providing any cheer over the whole weekend were the Veterans. The Oxford men crossed the line first but were subsequently disqualified due to an earlier infringement (being 'dq'd becomes a bit of a badge of honour once you reach a certain age). No doubt about the Oxford women's win, though, despite Cambridge fielding a couple of ex-Olympic oarswomen. Unfortunately I could not find any list of the crew members in these boats so I am not aware if any Catz alumni were involved. But even those victories just serve to remind us of how things used to be.

Oxford has recently changed its club structure and both men's and women's head coaches, to no avail. Even the usually-reliable OUBC post-Olympic year recruitment failed to turn the tide. All that's left is to have a board of enquiry (or, an 'alumni-led review of OUBC's performance', as it has been phrased).

Oriel men have been Head of the River since 2019 and, since they had 5 oarsmen in this year's Blue Boat, we're not expecting any change there. Christ Church took the women's headship on the first day of racing in 2023 and defended it successfully last year. They had no University rowers this year but neither did the two colleges behind them (Wadham and Univ); Oxford women's crews are usually drawn from a more diverse pool of colleges than the men.

This year Catz have entered 2 men's and 2 women's crews (one more than last year).

Eights 2025
Starting positions of the St Catherine's 1st Eights and last year's changes in position
	Men's Div II		Women's Div II
1	L.M.H.	−2	New College	+1
2	Jesus	−1	Lincoln	+3
3	Merton	+3	St Anne's	−3
4	St Catherine's	−4	G.T.C.	−1
5	St Hugh's	+3	Exeter	+3
6	Hertford	−3	Linacre	+3
7	Lincoln	−2	Hertford	−3
8	Worcester	+3	Mansfield	+2
9	Oriel II	+1	L.M.H.	+2
10	St John's	+3	St Catherine's	−3
11	Queen#s	−4	Merton	+5
12	Brasenose	=	Trinity	−6

The Men's 1st Eight start 4th in Div II at 5:45. The crew has 2 changes from Torpids: the bow and cox. Our men's 1st Eight has dropped 7 places in the past 2 years they are now at their lowest position since 1998. The 1st Torpid went down 11 places this year, including being bumped by the three crews starting immediately behind them in Eights while the next crew, Worcester, won Band 4 Eights at Bedford last weekend. So, barring klaxons, down another 4 places seems the most likely outcome.

Juan, from Texas, getting ready to cox Catz' first race of this term in the ISL. Unfortunately that particular race was klaxoned (due to stray river traffic) but he had three further, successfully timed, runs up the course with different crews.

The Men's A crew about to boat for the ISL.

The Women's 1st Eight start 10th in Div II at 5:15. They have 3 changes from the 1st Torpid, including the cox, but retain an experienced core. Last year they went down 3 places to finish at their lowest position since 2017 but, having (finally) picked up a couple of bumps in Torpids they'll be hoping for more of the same in Eights. The ISL performance was encouraging; they were the 3rd fastest women's crew, comfortably quicker than the crews starting around them in Eights (apart from Hertford, 5~s faster). However the Sunday-afternoon ISL line-ups are often {\it ad hoc} compared to the crews that train for Eights and actually make it on to the bunglines.

The Men's 2nd Eight will start 12th in Div IV at 3:45, the bottom of the fixed divisions, so chased by a crew that has not only qualified in Rowing On but also either successfully rowed over or bumped up earlier in the day. For the novices of Catz II, on the other hand, it will be their first ever bumps race, the ISL being their first ever race of any kind. I'm hoping that by the end of the week they'll at least be a bit more settled and have crossed the finish line at least once.

There was no Catz Women's 2nd Eight last year but under the new rules if they qualify in Rowing On (Saturday 24th May) they 'inherit' a position 4 places lower than where they finished in 2023, which would put them 6th in Div VI (1:15pm) at the lowest, but moving up for any crews above which either don't enter or fail to qualify. That being said, there are usually more places available in Eights than women's crews entered, so only the slowest boat in Rowing On gets eliminated. I would not put too much store in their ISL result, where they finished in the middle of the pack, since that crew contained several 1st VIII oarswomen doubling up, but the 2nd Eight is essentially the same crew that succeeded in qualifying comfortably for Torpids. They didn't get to race in Torpids due to the high stream so, as with the men's 2nd Eight, and most of the crews around them, this will be their first bumps racing.

The Women's A crew (2nd VIII-ish) racing in the ISL.

There are plans to run a bar in the Catz boathouse on the Saturday for students and alumni, as well as the Boat Club/Rowing Society dinner later in the evening at Brown's.

As ever, I shall be providing a live text commentary on racing throughout the day (Google 'racedesk live') and, in the evenings, sending out a round-up to those on the RS email list.