Club Committee

2010-2011 Manifestos

Katie Poseidon - Women’s and Overall Captain

I am a third year doing Middle Eastern Studies, and I noviced at First and Third in 2007. Since then, I've rowed in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Women's Boats, and enjoyed my time in all. This past year I was a WLBC, and hope to continue leading the women's boat club as captain this year.

My priority as women's captain would be to maintain the strong position First and Third women currently hold, as well as to improve up on it. Rowing with the women's club should be enjoyable, and, as we've found out this year, this is especially true when the club is successful.

Lower Boats

Although the women's captain's focus should be on the 1st VIII, I think it is important to encourage the lower boats as well. I rowed with W3 in my first term as an ex-novice, and W2 in my second year, and really enjoyed both experiences. I want to work closely with the WLBCs to ensure that lower boats rowing is as an enjoyable experience as possible, while also preparing members of the lower boats for eventual integration into the higher levels of the squad.

Upper Boats

After the success of W1 in Fairbairns and the Lent Bumps, I would aim to hold on to these top positions. Hopefully, W1 will be equally successful in May Bumps, and I would hope to build on and increase our success in the Mays as well.

I believe the most important factor in the success of W1, aside from the rowers themselves, is consistent coaching. Obviously, I would hope to continue our relationship with Iain, as his knowledge has been indispensable for the women's boat club in the past. At the same time, however, we cannot depend on Iain too much, and if he is not available to coach, finding someone who can consistently fill the job would be my top priority. By making use of the many talented bufties who live in and around Cambridge, I feel this is a realisable possibility.

Michaelmas Term

During the first term, I would work closely with the WLBCs to recruit and train novices, as well as work with the senior women to hold onto last year's Fairbairns win. My hope would be to get seniors involved with novice development, to foster club spirit early on.

In terms of training, I would start the term in IVs, in hopes of success in Uni IVs, as well as to get everyone back into rowing after the summer holidays and to receive as much technical attention from coaches as possible. At the same time, I would hope to train in the VIII as well, so integration after Uni IVs would be as easy as possible.

Furthermore, I will aim to form a 2nd VIII to enter Fairbairns, so that members of this year's lower boats can continue to train and gain experience, and hopefully get keen for trailing for the 1st VIII is Lent and May terms.

Lent Term

Obviously, the main goal for Lent would be to maintain the Lents Headship, which I fully believe is possible. It is my hope to maintain a high degree of consistency between the Michaelmas and Lent crews, but also have enough keen rowers to create competition for seats in the 1st VIII. By selecting the crew as early as possible, rowers would be encouraged to continue training over the holidays and during training camp to ensure they are as fit as possible for trailing for W1. By entering races on and off Cam, W1 will have a chance to gain experience together, and prove again that we will be retaining the Women's Headship.

The pre-term training camp would serve to not only integrate members of Michaelmas W1 and W2, but also novices into the senior squad, and encourage anyone who is interested to trial for places in the top boats.

The 2nd VIII would be formed from a combination of more experienced senior members of the squad as well as any ex-novices looking for slightly less commitment. W2 has finally secured a solid place in the 2nd division of the Lent Bumps, and I hope to continue this upward motion by selecting a crew relatively early in term and entering them in races on Cam to gain experience.

W3 should also not fall off the radar, and I would work with the WLBCs to form a strong crew of ex-novices to get on in Bumps. A successful W3 is, I think, very important for novice retention, and I would make it a goal to form as strong a crew as possible so that ex-novices get a taste of how enjoyable rowing can be (despite the winter weather).

Finally, both the 1st and 2nd VIII should enter WeHoRR, as we did this past year. Hopefully W1 will be able to build on the experience of last year and prove ourselves among the top crews in the country, as well as in Cambridge. For the 2nd VIII, I think the off-Cam experience is an excellent way to create enthusiasm and gain very useful experience, in hopes that they will be competitive for seats in the 1st VIII in May term.

May Term

The upper boats in May Term would be selected as early in the term as possible, so that the crew scan get together and begin training before any exam stress sets in. Again, hopefully members of the Lents W1 will stay on for the Mays 1st VIII, as well as any returning trailists and strong members of the Lents lower boats. Pre-term training camp would help with early crew selection, giving the women a chance to begin rowing together again, and making us competitive for races which begin early on in the term.

The 2nd VIII should be aiming to continue moving up, and will hopefully be in a position to secure a spot in the second division. Since W3 already have a position in the bumps, I would continue working with the WLBCs to ensure they also have a chance at moving up.

I very much hope to be elected women's captain, as rowing with First and Third has been the most enjoyable part of my time in Trinity, and I want to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to enjoy rowing as much as I have. My experience on the committee this year, as well as on TCSU in my first year, means that I am familiar with organising outings and coaching, and also have contacts among bufties which I can capitalise on in order to secure coaching. Finally, I am ridiculously enthusiastic about rowing and all things First and Third, so believe I would help create a good atmosphere for success!

Proposed by: Julijana Gjorgjieva
Seconded by: Mark McKelvie