CUACAA Newsletter 2021

A PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS Saying that this year has been a roller coaster would be lying, as at least on a roller coaster you can see the ups and downs coming... This season we spent similar amounts of time off track and on track, but we also held more competitions than in any of the previous years in my time here. This year was also a year where most of our matches had to be cancelled, but also the first year in five where both men and women won the Varsity match against O*ford. We discovered a new skill we did not realise we had: adaptability. We did have many disappointing cancellations along the way. In November, Freshers’ Varsity fell just one weekend too late, days after the announcement of a new lockdown. The hopes of holding a VFEAR faded more gradually as athletics facilities remained closed to non-elite athletes. Finally, the occurrence of Varsity itself was questioned when, under 72 hours before the event, O*ford University cancelled the meet. But with every cancellation, we came back stronger and more determined to beat our opponents. After managing to relocate the Varsity to Lee Valley after a herculean effort from the committee and Achilles, what really struck me was not just how ready we were to compete, but how much we had prepared for this day. Thanks to the many competitions we had held throughout the year whenever possible, nearly everyone there not only had a PB but also a season’s best to go by. The promo video was ready, the blues bios and pen names written well in advance. Even those that were not able to come due to self isolation, supported their teammates on the live stream, with our women’s captain Martha Stevens pulling all the strings from behind her monitor. In short, we were there. Lea Wenger - CUAC President 2020-21 Samuel Clarke - CUAC President 2021-22