AUTHOR

Jess Poon

It has been an honour and privilege to be President of CUAC this year. As I reflect on the year gone, I am incredibly proud of how the athletes, coaches and committee have come together and built such a successful year for the club both on and off the track.

Dominant wins at Freshers Varsity, VFEAR and strong performances at BUCS this year are all a testament to the hard work and commitment of all the athletes involved. The pinnacle of any year for CUAC however is, of course, the annual Varsity Match. This year was especially significant, as it marked the 150th anniversary of the Men’s match, the 50th anniversary of the first Women’s match, and the 2nd Para-athletics match, all hosted at home at Wilberforce Road. CUAC are hopefully back to our winning streak with a 4-1 matches win to end the day only narrowly losing the Women’s Blues match, along with many incredible performances to congratulate too. It was also a joy to celebrate the Anniversary with CUAC and OUAC members past and present: the evening before the match, we had the honour of welcoming Sarah Owen, Allison Benton, Jo Hollands, and Liz Stapleton to take part in a panel discussion, where they shared their experiences pioneering for the inclusion of women in Oxbridge athletics which was so insightful. The event also marked the opening of the World Athletics Pop-Up Women in Athletics Exhibition which we were incredibly grateful to be able to host for the weekend. It was a fantastic weekend celebrating the sport and my thanks go to the organising committee who helped with the event and everyone who competed and came along to support on the day!

This year also saw the return of Warm Weather Training after a three year hiatus, with a group of 50 CUAC athletes traveling to Portugal for a week of training in the sun. Many track sessions, kilo challenges and mario soccer rounds took place, and it was great to have the club come together to prepare for summer season ahead. Much social fun was also present throughout the year with the Allies and Alvers out in full force fortnightly at swaps and at Alver’s Cocktails. Annual Dinner was also a special evening celebrating the successes of the club, where we were joined by CUAC alumna and MBE Sarah Winkless as our speaker for the evening, who shared some wise words from her time in CUAC and The Boat Club.

Finally, the year could not have been as successful as it was without all the support that the club receives from all our alumni – thank you all for your encouragement to CUAC throughout the year, whether through donations such as our Women’s Sponsorship initiative, support at the Varsity Match or simply cheering us on from afar, your continued financial and moral support to CUAC remains a vital to making this club so special. My thanks also extend to the coaches, athletes and committee members who have worked tirelessly to make CUAC such an incredible club to be part of this year!

As I hand over to Jess O’Flaherty as President for next year, I look forward to seeing the successes of the club under Jess and her committee and joining the proud alumni network of the club. I hope to see many familiar faces at Alver’s Cocktails, Annual Dinner and Varsity over the next year and many to come!