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diff --git a/34950.txt b/34950.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6b0d061 --- /dev/null +++ b/34950.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9382 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Rowing, by Rudolf Chambers Lehmann + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Rowing + +Author: Rudolf Chambers Lehmann + +Contributor: Guy Nickalls + G. L. Davies + C. M. Pitman + W. E. Crum + E. G. Blackmore. + +Editor: B. Fletcher Robinson + +Release Date: January 13, 2011 [EBook #34950] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROWING *** + + + + +Produced by Simon Gardner, Chris Curnow and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + + + + +Transcriber's Notes + +This Plain Text version prepared for smoothreading uses symbols from the +ASCII and Latin-1 character sets. + +Italic typeface is represented by _underscores_. Small capital typeface +is represented by UPPER CASE. + +Fractions are shown in the form 1/2, 2-1/4 etc. + +Greek transliterations are shown (at this stage) as [Greek: ... ]. + + [^a], [^e] represent a-acute, e-acute; + ['e] represents e-acute; + [E'] represents E-grave; + [oe] represents the [oe] ligature; + [^o] represents Greek omega. + +Detailed notes on corrections to the text etc. are listed at the end of +the book. + + * * * * * + + THE ISTHMIAN LIBRARY: A Series of Volumes dealing popularly with the + whole range of Field Sports and Athletics. + + Edited by B. FLETCHER ROBINSON, and Illustrated by numerous Sketches + and Instantaneous Photographs. Post 8vo, cloth, 5_s._ each. + + Vol. I. Rugby Football. By B. FLETCHER ROBINSON, with chapters by + FRANK MITCHELL, R. H. CATTELL, C. J. N. FLEMING, GREGOR MACGREGOR, + and H. B. TRISTRAM, and dedicated by permission to Mr. ROWLAND + HILL. + + Vol. II. The Complete Cyclist. By A. C. PEMBERTON, Mrs. HARCOURT + WILLIAMSON, and C. J. SISLEY. + + Vol. IV. Rowing. By R. C. LEHMANN, with chapters by GUY NICKALLS and + C. M. PITMAN. + + Vol. V. Boxing. By R. ALLANSON WINN. + + + _Other volumes are in preparation, and will be duly announced._ + + + + + ROWING + + +[Illustration: THE OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE BOATRACE, 1894.] + + The Isthmian Library + Edited by B. Fletcher Robinson + + No. 4 + + ROWING + + BY + R. C. LEHMANN + + WITH CONTRIBUTIONS BY + GUY NICKALLS, G. L. DAVIS, C. M. PITMAN, + W. E. CRUM, AND E. G. BLACKMORE + + _ILLUSTRATED_ + + LONDON + A. D. INNES & COMPANY + LIMITED + 1898 + + * * * * * + + + AS A SLIGHT TOKEN OF FRIENDSHIP + + I DEDICATE THIS BOOK + + TO + + MR. HERBERT THOMAS STEWARD, + + CHAIRMAN OF THE AMATEUR ROWING ASSOCIATION; + CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT, HENLEY REGATTA; + AND PRESIDENT OF THE LEANDER CLUB. + + + + +AUTHOR'S PREFACE. + + +My thanks are due to the proprietors of the _Daily News_ and of the +_English Illustrated Magazine_ for permission to include in this book +the substance of articles originally contributed to their columns. I +have not added to the Appendix any lists of winning crews, as these are +to be found very fully and accurately set out in the Rowing Almanack, +published every year at the office of the _Field_. + +For the rest, I have endeavoured to make the rowing instructions which +will be found in this book as concise as was compatible with perfect +clearness, assuming at all times that I was addressing myself first of +all to the novice. No doubt other oarsmen will differ here and there +from my conclusions. Absolute unanimity on every detail of rowing is not +to be expected. + +All I can do is to assure my readers that nothing has been set down here +the truth and accuracy of which I have not proved--at least, to my own +satisfaction. + +_The illustrations are reproduced from photographs by Messrs. Stearn, of +Cambridge; Messrs. Gillman, of Oxford; Messrs. Marsh, of +Henley-on-Thames; Messrs. Hills and Saunders, of Eton; Messrs. Pach +Brothers, of Cambridge (Mass.); and Mr. J. G. Williams, of East +Molesey._ + + R. C. L. + _October, 1897._ + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I. INTRODUCTORY 1 + + II. FIRST LESSONS ON FIXED SEATS 14 + + III. FIRST LESSONS ON SLIDING SEATS 38 + + IV. COMBINED OARSMANSHIP IN EIGHTS 55 + + V. COMBINED OARSMANSHIP IN EIGHTS (_continued_) 72 + + VI. COMBINED OARSMANSHIP IN EIGHTS (_continued_) 89 + + VII. OF AILMENTS--OF TRAINING AND DIET--OF + STALENESS--OF DISCIPLINE--OF COACHING 109 + + VIII. OF THE RACE-DAY--OF THE RACE--OF THE + NECESSITY OF HAVING A BUTT--OF LEISURE + TIME--OF AQUATIC AXIOMS 128 + + IX. FOUR-OARS AND PAIR-OARS--SWIVEL ROWLOCKS 144 + + X. SCULLING. _By_ GUY NICKALLS 157 + + XI. STEERING. _By_ G. L. DAVIS 176 + + XII. COLLEGE ROWING AT OXFORD. _By_ C. M. PITMAN 194 + + XIII. COLLEGE ROWING AT CAMBRIDGE 211 + + XIV. ROWING AT ETON COLLEGE. _By_ W. E. CRUM 234 + + XV. AUSTRALIAN ROWING. _By_ E. G. BLACKMORE 255 + + XVI. ROWING IN AMERICA 270 + + XVII. A RECENT CONTROVERSY: ARE ATHLETES + HEALTHY?--MR. SANDOW'S VIEWS ON THE + TRAINING OF OARSMEN 288 + + APPENDIX--HENLEY REGATTA RULES; RULES OF + THE A.R.A.; RULES OF THE C.U.B.C. AND + O.U.B.C. 307 + + + + + + +LIST OF PLATES. + + + PAGE + THE OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE BOAT-RACE, 1894 _Frontispiece._ + FIRST HENLEY REGATTA PROGRAMME _To face_ 6 + FIXED SEATS. NUMBER 1 20 + " " 2 22 + " " 3 24 + " " 4 26 + " " 5 30 + SLIDING SEATS. NUMBER 1 38 + " " 2 40 + " " 3 41 + " " 4 42 + " " 5 44 + " " 6 45 + " " 7 47 + " " 8 48 + " " 9 50 + " " 10 52 + " " 11 54 + SNAP-SHOTS--CREW IN MOTION. NUMBERS 1 AND 2 56 + " " " " 3 AND 4 58 + " " " " 5 AND 6 61 + " " " " 7 AND 8 64 + MR. C. W. KENT 78 + MR. H. G. GOLD 81 + HENLEY REGATTA, 1897 130 + HENLEY REGATTA: A HEAT FOR THE DIAMONDS 157 + A BUMP IN THE EIGHTS 194 + A START IN THE EIGHTS 202 + THE GOLDIE BOAT-HOUSE 211 + A HARVARD EIGHT ON THE RIVER HUDSON, AT POUGHKEEPSIE 272 + COACHING ON THE RIVER HUDSON 284 + ROWING TYPES. NUMBER 1 289 + " " 2 298 + " " 3 301 + " " 4 303 + " " 5 305 + + + + +ROWING. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +INTRODUCTORY. + + +My object in the following pages will be not merely to give such hints +to the novice as may enable him, so far as book-learning can effect the +purpose, to master the rudiments of oarsmanship, but also to commend to +him the sport of rowing from the point of view of those enthusiasts who +regard it as a noble open-air exercise, fruitful in lessons of strength, +courage, discipline, and endurance, and as an art which requires on the +part of its votaries a sense of rhythm, a perfect balance and symmetry +of bodily effort, and the graceful control and repose which lend an +appearance of ease to the application of the highest muscular energy. +Much has to be suffered and many difficulties have to be overcome +before the raw tiro, whose fantastic contortions in a tub-pair excite +the derision of the spectators, can approach to the power, effectiveness +and grace of a Crum or a Gold; but, given a healthy frame and sound +organs inured to fatigue by the sports of English boyhood, given also an +alert intelligence, there is no reason in the nature of things why +oarsmanship should not eventually become both an exercise and a +pleasure. And when I speak of oarsmanship, I mean the combined form of +it in pairs, in fours, and in eight-oared racing boats. + +Of sculling I do not presume to speak, but those who are curious on this +point may be referred to the remarks of Mr. Guy Nickalls in a later +chapter. But of rowing I can speak, if not with authority, at any rate +with experience, for during twenty-three years of my life I have not +only rowed in a constant succession of boat-races, amounting now to +about two hundred, but I have watched rowing wherever it was to be seen, +and have, year after year, been privileged to utter words of instruction +to innumerable crews on the Cam, the Isis, and the Thames. If, then, the +novice will commit himself for a time to my guidance, I will endeavour +to initiate him into the art and mystery of rowing. If he decides +afterwards to join the fraternity of its votaries, I can promise him +that his reward will not be small. He may not win fame, and he will +certainly not increase his store of wealth, but when his time of action +is past and he joins the great army of "have-beens," he will find, as he +looks back upon his career, that his hours of leisure have been spent in +an exercise which has enlarged his frame and strengthened his limbs, +that he has drunk delight of battle with his peers in many a hard-fought +race, that he has learnt what it means to be in perfect health and +condition, with every sinew strung, and all his manly energies braced +for contests of strength and endurance, and that he has bound to himself +by the strongest possible ties a body of staunch and loyal friends whose +worth has been proved under all sorts of conditions, through many days +of united effort. + +It has often been objected to rowing, either by those who have never +rowed, or by those who having rowed have allowed themselves to sink +prematurely into sloth and decay, that the sport in the case of most men +can last only for a very few years, and that having warred, not without +glory, up to the age of about twenty-five, they must then hang their +oars upon the wall and pass the remainder of their lives in an envious +contemplation of the exploits of old but unwearied cricketers. Judging +merely by my own personal experience, I am entitled to pronounce these +lamentations baseless and misleading, for I have been able to row with +pleasure even in racing boats during the whole period of nineteen years +that has elapsed since I took my degree at Cambridge. But I can refer to +higher examples, for I have seen the Grand Challenge Cup and the +Stewards' Cup at Henley Regatta either rowed for with credit, or won by +men whose age cannot have been far, if at all, short of forty years, and +of men who won big races when they were thirty years old the examples +are innumerable. But putting actual racing aside, there is in skilled +rowing a peculiar pleasure (even though the craft rowed in be merely a +fixed seat gig) which, as it seems to me, puts it on a higher plane than +most other exercises. The watermanship which enables a party of veterans +to steer their boat deftly in and out of a lock, to swing her easily +along the reaches, while unskilled youths are toiling and panting +astern, is, after all, no mean accomplishment. And in recent years +rowing has taken a leaf out of the book of cricket. Scattered up and +down the banks of the Thames are many pleasant houses in which, during +the summer, men who can row are favoured guests, either with a view to +their forming crews to take part in local regattas, or merely for the +purpose of pleasure-rowing in scenes remote from the dust and turmoil of +the city. Let no one, therefore, be repelled from oarsmanship because he +thinks that the sport will last him through only a few years of his +life. If he marries and settles down and becomes a busy man, he will +enjoy his holiday on the Thames fully as much as his cricketing brothers +enjoy theirs on some country cricket field. + +Of the early history of boats and boat-racing it is not necessary to say +very much. It is enough to know that the written Cambridge records date +back to 1827, though it is certain that racing must have begun some +years previously; that Oxford can point to 1822 as one of the earliest +years of their College races; that the two Universities raced against +one another for the first time in 1829; and that Henley Regatta was +established in 1839, when the Grand Challenge Cup was won by First +Trinity, Cambridge. Opposite is a facsimile copy of the programme of +this memorable regatta. + +Those who desire to go still further back, have the authority of Virgil +for stating that the Trojans under Aeneas could organize and carry +through what Professor Conington, in his version of the "Aeneid," calls +"a rivalry of naval speed." The account of this famous regatta is given +with a spirit and a richness of detail that put to shame even the most +modern historians of aquatic prowess. After reading how Gyas, the +captain and coach of the _Chimaera_-- + + "Huge bulk, a city scarce so large, + With Dardan rowers in triple bank, + The tiers ascending rank o'er rank" + +--how Gyas, as I say, justly indignant at the ineptitude and cowardice +of his coxswain, hurled him from the vessel, and himself assumed the +helm at a critical point of the race, it is a mere paltering with the +emotions to be told, for instance, that "Mr. Pechell, who owes much to +the teaching of Goosey Driver, steered a very good course," or that he +"began to make the shoot for Barnes Bridge a trifle too soon." How, +too, can the statement that "both crews started simultaneously, +Cambridge, if anything, striking the water first," compare with the +passage which tells us (I quote again from Professor Conington) how + + "at the trumpet's piercing sound, + All from their barriers onward bound, + Upsoars to heaven the oarsman's shout, + The upturned billows froth and spout; + In level lines they plough the deep-- + All ocean yawns as on they sweep." + +It may be noted in passing that no one else seems to have felt in the +least inclined to yawn, for + + "With plaudits loud and clamorous zeal + Echoes the woodland round; + The pent shores roll the thunder peal-- + The stricken rocks rebound;" + +which seems, if the criticism may be permitted, a curious proceeding +even for a stricken rock during the progress of a boat-race. Finally, a +touch of religious romance is added when we learn that the final result +was due, not to the unaided efforts of the straining crew, but to the +intervention of Portunus, the Harbour God, who, moved by the prayer of +Cloanthus, captain of the _Scylla_, pushed that barque along and carried +her triumphantly first into the haven--invidious conduct which does not +appear to have caused the least complaint amongst the defeated crews, or +to have prevented Cloanthus from being proclaimed the victor of the day. +Only on one occasion (in 1859) has Father Thames similarly exerted +himself to the advantage of one of the University crews, for during the +boat-race of that year he swamped the Cambridge ship beneath his mighty +waves, and sped Oxford safely to Mortlake. Lord Justice A. L. Smith, +amongst others, still lives, though he was unable to swim, to tell the +exciting tale. + +Before I take leave of this Virgilian race, I may perhaps, even at this +late date, be permitted as a brother coach to commiserate the impulsive +but unfortunate Gyas on the difficulties he must have encountered in +coaching the crew of a trireme. Not less do I pity his oarsmen, of whom +the two lower ranks must have suffered seriously as to their backs from +the feet of those placed above them, while the length and weight of the +oars used by the top rank must have made good form and accurate time +almost impossible. A Cambridge poet, Mr. R. H. Forster, has sung the +woes of the Athenian triremists and their instructor-- + + "Just imagine a crew of a hundred or two + Shoved three deep in a kind of a barge, + Like a cargo of kegs, with no room for their legs, + And oars inconveniently large. + Quoth he, '[Greek: pantes pros[^o]]' and they try to do so. + At the sight the poor coach's brains addle; + So muttering '[Greek: oimoi],' he shouts out '[Greek: hetoimoi],' + And whatever the Greek is for 'paddle.' + Now do look alive, number ninety and five, + You're 'sugaring,' work seems to bore you; + You are late, you are late, number twenty and eight, + Keep your eyes on the man that's before you." + +So much for the trireme. But neither the Greeks nor any other race +thought of adapting their boats merely to purposes of racing until the +English, with their inveterate passion for open-air exercise, took the +matter in hand. African war-canoes have been known to race, but their +primary object is still the destruction of rival canoes together with +their dusky freight. In Venice the gondoliers are matched annually +against one another, but both the gondola and the sandolo remain what +they always have been--mere vessels for the conveyance of passengers and +goods. The man who would make war in a racing ship would justly be +relegated to Hanwell, and to carry passengers, or even one "passenger," +in such a boat is generally looked upon as a certain presage of defeat. +Consider for a moment. The modern racing ship (eight, four, pair, or +single) is a frail, elongated, graceful piece of cabinet work, held +together by thin stays, small bolts, and copper nails, and separating +you from the water in which it floats by an eighth of an inch of Mexican +cedar. The whole weight of the sculling-boat, built by Jack Clasper, in +which Harding won the Searle Memorial Cup, was only nineteen pounds, +_i.e._ about 112 pounds lighter than the man it carried. Considering the +amount of labour and trained skill that go towards the construction of +these beautiful machines, the price cannot be said to be heavy. Most +builders will turn you out a sculling-boat for from [L]12 to [L]15, a +pair for about [L]20, a four for [L]33, and an eight for [L]55. But the +development of the racing type to its present perfection has taken many +years. Little did the undergraduates who, in 1829, drove their ponderous +man-of-war's galleys from Hambledon Lock to Henley Bridge, while the +stricken hills of the Thames Valley rebounded to the shouts of the +spectators--little did they imagine that their successors, rowing on +movable seats and with rowlocks projecting far beyond the side would +speed in delicate barques, of arrowy shape and almost arrowy swiftness, +from Putney to Mortlake--in barques so light and "crank" that, built as +they are without a keel, they would overturn in a moment if the balance +of the oars were removed. The improvements were very gradual. In 1846 +the University race was rowed for the first time in boats with +outriggers. That innovation had, however, been creeping in for some +years before that. Mr. Hugh Hammersley, who rowed in the Oriel boat +which started head of the river at Oxford in 1843, has told me that in +that year the University College boat, stroked by the famous Fletcher +Menzies, was fitted with outriggers at stroke and bow; and the bump by +which University displaced Oriel was generally ascribed to the new +invention. + +In 1857 the University race was rowed in boats without a keel, and oars +with a round loom were used for the first time by both crews. At the +Henley Regatta of the preceding year the Royal Chester Rowing Club had +entered a crew rowing in this novel style of keelless boat for the Grand +Challenge and the Ladies' Cups. Her length was only fifty-four feet, and +her builder was Mat Taylor, a name celebrated in the annals of +boat-building, for it is to him, in the first instance, that our present +type of racing-boat owes its existence. "The Chester men," Mr. W. B. +Woodgate tells us in his Badminton book on boating, "could not sit their +boat in the least; they flopped their blades along the water on the +recovery in a manner which few junior crews at minor regattas would now +be guilty of; but they rowed well away from their opponents, who were +only College crews." They won, as a matter of fact, both the events for +which they entered. + +One might have thought that with this invention improvements would have +ceased. But in course of time the practical experience of rowing men +suggested to them that if they slid on their seats, both the length and +power of their stroke through the water would be increased. At first +they greased their fixed seats, and slid on those. But it was found that +the strain caused by this method exhausted a crew. In 1871 a crew of +professionals used a seat that slid on the thwarts, and beat a crew that +was generally held to be superior, and from that moment slides, as we +now know them, came into general use. In 1873 the University crews +rowed on sliding seats for the first time. Since then the length of the +slide has been increased from about nine inches to fifteen inches, or +even more, a change which has made the task of the boat-builder in +providing floating capacity more difficult; but in all essentials the +type of boat remains the same. It ought to be added that the Americans, +to a large extent, use boats moulded out of _papier mach['e]_, but this +variation has never obtained favour in England, though boats built in +this manner by the well-known Waters of Troy (U.S.A.) have been seen on +English rivers. The Columbia College crew won the Visitors' Cup at +Henley in 1878 in a paper boat, and she was afterwards bought by First +Trinity, Cambridge, but she never won a race again. + +[Illustration: THE FIRST HENLEY REGATTA.] + + HENLEY REGATTA + _June 14th_, 1839. + + [Illustration] + + _Entrances for the_ + GRAND CHALLENGE CUP. + + OXFORD.--BRASEN NOSE COLLEGE,--Blue Cap, with Gold Tassel; Rosette, + yellow, purple, and crimson. + + CAMBRIDGE.--TRINITY BOAT CLUB,--Blue stripe Jersey and Trowsers; + Rosette, French blue. + + OXFORD.--ETONIAN CLUB,--White Jersey, with pale blue facings; + Rosette, sky blue. + + OXFORD.--WADHAM COLLEGE,--White Jersey, with narrow blue stripes, + dark blue cap, with light blue velvet band, and light blue scarf. + + _Entrances for the_ + + TOWN CHALLENGE CUP. + + WAVE.--White Jersey, pale blue facings. + + DREADNOUGHT.--Blue Striped Shirt, blue Cap + + ALBION.--Blue Striped Jersey, crimson scarf. + + TURN OVER. + + * * * * * + + ORDER OF THE RACES. + + GRAND CHALLENGE CUP. + + The first trial heat will commence at FOUR o'clock precisely. + + The second trial heat will follow immediately. + + The final heat will take place at SEVEN o'clock precisely. + + The Race for the + + TOWN CUP, + + Will take place at SIX o'clock precisely. + + Previous to each Race, a Signal Gun will be fired at the Bridge to + clear the course, another when the course is clear, a third at the + Island when the Boats start, and a fourth at the Bridge to announce + that the race is ended. + + Lithographic Drawings of the Cups, + + _Two Shillings per pair_, + + And the Henley Guide, Two Shillings, + + May be had of HICKMAN & KINCH, Post-Office. + + Hickman & Kinch, Typ. Henley. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +FIRST LESSONS ON FIXED SEATS. + + +If the tiro who aspires to be an oarsman has ever seen a really good +eight-oared crew in motion on the water, he will probably have been +impressed not so much by the power and the pace of it as by the +remarkable ease with which the whole complicated series of movements +that go to make up a stroke is performed. The eight blades grip the +water at the same moment with a perfect precision, making a deep white +swirl as they sweep through; the bodies swing back with a free and +springy motion; the slides move steadily; and almost before one has +realized that a stroke has been begun, the hands have come squarely home +to the chest and have been shot out again to the full extent of the +arms, the blades leaving the water without a splash. Then with a +balanced swing the bodies move forward again, the oar-blades all in a +level line on either side, and, _presto!_ another stroke has been +started. Nothing in these movements is violent or jerky; there are no +contortions--at least the tiro can see none, though the coach may be +shouting instructions as to backs and shoulders and elbows--and the boat +glides on her way without a pause or check. + +What sort of spectacle, on the other hand, is afforded by a thoroughly +bad eight? The men composing it have chests and backs together with the +usual complement of limbs that make up a human being; they are provided +with oars; their ship is built of cedar and fitted with slides and +outriggers--in short, as they sit at ease in their boat, they resemble +in all outward details the crew we have just been considering. But watch +them when they begin to row. Where now are the balance, the rhythm, the +level flash of blades on the feather, the crisp beginning, the dashing +and almost contemptuous freedom of bodies and hands in motion, the even +and unsplashing progress of the ship herself? All these have vanished, +and in their place we see a boat rolling like an Atlantic liner, oars +dribbling feebly along the water or soaring wildly above it, each +striking for the beginning at the sweet will of the man who wields it, +without regard to anybody else; eight bodies, cramped and contorted +almost out of the semblance of humanity, shuffling, tumbling, and +screwing, while on eight faces a look of agony bears witness to such +tortures as few except Englishmen can continue to suffer without mutiny +or complaint. It is not a noble or an inspiring sight; but it may be +seen at Oxford or at Cambridge, on tidal waters, and even at Henley +Regatta. + +What, then, is the main cause of the difference between these two crews? +It lies in good "style"--style which is present in the one crew and +absent from the other. And this style in the rowing sense merely sums up +the result, whether to individuals or to a crew, of long and patient +teaching founded upon principles the correctness of which has been +established ever since rowing became not merely an exercise, but a +science in keelless racing ships. And here one comment may be added. It +is the habit of every generation of rowing men to imagine that they have +invented rowing all over again, and have at last, by their own +intelligence and energy, established its principles on a firm +foundation. Within my own experience, five at least of these +generations believed that for the first time the virtues of leg-work had +been revealed to them, four thought they had made out a patent in the +matter of body-swing, and six were convinced that they had discovered +length of stroke and firmness of beginning. In the eyes of these young +gentlemen, the veterans whom they occasionally condescended to invite to +their practice were harmless and well-meaning enthusiasts, who might +have made a figure in their day, but who were, of course, utterly unable +to appreciate the niceties of rowing as developed by their brilliant and +skilful successors.[1] Amiable presumption of youth and innocence! The +fact is, of course, that the main principles of good rowing are the same +now as they have always been, on long slides or on short slides, or even +on fixed seats. And, personally, I have always found that the hints I +gathered from such men as Dr. Warre, Mr. W. B. Woodgate, Mr. J. C. +Tinne, or Sir John Edwards-Moss, whose active rowing days were over +before sliding seats came into use, were invaluable to me in the +coaching of crews. + + [1] I shall never forget the tone of kindly patronage in which the + stroke of my college crew once observed to his coach, a man about + fifteen years older than himself: "Ah, I suppose, now, they all used to + row in top-hats in your day!" + +How is a novice to be taught so that he may some day take his seat with +credit in a good crew? I answer that there is no royal road; he must +pass through a long period of practice, often so dull that all his +patience will be required to carry him through it. His progress will be +so slow, that he will sometimes feel he is making no headway at all; but +it will be sure none the less, and some day, if he has in him the +makings of an oar, he will realize, to his delight, that his joints move +freely, that his muscles are supple, that his limbs obey his brain +immediately--that, in short, the various movements he has been striving +so hard to acquire have become easy and natural to him, and that he can +go through them without the painful exercise of deliberate thought at +every moment of their recurrence. + +Every oarsman must begin on fixed seats. This statement is to an English +public school or University oar a mere platitude; but in America, and +even in some of our English clubs outside the Universities, its force +and necessity have been lost sight of. Here and there may be found a +born oar, whose limbs and body do not require an arduous discipline; but +in the case of ordinary average men like the immense majority of us, it +is impossible, I believe, to acquire correct body movement without a +stage, more or less prolonged, of practice in fixed-seat rowing. For it +is on fixed seats alone that a man can learn that free and solid swing +which is essential to good oarsmanship on slides. + +I will, therefore, ask my novice reader to imagine that he is seated on +one of the thwarts of a fixed-seat tub-pair, while I deceive myself into +the belief that I am coaching him from its stern. My first duty will be +to see that all his implements are sound and true and correct, since it +is probable that faults are often due as much to the use of weak or +defective materials as to any other cause. I must satisfy myself that +his oar is stiff and of a proper length; that when pressed against the +thole in a natural position it can grip the water firmly and come +through it squarely;[2] that the stretcher is properly set, and that the +straps pass tightly over the root of the toes. I must also see that he +is properly dressed, and not constricted about the waist by impeding +buttons. A belt is never permissible. Now for instruction. + + [2] The breadth of beam of an ordinary in-rigged fixed-seat gig for the + use of novices may be stated at 3 ft. 10 in. A line drawn horizontally + across the boat, at right angles from the rowing thole, would be from + 11-1/2 in. to 12 in. distant from the aft, or sitting edge of the + thwart. Oars should measure 12 ft. over all, with an in-board length of + 3 ft. 5 in. to 3 ft. 5-1/2 in. Breadth of blades 5-1/2 in. to 5-3/4, not + more. + +(1) Sit erect on the aft edge of your seat, exactly opposite the point +at which your heels touch the stretcher. The feet must be placed firm +and flat upon the stretcher, the heels touching one another, and forming +an angle of about forty-five degrees. The knees must be bent to about +one-third of their scope, and set a shoulder's breadth apart. Shoulders +must be well set back, the chest open, and the stomach well set out. + +(2) Now swing your body slowly forward as far as you are able _from the +hips_, without bending the back, being careful to let your head swing +with your body. Repeat this movement several times without holding the +oar. + +(_Note._--The ideal swing is that which takes the whole unbending body +full forward till it is down between the knees. This, to a novice, is +impossible, and the coach must therefore be content to see the first +efforts at swing very short. It is better that this should be so than +that a man should prematurely attain length by bending his back, +doubling in his stomach, and over-reaching with his shoulders, faults +that, once acquired, it is extremely difficult to eradicate.) + +[Illustration: FIXED SEATS. + +NO. 1.--POSITION AT BEGINNING OF STROKE. + +(_This is a stationary photograph. In the movement of the swing the body +will come still further down._)] + +The swing must be slow and balanced, for "the time occupied in coming +forward should be the body's rest, when the easy, measured swing, erect +head, braced shoulders, and open chest, enable heart and lungs to work +freely and easily, in preparation for a defined beginning of the next +stroke."[3] + + [3] From an article by Mr. S. Le Blanc Smith. + +(3) Take hold of your oar, the fingers passing round it, thumbs +underneath, and the hands one hand's-breadth apart. The grip on the oar +should be a finger-grip, not the vice-like hold that cramps all the +muscles of the arm. It is important, too, to remember that, while the +arms are presumably of the same length, the outside hand (_i.e._ the +hand at the end of the oar) has, during stroke and swing forward, to +pass through a larger arc than the inside hand. The inside wrist should, +therefore, be slightly arched even at the beginning of the stroke, thus +shortening the inside arm, but without impairing its use during the +stroke. This arch, too, will give the inside hand a greater leverage and +ease for performing the work of feathering, which devolves mainly upon +it. + +(4) Draw your oar-handle slowly in till the roots of the thumbs touch +the chest, the elbows passing close to the sides, and the body +maintaining the erect position described above in instruction (1), but +slightly inclined beyond the perpendicular. I assume that the blade of +the oar is covered in the water in the position it would have at the +finish of a stroke. + +(5) Drop your hands; in fact, not merely the hands, but the forearms and +hands together. This movement will take the oar clean and square out of +the water. + +(6) Turn your wrists, more particularly the inside wrist, with a quick +sharp turn. This movement will feather the oar. + +(7) Without attempting to move your body, shoot your hands sharply out +to the full extent of your arms, taking care to keep the blade of the +oar well clear of the water. Repeat these last three movements several +times, at first separately, then in combination. + + +[Illustration: FIXED SEATS. + +NO. 2.--POSITION JUST AFTER CATCHING, BEGINNING. + +(_Instantaneous Photograph._)] + +(_Note._--These three movements are sometimes spoken of incorrectly as +the finish of the stroke. Properly speaking, however, the finish, as +distinguished from the beginning, is that part of the stroke which is +rowed through the water from the moment the arms begin to bend until the +hands come in to the chest. The movements I have described are in +reality part of the recovery, _i.e._ they are the movements necessary to +enable the oarsman's body to recover itself after the strain of one +stroke, and to prepare for the next. Smartly performed, as they ought to +be, they have all the appearance of one quick motion. As to the dropping +of the hands, the novice must practise this so as to get his oar square +and clean out of the water. It is, however, necessary to guard against +exaggerating it into the pump-handle or coffee-grinding style, which +merely wastes energy and time. Later on, when an oarsman is rowing in a +light racing ship, a very slight pressure will enable him to release his +oar, the movement and elasticity of the boat helping him.) + +(8) You have now taken the blade out of the water, feathered it, and +have shot your hands away, the blade still on the feather, to a point +beyond the knees. In so doing you will have released your body, which +you must now swing forward slowly and at a perfectly even pace, in a +solid column from the hips, as described in instruction 2. + +(9) Obviously, if you keep your arms stiff in the shoulder-sockets, you +will eventually, as your body swings down, force your hands against the +stretcher, or into the bottom of the boat, with the blade of the oar +soaring to the level of your head. To avoid this windmill performance +let your hands, especially the inside hand, rest lightly on the +oar-handle, and as the body swings down let the hands gradually rise, +_i.e._ let the angle that the arms make with the body increase. You will +thus, by the time you have finished your swing, have brought the blade +close to the water, in readiness to grip the beginning without the loss +of a fraction of a second. + +(10) During the foregoing man[oe]uvre keep your arms absolutely straight +from shoulder to wrist. Many oarsmen, knowing that they have to get hold +of the beginning, cramp their arm-muscles and bend their elbows as they +swing forward, the strain giving them a fictitious feeling of strength. +But this is a pure delusion, and can only result in waste, both of +energy and of time. + +[Illustration: FIXED SEATS. + +NO. 3.--POSITION HALF-WAY THROUGH STROKE. + +(_Stationary Photograph._)] + +(11) As you swing, use the inside arm and hand to shove against the oar. +You will thus keep the button of the oar pressed up against the rowlock, +a position it ought never even for a moment to lose; you will help to +steady your swing, and you will go far towards keeping both shoulders +square. Most novices and many veterans over-reach badly with the outside +shoulder. + +(12) While you are carrying out the last four instructions, your feet, +save for a slight pressure against the straps during the very first part +of the recovery (see instruction 23), must remain firmly planted, heel +and toe, against your stretcher. During your swing you should have a +distinct sense of balancing with the ball of your foot against the +stretcher. This resistance of the feet on the stretcher helps to prevent +you from tumbling forward in a helpless, huddled mass as you reach the +limit of your forward swing. + +(13) As to taking the oar off the feather. Good oars vary considerably +on this point. Some carry the blade back feathered the whole way, and +only turn it square just in time to get the beginning of the stroke. +Others turn it off the feather about half-way through, just before the +hands come over the stretcher. For a novice, I certainly recommend the +latter method. Turn your wrists up and square your blade very soon after +the hands have cleared the knees. It will thus be easier for you to keep +your button pressed against the rowlock; your hands can balance the oar +better, and you will not run the risk, to which the former method +renders you liable, of skying or cocking your blade just when it ought +to be nearest the water, so as to catch the beginning. A good and +experienced waterman, however, ought certainly to be able to keep his +oar on the feather against a high wind until the last available moment. +The movement of returning the blade to the square position ought to be +firm and clean. + +(14) As the body swings, your hands ought to be at the same time +stretching and reaching out as if constantly striving to touch something +which is as constantly evading them. + +[Illustration: FIXED SEATS. + +NO. 4.--POSITION AS ARMS ARE BENDING FOR FINISH. + +(_Instantaneous Photograph._)] + +(15) When you are full forward, the blade of your oar should not be +quite at a right angle to the water, but the top of it ought to be very +slightly inclined over, _i.e._ towards the stern of the boat. A blade +thus held will grip the water cleaner, firmer, and with far less +back-splash than a blade held absolutely at right angles. Besides, +you will obviate the danger of "slicing" into the water and rowing too +deep. At the same time, I am bound to admit that I know only a few oars +who adopt this plan. One of them, however, is the present President of +the Oxford University Boat Club, Mr. C. K. Philips, as good a waterman +as ever sat in a boat. I am quite firmly convinced that the plan is a +sound one, and I believe if it were more generally followed, we should +see far less of that uncomfortable and unsightly habit of +back-splashing, which is too often seen even in good crews. + +(16) I have now brought you forward to the full extent of your swing and +reach. Your back is (or ought to be) straight, your shoulders are firm +and braced, your chest and stomach still open, though your body is down +somewhere between your open knees. Your hands have been gradually +rising, and your oar-blade is, therefore, close to the water. Now raise +your hands a little more, not so as to splash the blade helplessly to +the bottom of the river, but with a quick movement as though they were +passing round a cylinder. When they get to the top of the cylinder the +blade will be covered in the water. At the same moment, and without the +loss of a fraction of a second, swing the body and shoulders back as +though they were released from a spring, the arms remaining perfectly +straight, and the feet helping by a sharp and vigorous pressure (from +the ball of the foot, and the toes especially) against the stretcher. +The result of these rapid combined movements will be that the blade, as +it immerses itself in the water, will strike it with an irresistible +force (a sort of crunch, as when you grind your heel into gravel), +created by the whole weight-power of the body applied through the +straight lines of the arms, and aided by all the strength of which the +legs are capable. This, technically speaking, is the beginning of the +stroke. The outside hand should have a good grip of the oar. + +(17) Swing back, as I said, with arms straight. The novice must, +especially if he has muscular arms, root in his head the idea that the +arms are during a great part of the stroke connecting rods, and that it +is futile to endeavour to use them independently of the body-weight, +which is the real driving power. + +(18) Just before the body attains the limit of its back-swing, which +should be at a point a little beyond the perpendicular, begin to bend +your arms for the finish of the stroke, and bring the hands square home +until the roots of the thumbs touch the chest about three inches below +the separation of the ribs. Here you must be careful not to raise or +depress the hands. They should sweep in to the chest in an even plane, +the outside hand drawing the handle firmly home without lugging or +jerking. As the hands come in, the body finishes its swing, the elbows +pass close to the sides, pointing downwards, and the shoulders are rowed +back and kept down. The chest must be open, but not unduly inflated at +the expense of the stomach, the head erect, and the whole body carrying +itself easily, gracefully, and without unnecessary stiffness. + +(19) Do not meet your oar, _i.e._ keep your body back until the hands +have come in. If you pull yourself forward to meet your oar, you will +certainly shorten the stroke, tire yourself prematurely, and will +probably fail to get the oar clean out of the water or to clear your +knees on the recovery. + +(20) Do not try to force down your legs and flatten the knees as if you +were rowing on a sliding seat. The mere movement of the body on the +back swing and the kick off the stretcher will cause a certain +alteration in the bend of the knees, but this tendency should not be +consciously increased. Remember that fixed-seat rowing is not now an end +in itself. It is a stage towards skilled rowing on sliding seats, and +its chief object is to give the novice practice in certain essential +elements of the stroke, and particularly in body-swing, which could not +be so easily taught, if at all, if he were to begin at once on sliding +seats. Swing is still, as it always has been, all important in good +rowing, and if a novice attempts to slide (for that is what it comes to) +on fixed seats he will begin to shuffle and lose swing entirely. + +(21) Do not let your body settle down or fall away from your oar at the +finish. Sit erect on your bones, and do not sink back on to your tail. +The bones are the pivot on which you should swing. + +[Illustration: FIXED SEATS. + +NO. 5.--THE FINISH. + +(_Stationary Photograph. In movement the body would go a little further +back._)] + +(22) The blade of the oar, having been fully covered at the very +beginning of the stroke, must remain fully covered up to the moment that +the hands are dropped. If the oarsman, when he bends his arms during the +stroke, begins to depress his hands, he will row light, _i.e._ the blade +will be partially uncovered, and will naturally lose power. On the +other hand, if he raises his hands unduly, he will cover more than the +blade, and will find great difficulty in extracting it from the water +properly. The outside hand should control the balance of the oar, and +keep it at its proper level. + +(23) As to the use of the stretcher-straps. Many coaches imagine that +when they have said, "Do not pull yourself forward by your toes against +the straps," they have exhausted all that is to be said on the matter. I +venture, with all deference, to differ from them. I agree that in the +earlier stages of instruction it is very useful to make men occasionally +row in tub-pairs without any straps, so as to force them to develop and +strengthen the muscles of stomach and legs, which ought to do the main +work of the recovery. But later on, when a man is rowing in an eight, +and is striving, according to the instructions of his coach, to swing +his body well and freely back, he can no more recover properly without a +slight toe-pressure against the straps--the heels, however, remaining +firm--than he could make bricks without straw. The straps, in fact, are +a most valuable aid to the recovery. Take them away from a crew and you +will see one of two things: either the men will never swing nearly even +to the upright position, and will recover with toil and trouble, or, if +they swing back properly, they will all fall over backwards with their +feet in the air. This slight strap-pressure just helps them over the +difficult part of the recovery; as the body swings forward the feet +immediately resume their balance against the stretcher. Indeed, if these +movements are properly performed, you get a very pretty play of the toes +and the ball of the foot against the stretcher, you counteract the +tendency of the body to tumble forward, and you materially help the +beginning from that part of the foot in which the spring resides. +Totally to forbid men to use their straps seems to me a piece of +pedantry. On this point I may fortify myself with the opinion of Mr. W. +B. Woodgate, as given in his "Badminton Book on Boating." I am glad, +too, to find that Mr. S. Le Blanc Smith, of the London Rowing Club, a +most finished and beautiful oarsman, whose record of victories at Henley +is a sufficient testimony to his knowledge and skill, agrees with me. In +an article published during a recent rowing controversy, he remarks, "I +think Mr. ---- will find that all men, consciously or unconsciously, +use the foot-strap more or less, to aid them in the first inch or two of +recovery. If he doubts this, let him remove the strap and watch results, +be the oarsman who he may." I need only add that this pressure should +never be greater than will just suffice to help the body-recovery. If +exaggerated, its result on slides will be to spoil swing by pulling the +slide forward in advance of the body. + +I have now, I think, taken you through all the complicated movements of +the stroke, and there for the present I must leave you to carry out as +best you can instructions which I have endeavoured to make as clear on +paper as the difficulties of the subject permit. But I may be allowed to +add a warning. Book-reading may be a help; but rowing, like any other +exercise, can only be properly learnt by constant and patient practice +in boats under the eyes of competent instructors. Do not be discouraged +because your improvement is slow, and because you are continually being +rated for the same faults. With a slight amount of intelligence and a +large amount of perseverance and good temper, these faults will +gradually disappear, and as your limbs and muscles accustom themselves +to the work, you will be moulded into the form of a skilled oarsman. +Even the dread being who may be coaching you--winner of the Grand +Challenge Cup or stroke-oar of his University though he be--had his +crude and shapeless beginnings. He has passed through the mill, and now +is great and glorious. But if you imagine that even he is faultless, +just watch him as he rows, and listen to the remarks that a fearless and +uncompromising coach permits himself to address to him. And to show you +that others have suffered and misunderstood and have been misunderstood +like yourself, I will wind up this chapter with "The Wail of the +Tubbed," the lyrical complaint of some Cambridge rowing Freshmen. + + "Sir,--We feel we are intruding, but we deprecate your blame, + We may plead our youth and innocence as giving us a claim; + We should blindly grope unaided in our efforts to do right, + So we look to you with confidence to make our darkness light. + + "We are Freshmen--rowing Freshmen; we have joined our college club, + And are getting quite accustomed to our daily dose of tub; + We have all of us bought uniforms, white, brown, or blue, or red, + We talk rowing shop the livelong day, and dream of it in bed. + + "We sit upon our lexicons as 'Happy as a King' + (We refer you to the picture), and we practise how to swing; + We go every day to chapel, we are never, never late, + And we exercise our backs when there, and always keep them straight. + + "We shoot our hands away--on land--as quick as any ball: + Balls always shoot, they tell us, when rebounding from a wall. + We decline the noun 'a bucket,' and should deem it--well, a bore, + If we 'met,' when mainly occupied in oarsmanship, our oar. + + "But still there are a few things that our verdant little band, + Though we use our best endeavours, cannot fully understand. + So forgive us if we ask you, sir--we're dull, perhaps, but keen-- + To explain these solemn mysteries and tell us what they mean. + + "For instance, we have heard a coach say, "Five, you're very rank; + Mind those eyes of yours, they're straying, always straying, + on the bank.' + We are not prone to wonder, but we looked with some surprise + At the owner of those strangely circumambulating eyes. + + "There's a stroke who 'slices awfully,' and learns without remorse + That his crew are all to pieces at the finish of the course; + There's A., who 'chucks his head about,' and B., + who 'twists and screws,' + Like an animated gimlet in a pair of shorts and shoes. + + "And C. is 'all beginning,' so remark his candid friends; + It must wear him out in time, we think, this stroke that never ends. + And though D. has no beginning, yet his finish is A1; + How can that possess a finish which has never been begun? + + "And E. apparently would be an oar beyond compare, + If the air were only water and the water only air. + And F., whose style is lofty, doubtless has his reasons why + He should wish to scrape the judgment seat, when rowing, from the sky. + + "Then G. is far too neat for work, and H. is far too rough; + There's J., who lugs, they say, too much, and K. not half enough; + There's L., who's never fairly done, and M., who's done too brown, + And N., who can't stand training, and poor O., who can't sit down. + + "And P. is much too limp to last; there's Q. too stiffly starched; + And R., poor fool, whose inside wrist is never 'nicely arched.' + And, oh, sir, if you pity us, pray tell us, if you please, + What is meant by 'keep your button up,' and 'flatten down your knees.' + + "If an oar may be described as 'he,' there's no death half so grim + As the death like which we hang on with our outside hands to 'him;' + But in spite of all our efforts, we have never grasped, have you? + How _not_ to use 'those arms' of ours, and yet to pull it through. + + "S. 'never pulled his shoestrings.' If a man must pull at all, + Why uselessly pull shoestrings? Such a task would surely pall. + But T.'s offence is worse than that, he'll never get his Blue, + He thinks rowing is a pastime--well, we own we thought so too. + + "Then V.'s 'a shocking sugarer,' how bitter to be that! + X. flourishes his oar about as if it were a bat; + And Y. should be provided, we imagine, with a spade, + Since he always 'digs,' instead of 'merely covering his blade.' + + "Lastly, Z.'s a 'real old corker,' who will never learn to work, + For he puts his oar in gently and extracts it with a jerk. + Oh! never has there been, we trow, since wickedness began, + Such a mass of imperfections as the perfect rowing man. + +P.S. BY TWO CYNICS. + + "So they coach us and reproach us (like a flock of silly jays + Taught by parrots how to feather) through these dull October days. + We shall never understand them, so we shouldn't care a dam[4] + If they all were sunk in silence at the bottom of the Cam." + + [4] Dam--an Oriental coin of small value. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +FIRST LESSONS ON SLIDING SEATS. + + +Let me assume (I am still addressing my imaginary novice) that you have +passed through the first few stages of your novitiate. If you are an +Oxford or a Cambridge freshman you will have been carefully drilled in a +tub-pair, promoted later to a freshmen's four or eight, and during the +next term may have been included in the Torpid or Lent-Boat of your +College. At any rate, I am assuming that you have by now rowed in a race +or a series of races for eight-oared crews on fixed seats. But I prefer +to leave the general subject of combined rowing, whether in eights or +fours, to a later chapter, while I attempt to explain the mysteries and +difficulties of the sliding seat. + +[Illustration: SLIDING SEATS. + +NO. 1.--POSITION AT FINISH OF STROKE. + +(_Stationary Photograph._)] + +The slide may be described as a contrivance for increasing the length of +the stroke (_i.e._ of the period during which, the oar-blade remaining +covered in the water, power is applied to the propulsion of the +boat), and for giving greater effect to the driving force of the +oarsman's legs. Long before the actual sliding seat had been invented +professional oarsmen and scullers had discovered that if they slid on +their fixed thwarts they increased the pace of their boats, and even +amongst amateurs this practice was not unknown. Mr. R. H. Labat has told +me that so far back as 1870 he and his colleagues fitted their rowing +trousers with leather, greased their thwarts, and so slid on them. In +1872 slides were used at Henley Regatta, and in 1873 the Oxford and +Cambridge crews for the first time rowed their race on slides, Cambridge +winning in 19 mins. 35 secs., which remained as record time until 1892. +This performance, though it was undoubtedly helped by good conditions of +tide and wind, served to establish slides firmly in popular favour, and +from that time onwards fixed seats were practically retained only for +the coaching of novices and, in eights, for the Torpids and Lent Races +at Oxford and Cambridge. Now, proceeding on the principle that rowing is +meant to be an exercise of grace, symmetry, and skill, as well as of +strength and endurance, I think I may lay it down as an essential rule +that it is necessary on slides to observe those instructions which made +fixed-seat rowing in the old days a pleasure to the eye. In the very +early days of slides, while men were still groping for correct +principles, this important axiom was too often neglected. It was +imagined that swing was no longer necessary, and accordingly the rivers +were filled with contorted oarsmen shuffling and tumbling and screwing +on their slides. Veteran oars and coaches, to whom "form" was as the +apple of their eye, were horror-struck, and gave vent to loud +lamentations, utterly condemning this horrible innovation, which, as +they thought, had reduced oarsmanship to the level of a rough and tumble +fight. "If both Universities," wrote the Rev. A. T. W. Shadwell in his +"Notes on Boat-building," published in the "Record of the University +Boat Race" in 1881, "would condescend to ask Dr. Warre to construct for +them, and if their crews would also either learn to use the sliding +apparatus effectively, or to discard it as pernicious and as an enemy to +real oarsmanship when not thoroughly mastered, then we should be treated +again to the welcome spectacle of boats travelling instead of +dragging, riding over the water instead of the water washing over the +canvas, combined with that still more-to-be-desired spectacle of +faultless form and faultless time--eight men ground into one perfect +machine. Nothing short of that result will satisfy those who know what +eight-oared rowing ought to be, and lament its decadence." Yet Cambridge +had produced the 1876 crew, Oxford the 1878 crew, both of them models of +style, unison and strength, and Leander both in 1875 and in 1880 had won +the Grand Challenge Cup with admirable crews composed exclusively of +University men. It would seem, therefore, as if Mr. Shadwell's +strictures were undeserved, at least by the better class of University +oars. The fact is that by that time, and for some years before that +time, the true principles of sliding had been acquired, and the more +serious defects of form had once more become the cherished possession of +inferior college crews. But then, even in the glorious old fixed-seat +days, College crews were not always remarkable for the beauty and +correctness of their form. I am not going to deny that the difficulty of +teaching good style has been increased by the addition of the sliding +seat; but there have been innumerable examples during the last quarter +of a century to prove that this difficulty can be faced and entirely +overcome. Four crews I have already mentioned. I may add to them, not as +exhausting the list of good crews, but as being splendid examples of +combined style and power, the London Rowing Club crew of 1881, which won +the final of the Grand from the outside station against Leander and +Twickenham; the Oxford crews of 1892, 1896 and 1897; the crews of +Trinity Hall, the Oxford Etonians, and the Thames Rowing Club in 1886 +and 1887; the Cambridge crew and the Thames Rowing Club crew of 1888; +the London Rowing Club crew of 1890; the Leander crews of 1891, 1893, +1894 and 1896; and the New College and Leander crews of the present +year. It is fortunate that this should be so, for, the proof of the +pudding being in the eating, it is hardly likely that crews will abandon +a device which, while it has actually increased pace over the Henley +course by close on half a minute, has rendered skill and watermanship of +higher value, and has given an additional effect to physical strength. + +[Illustration: SLIDING SEATS. + +NO. 2.--POSITION JUST AFTER FINISH OF STROKE. + +(_As the recovery movements begin, the hands have been dropped and the +wrists have begun to turn over for feather. Instantaneous Photograph._)] + +[Illustration: SLIDING SEATS. + +NO. 3.--THE RECOVERY. + +(_Arms have been sharply straightened out and the body has been released +for the swing._) + +(_Stationary Photograph._)] + +[Illustration: SLIDING SEATS. + +NO. 4.--FORWARD POSITION ON 16 INCH SLIDE LEVEL WITH "WORK." + +(_In movement the body would swing a little further forward, the chest +pressing against left knee._) + +(_Stationary Photograph._)] + +During my undergraduate days at Cambridge, and for some years afterwards +(say, up to about 1884), the slide-tracks in racing boats were +sixteen inches long.[5] This, allowing seven inches as the breadth of +the seat itself, would give the slide a "play," or movement, of nine +inches. The front-stop, which forms the limit of the forward movement of +the slide, was fixed so as to bring the front edge of the slide to a +point five inches from the "work," _i.e._ from a line drawn straight +across the boat from the back, or rowing, thole. At the finish of the +stroke, therefore, when the slide had been driven full back, its front +edge was fourteen inches away from the work. To put it in technical +language, we slid up to five inches from our work and finished fourteen +inches away from it. Since that time slides have become longer, and +there are but few racing boats in which the slide-tracks are less than +twenty-two or even twenty-three inches long, giving the slide a play of +fifteen or sixteen inches. The front edge of the slide now moves forward +(when I say "forward" I speak in relation to the movement of the body +and not in relation to the ends of the boat) to a point which is level +with the work. In other words, we now slide up to our work and finish +fifteen or sixteen inches from it. On these long slides, when the body +has attained the full reach, the flanks are closed in upon the thighs, +the knees are bent until the thighs come fairly close to the calves, +and, _ex necessario_, the ankle-joints are very much bent. It is plain +that great flexibility of hip-joints, knees, and ankles must be attained +in order that the slide may be used fully up to the last fraction of an +inch in coming forward. This flexibility very few novices, and not all +old stagers, possess. The muscles and joints at first absolutely refuse +to accommodate themselves to this new strain, and you will see a man as +he slides forward, taking his heels well off the stretcher in order to +ease the strain upon his ankles, and moving his shoulders back long +before his oar has gripped the water in order to relieve his hip-joints. +This results in his missing the whole of his beginning, striking the +water at right-angles to his rigger instead of well behind it, and +having absolutely no firmness of drive when it becomes necessary for him +to use his legs. In order, therefore, that matters may be made easier +for novices, and that they may be brought on gradually, I strongly +advise coaches to start them on slides much shorter than those now +in vogue. A slide with a play of eight inches, coming to a point six +inches from the work, is ample. A few days will make a wonderful +difference, and later on, when the first stiffness has worn off and the +movements have become easier, the slide can be gradually increased. At +Oxford and Cambridge the proper seasons for such preliminary practice +would be the Lent Term, when Torpids and Lent Races are over, and the +beginning of the October term, when many College clubs--at any rate at +Cambridge--organize Sliding-seat Trial Eights in clinker-built boats. + + [5] The Metropolitan rowing clubs had, I believe, lengthened their + sliding some time before this. + +[Illustration: SLIDING SEATS. + +NO. 5.--BEGINNING OF STROKE. + +(_Instantaneous Photograph. N.B.--Head inserted by engraver._)] + +[Illustration: SLIDING SEATS. + +NO. 6.--POSITION OF BODY ABOUT HALF THROUGH STROKE. + +(_Stationary Photograph._)] + +Two further points remain to be noticed. On fixed seats the ankles +hardly bend up as the body swings forward, and it is possible, +therefore, to use a stretcher fixed almost erect in the boat, the seat +being placed eleven or twelve inches from the work. But with slides, as +I have explained, the seat moves to a point which in racing boats is now +level with the work, and few ankles are capable of submitting to the +strain which would be involved if the stretchers were set up as erect +("proud" is the technical term) as they are with fixed seats. It is +necessary, therefore, to set the stretchers more off on an incline +(technically, to "rake" them). It will be found, I think, that, +assuming a stretcher to be one foot in height, a set-off of nine inches +will be amply sufficient for most novices, even on full slides.[6] I +have myself never found any difficulty in maintaining my feet firm on a +stretcher of this rake or even of less, and I have known some very +supple-jointed men, _e.g._ Mr. H. Willis, of the Leander Crews of 1896 +and 1897, who preferred to row with a stretcher set up a good deal +prouder. But the average oar is not very supple-jointed, though his +facility in this respect can be greatly improved by practice. To make +things easier--and after all our object should be to smooth away all the +oarsman's external difficulties--I consider it advisable to fix +heel-traps to the stretcher. This simple device, by the pressure which +it exercises against the back of the heels, counteracts their tendency +to come away from the stretcher; but even with heel-traps, I have seen +stiff-jointed oarsmen make the most superbly successful efforts to bring +their heels away. + + [6] The angle made by the back of the stretcher and the kelson may + vary from 43 deg. to 53 deg.. Personally, I prefer 50 deg.. The + prouder (up to a certain point) you set the stretcher the firmer will + your leg-power be at the finish of the stroke. + +[Illustration: SLIDING SEATS. + +NO. 7.--POSITION JUST BEFORE FINISH OF STROKE. + +(_The hands have still to come in to chest and a few inches of slide +remain for final leg-pressure._)] + +The second point is this: With sliding seats you require an oar of +longer leverage (_i.e._ inboard measurement from rowing-face of +button to end of handle) than with fixed seats. For a fixed seat an oar +with a leverage of 3 ft. 5-1/2 ins. should suffice. With long slides the +leverage of an oar should not be less than 3 ft. 8 ins., nor more than 3 +ft. 8-1/2 ins. For this I assume that the distance of the centre of the +seat from the sill of the row-lock is 2 ft. 7 ins. With regard to +leverage, there is a practical unanimity of opinion amongst modern +oarsmen. With regard to the outboard measurement of oars and the proper +width of blade, they differ somewhat, but I can reserve this matter for +the next chapter, merely premising that in any case it is not advisable +to start your novices in gigs with oar-blades broader than 5-3/4 ins. + +Let me imagine, then, that my pupil is seated in the gig, his stretcher +having been fixed at a point that will enable him, when his slide is +full back, and he is sitting on it easily without pressing, to have his +knees _slightly_ bent. + +And now to the business of instruction. + +1. Remember and endeavour to apply all the lessons you have learnt on +fixed seats. Slides add another element to the stroke. They do not alter +the elements you have previously been taught. + +2. BEGINNING.--Get hold of this just as you would on a fixed seat, with +a sharp spring of the whole body, which thus begins its swing-back +without the loss of a fraction of time. + + (_a_) The natural tendency of a tiro will be to drive his slide away + before his shoulders have begun to move. This must at all costs be + avoided. In order to secure the effectual combination of + body-swing and leg-work, it is essential that the swing should + start first. + + (_b_) It is equally reprehensible to swing the body full back before + starting the slide; you thus cut the stroke into two distinct + parts, one composed of mere body-swing, the other of mere + leg-work. Therefore: + +(2) When the body-swing backwards has started, but only the smallest +fractional part of a second afterwards--so quickly, indeed, as to appear +to the eye of a spectator almost a simultaneous movement--let the slide +begin to travel back, the swing meanwhile continuing. + + (_a_) Remember what was said in fixed-seat instructions as to the + use of the toes and the ball of the foot at the beginning of the + stroke. On slides this is even more important. + +[Illustration: SLIDING SEATS. + +NO. 8.--BAD POSITION FULL FORWARD. + +(_Overreach with shoulders, head left behind._)] + +(3) Body and slide are now moving back in unison, the feet pressing with +firm and steady pressure against the stretcher, _and the arms perfectly +straight_. As the slide moves, the leg-power applied must on no account +diminish. If anything it ought to increase, for the body is beginning to +lose its impetus, and the main part of the resistance is transferred to +the legs, the blade all the time moving at an even pace through the +water. + +(4) The body must swing a little further back than on a fixed seat. + +(5) Body-swing and slide-back should end at the same moment. + +(6) As they end, the knees should be pressed firmly down so as to enable +you to secure the last ounce of leg-power from the stretcher. +Simultaneously with this depression of the legs, the hands (and +particularly the outside hand, which has been doing the main share of +the work of the stroke all through) must bring the oar-handle firmly +home to the chest, sweeping it in and thus obtaining what is called a +firm hard finish. As the knees come finally down, the elbows pass the +sides, and the shoulders move back and downwards. + +[Illustration: SLIDING SEATS. + +NO. 9.--THOROUGHLY BAD POSITION FULL FORWARD. + +(_Overreach with shoulders, back doubled over, arms bent, hands heavy on +handle. A position entailing great labour and resulting in a short weak +stroke._)] + + (_a_) Mr. W. B. Woodgate, in the Badminton book on "Boating," says: + "Many good oarsmen slide until the knees are quite straight. In + the writer's opinion this is waste of power: the knees should + never quite straighten; the recovery is, for anatomical reasons, + much stronger if the joint is slightly bent when the reversal of + the machinery commences. The extra half-inch of kick gained by + quite straightening the knees hardly compensates for the extra + strain of recovery; also leg-work to the last fraction of a second + of swing is better preserved by this retention of a slight bend, + and an open chest and clean finish are thereby better attained." + + If Mr. Woodgate means that the legs are _not_ to be pressed down as + the stroke finishes, but are to remain loosely bent, I differ from + him, though, considering his high authority, with hesitation and + regret. As a matter of fact, the front edge of the thwart catches + the calves of the legs at the finish, when the legs are pressed + down, and prevents the knees from being _absolutely_ + straightened. But I am certain that unless an oarsman assures his + legs in the firm position that I have explained, he will lose most + valuable power at the end of the stroke, and will materially + increase his difficulty in taking his oar clean out of the water + and generally in getting a smart recovery. This final leg-pressure + not only supports the body in a somewhat trying position, but + enables the hands to come home to the chest without faltering. As + on fixed seats, it is essential that the body should not be pulled + forward to meet the oar. And it is equally essential that it + should not sink down or fall away from the hands, thus rendering + an elastic recovery impossible. + + (_b_) The blade, as on fixed seats, must be kept fully covered to + the finish, and there must be power on it to the last fraction of + an inch. If a man takes his oar out of the water before he has + fairly ended his stroke, and rows his finish in the air, or if he + partially uncovers his blade and rows "light," he commits in + either case a serious fault. In the former case his whole + body-weight, which ought to be propelling the boat, not only + ceases to have any good effect, but becomes so much dead lumber, + and actually impedes her progress. In the latter he can only exert + half, or, it may be, one quarter of his proper power during an + appreciable part of the stroke. + +(7) The drop of the hands, the turn of the wrists, the shoot-out of the +hands, and the straightening of the arms must be performed precisely as +on a fixed seat, but the legs, meanwhile, are to remain braced, so that +knees may not hamper hands. As soon as ever the hands have been shot +out, and _immediately_ after the start of the forward swing, the slide +comes into play, and the knees consequently begin to bend outwards and +upwards. It is very important not to pause or "hang" on the recovery. + +[Illustration: SLIDING SEATS. + +NO. 10.--A THOROUGHLY BAD AND VERY COMMON POSITION AT FINISH. + +(_Body lying much too far back, elbows sticking out. From such a +position a smart and elastic recovery is impossible._)] + +(8) The recovery movements ought to release the body smartly, but care +must be taken not to hustle the body forward with a rush before the arms +are straightened. The body _begins_ to swing _from the hips_ as soon +as the hands release it, but the swing is to be a slow one. + + (_a_) Do not begin to slide forward before you swing. Let your swing + just have the precedence, and let it then carry your slide with + it. + +(9) The pace of the swing forward must be slow and unvarying, and the +slide, therefore, must also move slowly. The time occupied by the swing +should be the body's rest. + +(10) Remember the fixed-seat instructions as to balance against the +stretcher with the feet during the swing forward, and especially during +the latter part of it. The fault of tumbling forward over the stretcher +is far too common, and can only be avoided or corrected by maintaining +the pressure on the stretcher. In fact, never let your body get out of +control. You ought to feel and to look as if at any moment during the +swing forward you could stop dead at the word of command. Swing and +slide should practically end together, the body "snaking out," as I have +heard it expressed, in the final part of the swing, but without +"pecking" over the front-stop. There must be no over-reach with the +shoulders. + +(11) When the body is full forward the knees should be opened to about +the breadth of the arm-pits, the flanks closed in against the thighs. +The knees should bend steadily and gradually into this position, and at +the moment of beginning they must maintain themselves there and not fall +loosely apart. Such a movement entails a great loss of power at the +beginning of the next stroke. Nor, on the other hand, ought the knees to +be clipped together as the stroke begins. + +(12) Remember, finally, that grace, erectness, straightness of back and +arms, and a clean precision, balance and elasticity of all movements are +as important now as they were on fixed seats. A man who on slides rounds +his back, humps up his shoulders, and hollows his chest _may_ do good +work, but it will be in spite of and not because of these serious +disfigurements. Only by carefully observing fixed rules and by prolonged +practice will you be able to attain to the harmonious ease and elegance +by which a comparatively weak man can so economize his strength as to +outrow and outlast some brawny giant who wastes his power in useless +contortions. + +[Illustration: SLIDING SEATS. + +NO. 11.--ANOTHER BAD POSITION AT FINISH. + +(_Body doubled up over handle of oar, elbows sticking out. With the body +in this position heart and lungs get no chance of working properly._)] + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +COMBINED OARSMANSHIP IN EIGHTS. + + +The novice, having passed successfully through his period of +apprenticeship, is by this time ready, let us suppose, to be included in +an eight-oared, sliding-seat crew, either for his college or for the +rowing club to which he may happen to belong. He will marvel at first at +the fragile and delicate fabric of the craft in which he is asked to +take his place. One-eighth of an inch of cedar divides him from the +waters that are to be the scene of his prowess. In stepping into the +boat he must exercise the greatest care. The waterman and the coxswain +are firmly holding the riggers, while the oarsman, placing a hand on +each gunwale to support himself, steps cautiously with one foot on to +the kelson, or backbone of the ship. Then he seats himself upon his +slide, fits his feet into the stretcher-straps, and inserts his oar in +the rowlock, finally getting the button into its proper place by +raising the handle, and so working at it until the button comes in under +the string that passes from thole to thole, and keeps the oar from +flying out of the rowlock. His seven companions having performed the +same feats, the boat is now shoved out from the bank, and the work of +the day begins. + +[Illustration: SNAPSHOTS OF A CREW IN MOTION. + +NO. 1.--JUST BEFORE FULL REACH.] + +[Illustration: NO. 2.--FULL REACH. + +("_Reach out and row!_")] + +The oarsman who thus takes his first voyage in a racing-ship, built, as +all racing-ships are, without a keel, must remember that her stability, +when she contains her crew, is obtained merely by the balance of the +oars. Remove the oars, and the boat would immediately roll over to one +side or the other, and immerse her crew in the water. With eight bodies +and oars in a constant state of movement, the problem of keeping the +boat upon an even keel is not an easy one. It can only be solved +satisfactorily in one way: There must be absolute harmony in every +movement. The hands must come in and out at the same moment and at the +same level, and the oar-blades must necessarily be maintained, on the +feather and throughout the swing, at the uniform level prescribed for +them by the harmonious movement of eight pairs of hands. The bodies must +begin, continue, and end the swing together; the blades must strike +the water at precisely the same moment; all the bodies must swing back +as if released from one spring; the slides must move together; the arms +bend as by one simultaneous impulse; and the eight oar-blades, having +swept through the water in a uniform plane, must leave it as though they +were part of a single machine, and not moved by eight independent wills. +When this unison of movements has been attained by long and persevering +practice, marred by frequent periods of disappointment, by knuckles +barked as the boat rolls and the hands scrape along the gunwale, and by +douches of cold water as the oars splash, then, and not till then, may +it be said that a crew has got together. + +The above details concern the harmony and unison of the crew. It is +obvious, however, that the eight men who compose it may be harmonized +into almost any kind of style, and it is important, therefore, to settle +what is the best style--the style, that is, which will secure the +greatest possible pace at the smallest cost of effort. In the first +place, then, you must remember and endeavour to apply all the +instructions I have laid down in the two previous chapters. These were +framed upon the supposition that you were trying to qualify yourself to +row eventually in a light racing-ship. Summing these up generally, and +without insisting again upon details, I may say that you are required to +have a long, steady, and far-reaching body-swing; you must grip the +beginning of the stroke well behind the rigger at the full reach forward +without the loss of a fraction of a second, with a vigorous spring back +of the whole body, so as to apply the body-weight immediately to the +blade of the oar. As your body swings back, your feet are to press +against the stretcher and drive the slide back, in order that, by the +combination of body-swing and leg-drive, you may retain the power which +you have applied at the beginning evenly throughout the whole of the +stroke. It is essential that the body should not fall away at the +finish, but maintain an easy, graceful position, so that, with a final +pressure of the legs, the swing of the elbows past the sides, and a +rowing back of the shoulders which opens the chest, the hands may be +swept fair and square home, the oar-blade being meanwhile covered, but +not more than covered, from the moment it enters the water until it is +taken clean out. The hands must then leave the chest as a +billiard-ball rebounds from the cushion, in order that you may have a +smart and elastic recovery. This swift motion of the hands straightens +the arms, and releases the body for its forward swing. The body-swing +forward, as I cannot too often repeat, must be slow, especially during +its latter part; in fact, during that swing, a perfect balance must be +maintained, the feet being well planted against the stretcher. When a +man rows in this style with seven other men, in absolute time and +harmony with them, he will find a rhythmical pleasure and a delightful +ease in movements which at the outset were cramped and difficult. Then, +as he swings his body, grips the water and drives his swirling oar-blade +through, he will feel that every ounce of strength he puts forth has its +direct and appreciable influence upon the pace of the boat. Not for him +then will it be to envy the bird in its flight, as, with all his muscles +braced, his lungs clear, and his heart beating soundly, he helps to make +his craft move like a thing of life over the water. + +[Illustration: SNAPSHOTS OF A CREW IN MOTION. + +NO. 3.--JUST AFTER BEGINNING OF STROKE.] + +[Illustration: NO. 4.--SLIDES BEGINNING TO MOVE.] + +That is the ideal. Let us come down to the actual. I will imagine myself +to be coaching an average crew in a racing-ship. + +I must first of all assure myself that the boat is properly rigged, and +that the men have a fair chance of rowing with comfort. The thole-pins +should stand absolutely straight from the sill of the rowlock. If the +rowing-pin is bent outwards towards the water in the slightest degree, +the oar will have a tendency to "slice," and a feather under water will +be the result. The actual wood of the rowing-pin, however, should be +slightly filed away at the bottom, so as to incline a very, very little +towards the stern of the boat. Care must be taken also to have a +sufficient width between the thole-pins to prevent the oar from locking +on the full reach. The rowlock-strings must be taut. They must have a +sufficient pressure on the oar to prevent the button being forced out of +the rowlock. For these and other details, the table of measurements +given at the end of this chapter should be consulted. + +[Illustration: SNAPSHOTS OF A CREW IN MOTION. + +NO. 5.--ARMS ABOUT TO BEND FOR FINISH OF STROKE.] + +[Illustration: NO. 6.--ARMS BENT FOR FINISH OF STROKE. + +("_Sit Up No. 3!_")] + +In this crew I will suppose that five of the members have already had +experience in lightship rowing. The three others--bow, No. 3, and No. +4--are quite new to the game. I point out to these three, to begin with, +the importance of balancing the boat by having their arms rigidly +straight as they swing forward, so as to be able, by the slightest +amount of give and take from the shoulders, to counteract any tendency +to roll, by sitting firmly on their seats, and not shifting about to +right or to left, and by keeping their feet well on the stretchers. That +done, the words of command will come from the cox. "Get ready all!" (At +this command, the oarsmen divest themselves of all unnecessary +clothing.) "Forward all!" (The oarsmen swing and slide forward to within +about two-thirds of the full-reach position, the backs of the blades +lying flat upon the water.) "Are you ready?" (This is merely a call to +attention.) "Paddle!" (At this the blades are turned over square, and +immediately grip the water, and the boat starts.) During the progress of +this imaginary crew, I propose to invest them individually and +collectively with certain faults, and to offer suggestions for their +improvement, just as if I were coaching them from the bank or from a +steam-launch. + +(1) "Stroke, you're tumbling forward over your stretcher. Keep the last +part of your swing very slow by balancing against the stretcher with +your feet as you swing forward. That's better. You got a beginning twice +as hard that time." + +(2) "Seven, you're feathering under water. Keep pressure on to the very +finish of the stroke, and drop your hands a little more, so as to get +the oar out square and clean. Use the legs well at the finish." + +(3) "Six, you're very slow with your hands. Consequently, your body +rushes forward to make up for lost time. Shoot the hands away quickly, +with a sharp turn of the inside wrist. Then let the body follow slowly." + +(4) "Five, you slide too soon and fall away from your oar at the finish. +Get your shoulders and the whole of your body-weight well on to the +beginning, so as to start swinging back before you drive your slide +away. At the finish keep your shoulders down and sit up well upon your +bones." + +(5) "Four and three, your blades are coming out of the water long before +any of the others. This is because you are afraid of reaching properly +forward. You therefore get your oars in scarcely if at all behind the +rigger, and consequently there is not enough resistance to your oar in +the water to enable you to hold out the stroke fully to the finish. +Swing, and reach well forward, and let your oars strike the beginning at +the point to which your reach has brought it. You may splash at first, +but with a little confidence you will soon get over that. Three, you're +late. As you come forward you press heavily on the handle of your oar, +the blade soars up, and is coming down through the air when the rest +have struck the water. Keep your hands, especially the inside one, light +on the handle of the oar, and let them come up as the body swings +forward." + +(6) "Two, your arms are bending too soon. Try to swing back with +perfectly straight arms. Don't imagine that you can row your stroke +merely by the power of your arms. Also try and keep your shoulders down +at the finish and on the recovery." + +(7) "Bow, swing back straight. Your body is falling out of the boat at +the finish. Use the outside leg and hand more firmly through the stroke, +and row the hands a little higher in to the chest; also arch the inside +of the wrist a little more to help you in turning the oar on the +feather." + +So much for individuals. Now for the crew. + +(1) "The finish and recovery are not a bit together. I can almost hear +eight distinct sounds as the oars turn in the rowlocks. Try and lock it +up absolutely together. There ought to be a sound like the turning of a +key in a well-oiled lock--sharp, single, and definite." + +(_Note._--This is a very important point. On the unison with which the +wrists turn and the hands shoot away depends the unison of the next +stroke. When once, in coaching, you have locked your crew together on +this point, you will greatly decrease the difficulty of the rest of your +task.) + +(2) "Don't let the boat roll down on the bow oars. Stroke side, catch +the beginning a little sharper. Bow side, when the roll of the boat +begins, do not give in to it by still further lowering your hands. Keep +your hands up." (The same instruction applies, _mutatis mutandis_, when +the boat rolls on the stroke oars. Apart from individual eccentricities, +a boat is often brought down on the one bank of oars by the fact that +the opposite side, or one or two of them, grip the water a little too +late.) + +(3) "You are all of you slow with your hands. Rattle them out sharply, +and make your recovery much more lively. Steady now! don't rush forward. +Keep the swing slow and long. You are all much too short on the swing, +and consequently get no length in the water." + +[Illustration: SNAPSHOTS OF A CREW IN MOTION. + +NO. 7.--A BAD LURCH ON TO STROKE-SIDE.] + +[Illustration: NO. 8.--A LURCH ON TO BOW-SIDE.] + +[(4) "...] Watch the bodies in front of you as they move, and mould +yourself on their movement." + +(5) "You have fallen to pieces again. Use your ears as well as your +eyes, and listen for the rattle of the oars in the rowlocks. Whenever +you fall to pieces, try to rally on that point. Also plant your feet +firmly on the stretchers, and use your legs more when the boat rolls." + +These, I think, are a fair sample of the faults that may be found in +almost any crew, and to their eradication coach and oarsmen have +patiently to devote themselves. + + +MEASUREMENTS OF AN EIGHT-OARED RACING-BOAT. + +For purposes of convenience, I have taken the following measurements +from a boat built by Rough for Leander, in 1891. In that year she +carried a very heavy crew, who won the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley in +record time. She repeated her Grand Challenge victory in 1892 and 1893, +with crews very differently constituted from the first one:-- + + ft. ins. + + (1) Length over all 60 3 + + (2) Beam amidships, under gunwale 1 11 + + (3) Depth " " " 1 1 + + (4) Height of thwarts above skin of boat 0 7-1/8 + + (5) " seats " " 0 9-1/8[7] + + (6) " rowlock sills above seat 0 6-7/8 + + (7) " heels above skin of boat 0 1-1/4 + + (8) Position of front edge of slide in relation to + rowing-pin when well forward level + + (9) Length of movement of slide 1 4 + + (10) Distance from rowing-pin, measured horizontally + and at right angles to boat, to centre of seat 2 7 + + (11) Distance from wood of one thole-pin to wood + of the other 0 4-7/8 + +This boat, like nearly all English Eights, was "side-seated," _i.e._ the +centre of the seat, instead of being over the kelson, was set away from +it, and from the outrigger. Bow's and stroke's seats were 2-1/2 ins. +from centre, No. 5's 3-1/2 ins. Nearly all Fours and Pairs in England +are now centre-seated, as are Eights in America. Of course, with +centre-seating, assuming that you want the same leverage, you require a +longer outrigger. Otherwise, the only difference between the two systems +would seem to be that with centre-seating you naturally align the bodies +better. + + [7] A few very short-bodied men have to be "built-up," _i.e._ their + seats have to be raised even higher than this to enable them to clear + their knees and to swing. This, however, should not be done unless + absolutely necessary, as it tends to make the boat unsteady. + +Since 1891 boat-builders have somewhat increased the length of the boats +they build, and it is not uncommon now to find boats with a measurement +of 63 feet and a few inches over all. The boat whose measurements I have +given had, if I remember rightly, a slightly wider beam at No. 3 +stretcher than she had amidships. I have noticed, and my experience in +this respect confirms that of Mr. W. B. Woodgate, though it is entirely +opposed to the Rev. A. T. Shadwell's theories, that a boat with a full +beam somewhere between No. 4 and No. 3 is always a fast one. A boat +should never dip her head, but should always maintain it free. + + +MEASUREMENT OF OARS. + +On this matter there is now a great divergence of opinion amongst rowing +men. From 1891 inclusive up to the present year, the Leander crews have, +with trifling divergences, rowed with oars built on the following +measurements:-- + + ft. ins. + + (1) Length over all 12 0 + + (2) Length in-board, _i.e._ measured from rowing face + of bottom to end of handle 3 8 + + [_Note._--In some cases an extra half-inch was + added, which would make the length over all 12 0-1/2] + + (3) Length of button from top to bottom, measured + in a straight line 0 3-1/4 + + (4) Length of blade measured over the arc of the + scoop 2 7 + + (5) Breadth of blade 0 6 + +[_Note._--These are what are called square blades, _i.e._ the widest +part came at the end. Barrel blades are those in which the widest part +comes about the middle. In 1893 an extra half-inch was added out-board. +In 1896 the length of the Leander oars over all was only 11 ft. 11-1/8 +ins., the in-board measurement being 3 ft. 8 ins. With these oars the +Leander crew defeated Yale, and in the next heat, after a very severe +struggle, rowed down and defeated New College, who were rowing with oars +three inches longer out-board. Here are the measurements of the oars +with which the Eton crew won the Ladies' Plate in 1885-- + + ft. ins. + + Over all 12 6 + + In-board 3 7-1/2 + + Length of blade 2 5 + + Breadth of blade near shank 0 6-3/8 + + " " at end 0 5 + +(These blades were "coffin"-shaped on a pattern invented by Dr. Warre.)] + +_Measurement of Oars of Oxford Crew, 1890._ + + ft. ins. + + Over all 12 3-1/8 + + In-board 3 8-1/2 + + Length of blade 2 7 + + Greatest breadth 0 6-1/2 + + (These were barrel blades.) + +In 1896 the Oxford crew rowed with oars measuring 12 ft. 2 ins. over +all, with a leverage of 3 ft. 8-1/4 ins., and blade 6 ins. broad. With +these, it will be remembered, they rowed down and defeated Cambridge, +after a magnificent struggle, by two-fifths of a length, Cambridge using +oars measuring some 3 ins. longer out-board. It will thus be seen that +short oars have a very good record to support them--especially over the +Henley course. This year, however, a reaction took place at Oxford in +favour of longer oars with narrower blades. The Oxford Eight of this +year rowed with oars measuring 12 ft. 6 ins. over all, the extra length +being, of course, out-board, and their blades were cut down to a breadth +of 5-1/2 ins. They were, by common consent, a very fine crew, but were +unable to command a fast rate of stroke, and in the race against an +inferior crew they hardly did themselves or their reputation justice. +This pattern of oar was used by New College at Henley, the blades, +however, being further cut down to 5-1/4 ins. In the final heat of the +Grand Challenge Cup, they met Leander, who were rowing with 12-ft. oars. +Leander, rowing a considerably faster stroke, at once jumped ahead, and +led by a length in three minutes. New College, however, came up to +them, still rowing a slower stroke, then picked their stroke up, and, +after rowing level with Leander for about 250 yards, finally defeated +them by 2 ft. The result of this race cannot be said to have settled the +question as between long oars and short. In the Stewards' Fours, on the +other hand, Leander, rowing with oars measuring 12 ft. 1/2 in. over all, +and blades 5-3/4 ins. in breadth, defeated New College, rowing with 12 +ft. 6 ins. oars, and blades of 5-1/2 ins., the leverage in both cases +being 3 ft. 8-1/2 ins. The advocates of the long oar maintain that they +secure a longer stride, and are thus able to economize strength by using +a slower rate of stroke. Those who favour the shorter ones believe that +the extra lightness of their implement enables them to row a faster +stroke without unduly tiring themselves. Personally, I found, after +trying the experiment several times, that Leander crews I have coached +invariably rowed better and commanded more speed in practice with 12 ft. +to 12 ft. 1 in. oars than with oars 3 ins. or 4 ins. longer.[8] + + [8] Mr. S. Le B. Smith informs me that, to the best of his recollection, + the oars used by the London Rowing Club, up to 1878, measured--for + Eights, 12 ft. 2 ins. all over, and for Fours, 12 ft., the inboard + measurement being 3 ft. 6-1/2 ins. My impression is that they used + riggers shorter by 2 ins. than those now in use. Their blades were not + quite 6 ins. broad. + +It must be remembered, finally, that men, as well as measurements, have +something to do with the pace of a crew, and that style and uniformity +count for a good deal. The advocates of long or short oars will always +be able to explain a defeat sustained by one of their crews by alleging +causes that are totally unconnected with the measurement of the oars. On +the other hand, such is their enthusiasm, they will attribute the +victory of their crew entirely to their favourite pattern of oar. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +COMBINED OARSMANSHIP IN EIGHTS (_continued_). + + +Now that the novice has been safely launched in his racing-ship, we may +hark back for a space and consider some important points connected with +the organization and management of an eight-oared crew. And first as to +its selection and arrangement. + +As a general rule, it may be laid down that two middle-weights (men +ranging from 11 st. 5 lbs. to 11 st. 10 lbs. or even to 12 st.) will be +best at stroke and No. 7; three heavy-weights (12 st. 4 lbs. and +upwards) will suit for No. 6, No. 5, and No. 4; then with two more +middle-weights at No. 3 and No. 2, and a light-weight (10 st. to 11 st. +3 lbs. or so) at bow, your crew will be complete. This sounds easy +enough, but in practice the matter is complicated by a hundred +difficulties, such as (_a_) a superfluity or (_b_) a total absence of +good heavy-weights; (_c_) the absence of any good middle-weights +possessing the peculiar qualities necessary for stroke and No. 7; and +(_d_) the inability of good oars to row on one side or the other of the +boat, for you may find that of six valuable oars whom you may want to +include in a crew, every one will tell you that he can only row on the +stroke side or the bow side, as the case may be. In theory, of course, +every man ought to be able to row equally well on both sides. In +practice it will be found that most men, apart from any conscious +preference on their own part, do better work on one side than on the +other, while some are absolutely useless if shifted from the side they +prefer. This last class is, however, not nearly so numerous as it used +to be; and if, for instance, you consult the list of victorious Oxford +crews from 1890 up to the present year, and compare it further with +lists of Leander crews and Oxford College crews, you will see that a +very large number of men have rowed and won races on both sides of the +boat. I may mention specially Mr. Guy Nickalls, Mr. C. W. Kent, Mr. W. +A. L. Fletcher, Mr. R. P. P. Rowe, Mr. W. F. C. Holland, Mr. H. B. +Cotton, Mr. M. C. Pilkington, Mr. C. D. Burnell, Mr. T. H. E. Stretch, +Mr. C. K. Philips, Mr. C. M. Pitman, and Mr. H. G. Gold. On the other +hand, I cannot remember--to take only two instances of excellent +heavies--that Mr. E. G. Tew or Mr. W. Burton Stewart ever rowed except +on the bow side. + +All such difficulties the captain and coach of a crew must overcome as +best they can. In any case they will find it advisable to put their +lighter men in the stern and the bows, dumping down their heavies in the +waist of the boat, where they will have more room, and where it will be +easier to correct the clumsiness which is often associated with great +weight. + + +STROKE. + +For stroke I like a man of not more than twelve stone. A few good +strokes, _e.g._ the late Mr. J. H. D. Goldie, have topped this weight by +a few pounds. But a real heavy-weight is almost invariably slow and +lacking in initiative when placed at stroke, although, in the middle of +the boat, with another man acting as fugleman for him, he may be able to +row perfectly well at any rate of stroke that may be set to him. A +long-backed, supple-jointed man is of course best, for the +short-backed, long-legged man invariably has trouble in clearing his +knees, and consequently develops faults of style which it is hard to +eradicate or even to reduce when he has no model in front of him. These +faults will therefore exercise a very deleterious influence on the rest +of the crew. As to temperament, I should select a good fighter, a man, +that is, who would rather die than abandon the struggle, and whose fiery +determined nature does not exclude perfect coolness and mastery over +himself when a crisis calls for resource. Let me cite some examples. + +I may begin my list with Mr. H. P. Marriott and Mr. C. D. Shafto, the +Oxford and Cambridge strokes of 1877, the dead-heat year. It is rare +indeed to find two such splendid performers matched against one another. +Mr. L. R. West, the Oxford stroke of 1880, 1881, and 1883, was as good a +stroke as ever came to the University from Eton. He only weighed eleven +stone, but his style was simply perfect. The finest demonstration of his +racing judgment was given when he took his crew off at the start in +1883, and left Cambridge, on whom odds of three to one had been laid, +struggling hopelessly in the rear. More familiarly known to me was the +rowing of Mr. F. I. Pitman. In the University Boat Race of 1886 both +crews started at a very fast rate, and rowed little under thirty-eight +to the minute all the way to Hammersmith Bridge, which was passed by +Cambridge with a trifling lead. Immediately afterwards a strong +head-wind and a rough sea were encountered; the rate of stroke in both +boats dropped to about thirty-two, and Oxford began to forge steadily +ahead, until at Barnes Bridge they led by nearly two lengths. Here the +water was again smooth, and Mr. F. I. Pitman, the Cambridge stroke, +nerved himself for a supreme effort. With a wonderful spurt he picked it +up, and in the first half-minute after Barnes, actually rowed twenty-one +strokes, and in the full minute forty. The result of the race in favour +of Cambridge is a matter of history; but, even had Cambridge lost, the +merits of that wonderful spurt would have remained as striking. + +[Illustration: MR. C. W. KENT.] + +Mr. C. W. Kent, of Oxford and Leander fame, is another remarkable +instance of a born stroke. He rarely rowed as much as eleven stone, and +his general appearance outside a boat hardly gave promise of his +marvellous vigour and endurance in a race. He is a loose-limbed, +long-armed man, with no superfluous flesh, and with very little muscle. +In any purely gymnastic competition he would stand no chance whatever. +Yet it is not too much to say that as stroke of an Eight or a Four no +man has ever been of greater value, none has a more brilliant record of +victories secured by his own courage and resource after desperate +struggles. He was not a very easy man to follow in the early stages of +practice, but when once he had got his crew together behind him, he had +the most absolute control over them, and could always get the last +possible ounce of work out of them, and yet leave himself with +sufficient vigour to wind them up to a final extra spurt if the +necessity arose. His crew behind him became a single living entity, on +which he could play as a musician plays on an instrument over which he +has perfect command. He seemed to have a sort of intuitive knowledge, +not merely of the capacity of his own crew, but also of the capacity of +his opponents, at any given moment in a race. And he had, moreover, the +gift--inestimably valuable in a stroke--of taking his men along at their +best pace while economizing his own strength, thus always leaving +himself with a margin to put in extra work and pace when a close finish +required them. For there is no crew, however hard the men may have +worked, and however greatly they may be exhausted, that cannot screw +itself up to follow if only their stroke will give them a lead. Mr. +Kent's record of brilliant achievements begins in 1889, when, as stroke +of the Brasenose crew, with Mr. W. F. C. Holland at No. 7, he maintained +his boat at the head of the river against the repeated attacks of a +considerably stronger and faster New College crew. In 1890 he was stroke +of a Brasenose four at Henley. In one of the preliminary heats of the +Stewards' Cup, this crew defeated a strong Leander Four by two feet. In +the final heat they had to meet the Thames Rowing Club. At Fawley Court, +the halfway point, Thames had secured a lead of two lengths, and were +apparently rowing well within themselves. From here, however, Mr. Kent +began an extraordinary series of spurts. With a relentless persistence, +his crew rowing as one man behind him, he drove his boat inch by inch up +to the Thames boat, drew level with them about 300 yards from the +finish, and then, reinvigorated by the sight of his rivals, sailed +past them and won the race by something more than a length. In 1891, as +stroke of the Leander Eight he still further distinguished himself. +Rowing from the unsheltered station against a strong "Bushes" wind, he +just managed by a final effort to avert defeat at the hands of the +Thames Rowing Club, and made a dead heat of it. On the following day, +there being no wind, Leander beat Thames by two lengths, and in the +final heat beat the London Rowing Club by a length. Again, in the final +heat of the Grand Challenge Cup in 1894, he won another terrible race +from the worse station by half a length against the Thames Rowing Club. +No one who saw that extraordinary race can forget the wonderful +succession of efforts put forth both by Mr. Kent and by the Thames +stroke, Mr. J. C. Gardner, a very fine and powerful oar, who had stroked +Cambridge to victory in '88 and '89. Time after time did Mr. Gardner +force his boat almost level with Leander, and time after time Mr. Kent +just stalled him off and reasserted his crew's lead, until at the last +he went in with horse, foot, and artillery, and won the furious contest. +I cannot forbear citing another instance which shows merit as great, +though of a different order, in this remarkable stroke. In 1891 he +stroked the Oxford Eight, a crew of very heavy metal, but not well +arranged, and containing one welter-weight, who, in consequence of a +severe attack of influenza during the earlier stages of training, could +not be depended upon to last at top pressure over the whole of a course +of four miles and a quarter. In fact, Oxford, considering their +material, were unaccountably slow, and Cambridge, admirably stroked by +Mr. G. E. Elin, were as unaccountably fast. The race, it will be +remembered, was a very close one, and was won by Oxford by only half a +length. During its progress there were many temptations to Mr. Kent, a +man whose favourite rate of stroke was as a rule not less than forty, to +increase the pace. He saw the Cambridge crew hanging doggedly on to him, +and there were not wanting voices from his own crew to urge him to pick +it up. But Mr. Kent knew the capacity of his crew, and knew that, though +a fast spurt might give him a temporary advantage, it would leave him in +all probability with a completely exhausted heavy-weight on his hands to +struggle hopelessly against Cambridge's next effort. So he resolutely +kept the stroke slow until he got to Chiswick, where he made his only +effort, a slight one, it is true, but just sufficient to give him a +margin on which he could win the race. + +[Illustration: MR. H. G. GOLD.] + +I have dwelt at some length on Mr. Kent's performances, because I think +that he showed in the highest degree all the qualities that make a man a +good stroke in spite of the absence of mere brute strength. Mr. C. M. +Pitman, who as a freshman stroked Oxford in 1892, was a worthy successor +to Mr. Kent. The three Oxford crews stroked by him won with comparative +ease, a result of which the credit in a very large share must go to Mr. +Pitman, who proved his judgment and coolness, not only in the races, but +during practice against scratch Eights. Mr. H. G. Gold's remarkable +victories are too recent to require any comment beyond the statement +that they stamp him as one of the company of really great strokes. + +Of non-University strokes, the best I have seen have been Mr. J. Hastie, +of the Thames R.C.; Mr. F. L. Playford, of the London R.C.; Mr. J. A. +Drake-Smith, of the Thames R.C.; and Mr. G. B. James, of the London R.C. +The three last of these possessed, in addition to considerable natural +strength and endurance, a rhythmical ease and finished elegance which +made their rowing a pleasure to the eye, and rendered it easy for a crew +to shake together behind them. Mr. Hastie had enormous power and perfect +judgment, and no man ever knew better exactly how and when to crack up +an opposing crew. + + +NO. 7. + +This position is every whit as important as that of stroke. Indeed, I +have known many crews that were made by a good No. 7, in spite of an +inferior or an inexperienced stroke. Of the converse I cannot at this +moment remember any instances. No. 7 is the keystone of the crew. If he +fits perfectly into his place, the whole fabric remains firm; if he fits +badly, it will crumble to pieces at the first shock. + +It is the duty of No. 7 to weld the two sides of the crew into harmony, +to transmit to the rest of the crew the initiative of the stroke-oar, to +be ever on the watch to make stroke's task an easy one by following him +implicitly and immediately. But, more than this, a good No. 7 can +control and manage an inexperienced stroke, can check him when he +attempts to hurry unduly, can inspirit him and renew his energies when +he shows signs of flagging. The style and elegance of a crew depend even +more upon No. 7 than they do upon stroke. Therefore select for this +position a man whose movements are graceful, rhythmical and easy, who +can show style in his own rowing, and thus instil it into the rest of +the crew. It is important for No. 7 that he too should be able to +economize his power in a race. I do not mean that he is to be a +"sugarer" (a word we use to indicate a man who may show style, but who +never works honestly), but he must row with judgment. I have seen many +very big men row well at No. 7, but I should always prefer a man of the +stamp of the late Mr. H. E. Rhodes, the late Mr. T. C. Edwards-Moss, Mr. +R. P. P. Rowe, and Mr. W. E. Crum. These were all born No. 7's, though +the reputation of the first was chiefly gained at stroke. Still, I +consider that his best rowing was shown in 1876, when he rowed No. 7 of +the Cambridge crew behind Mr. C. D. Shafto. Those who can recall the +marvellous flexibility and adaptable ease of Mr. T. C. Edwards-Moss, and +who have seen similar qualities exhibited by Mr. Rowe and Mr. Crum, +will realize what I mean when I insist upon the importance of grace, +rhythm, and elegance, in a word, of style in a No. 7. You can rarely, of +course, count upon such a paragon for your No. 7, but at any rate get a +man who approaches more nearly than the rest to this ideal. + + +NO. 6. + +This, again, is a very important place; for your No. 6 must back up +stroke, and must, by genuine hard work, take as much as possible of the +burden off stroke's shoulders. Choose for the position a man who +combines great weight and power and endurance with a large share of +experience, a man who can row every stroke hard, and by his swing can +help to keep it long. Mr. S. D. Muttlebury, in the Cambridge crews of +1886 and 1887, was such a No. 6. Such, too, was Mr. W. A. L. Fletcher, +in the Oxford and Leander crews of a later date, and such is the veteran +Mr. Guy Nickalls at the present time. It must be an inspiration to the +rest of the crew to have the broad back of this iron oarsman swinging up +and down with an untiring vehemence, and slogging at every stroke as if +he had no thought whatever of the strokes that had to come after. But +then Mr. Nickalls is equally at home at No. 5 in an Eight; and as +stroke-oar of a Four or pair--a position from which he invariably steers +the boat--he is to my mind unapproachable. He would not himself assert +that he was a model of elegance, but for power and endurance, and for +the knack of infusing these qualities into the rest of the crew, no man +has ever, in my experience, surpassed, and very few indeed have +equalled, him. + + +NO. 5 AND NO. 4. + +These two are places which require weight and power. The details of +elegance and polish are not here so important, though it is, of course, +well to secure them if you can. A No. 5 who swings long and steadily is +of the utmost value, and the same may be said of No. 4. For instance, no +small part of the merit of the Oxford and Leander crews in which he +rowed was due to Mr. W. B, Stewart, their No. 5. A very tall, +well-built, and extremely powerful man, he rowed, I think, with the +longest swing I have ever seen. It was for this quality that we picked +him out of his college crew, when he was a comparative novice, and gave +him No. 5's seat in the Leander crew of 1893, and his rowing in that +crew and in others subsequently proved the correctness of our judgment. +The late Mr. T. H. E. Stretch, too, was a remarkable No. 5, a position +in which, however, he only rowed once, viz. in the Leander crew of 1896. +He was then certainly, for style and power combined, the best +heavy-weight oar at Henley Regatta. Mr. Broughton, of the Thames Rowing +Club, was another fine example of what a No. 5 ought to be--a really +slashing oar of wonderful power. I might use the same words to describe +Mr. R. S. Kindersley, of the Oxford crews of 1880, 1881, and 1882. +Amongst good No. 4's, I should specially select Mr. S. Swann, in the +Cambridge crew of 1884; Mr. C. B. P. Bell, of the Cambridge crews of +1888 and 1889; and Mr. F. E. Robeson, of the splendid Oxford crew of +1892. + + +NO. 3 AND NO. 2. + +Of these positions little need be said. Weight here ceases to be of +great importance compared with briskness and liveliness of movement. Yet +instances are not wanting of genuine heavy-weights who rowed at No. 3 in +fast crews. Mr. E. F. Henley, in the Oxford crew of 1866, rowed at 12 +st. 13 lbs.; Mr. P. W. Taylor, in the Oxford crew of 1885, and Mr. W. B. +Stewart, in the Oxford crew of 1894, were placed at No. 3 in spite of +their weighing well over 13 st.; and Mr. Vivian Nickalls, in the Leander +crew of 1891, was little short of this weight. But where these cases +have occurred, they were generally due to the fact that the authorities +had at their disposal a great number of really good heavy-weights, and, +rather than lose one of them, they placed him at No. 3. + + +BOW. + +Bow should be light, alert, compact, springy and cat-like, and a good +waterman. Such discomforts as may exist in a boat seem to concentrate +themselves at bow's seat. He has less room than any other man in the +boat, and any unsteadiness affects him more. I can recall a long list of +good bows, but none better than Mr. W. A. Ellison of Oxford, Mr. R. G. +Gridley of Cambridge, Mr. C. W. Hughes of the Thames R.C., Mr. W. F. C. +Holland and the late Mr. H. B. Cotton of Oxford, and Mr. C. W. N. +Graham of Leander fame. The last two rarely rowed as much as ten stone, +but their work was remarkable. In their respective college crews, they +proved that they could row at stroke just as well as at the other end of +the boat. + +Finally, a captain of a crew must remember, if with these great examples +before his eyes he feels inclined, as he runs over his list of available +oars, to despair of getting together a good crew, that wonderful results +have been achieved by college captains who had to draw their men from a +comparatively narrow field, and were often forced by the exigencies of +the case to fill places in their boats with men who were far removed +from ideal perfection. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +COMBINED OARSMANSHIP IN EIGHTS (_continued_). + + +From the hints given in the preceding chapter it will have been gathered +that good oarsmen are of all sizes and weights. But it must not be +forgotten that no small part of the motive-power of a crew comes from +heavy men. By weight I do not, of course, mean that which results from +mere adipose deposit; but weight, as it is usually found amongst young +men, that depends on the size of the frame and the limbs, and on their +due covering of muscle and sinew. I cannot, therefore, too strongly +advise a captain or a coach to spare no labour and no patience in +endeavouring to teach big men how to row. There will be disappointments. +Every one who has experience of rowing must remember at least one +massive and magnificent giant who failed to learn, in spite of infinite +pains on his own part and on the part of those who had to teach him. +Out of a boat he may have looked the very model of what a heavy-weight +oarsman should be--erect, strong, well-proportioned, supple, and active. +But put him in a boat, and at once he suffered a river change. His +muscles turned into pulp, his chest became hollow, his arms and legs +were mere nerveless attachments, and his whole body assumed the +shapelessness of a sack of potatoes. In the end, after many days, the +hopeless effort had to be sadly abandoned, and the would-be oarsman +returned to the rough untutored struggles of the football field, or the +intoxicating delights of lawn-tennis and golf. But, on the other hand, +there are innumerable instances to prove that a big man who has never +touched an oar before he came to Oxford or Cambridge, or joined one of +the Metropolitan clubs, may, by care and perseverance, be turned into +the pride and mainstay of his crew. Therefore, I say, persist with big +and heavy men, in spite of occasional discouragements; for there is more +advantage to a crew in one rough thirteen-stoner who really works and +swings than in two light-weights polished _ad unguem_. + +In the shapes of oarsmen, again, every kind of variety may be found, not +merely in minor details, but in the whole physical characteristics of +their bodies. Bob Coombes, the professional champion of 1846, 1847, and +1851, has recorded his opinion that the best physical type of oarsman is +the man who is, amongst other things, deep-chested and straight and full +in the flanks; who, in other words, has no waist to speak of. To this +type Mr. S. D. Muttlebury and Mr. Guy Nickalls conform, and there can be +no doubt that it is the best. But I have known oarsmen who varied from +it in every detail, and yet did magnificent work in a crew. I have +already mentioned Mr. C. W. Kent, and I may add another example in Mr. +H. Willis, of the Leander Club, a very finished and valuable oar, who +has given his proofs not only in an Eight, but also as No. 3 of the +winning Stewards' Four at Henley Regatta this year. Mr. Willis is tall +and loose-jointed. He is not furnished with any great quantity of +muscle, and his modesty will not resent my adding that, though he has a +well-framed chest, he also possesses a very distinct waist. I might +multiply such instances; but they may all be summed up in the statement +that a really good oarsman is never of a bad shape--for rowing. The +ultimate test is to be found not in the examination of his muscle or the +measurement of his frame, but in the careful and patient observation of +his work while he is actually engaged in rowing. A mere weed, of course, +cannot row to advantage; but I have seen more than one instance of +so-called weeds who eventually developed under the influence of the +exercise into solid and capable oars. And, as a rule, there is more +promise in the comparative weakling than in the gymnast whose tight +binding of muscles impedes the freedom and alertness of his limbs. + +We may now consider how the practice of an ordinary eight-oared crew +should be conducted. There is a certain amount of difference of opinion +as to how long a crew should remain in their tub--that is, in their +clinker-built boat--before taking to the racing-ship. Most college +captains, I think, keep their men in the heavy boat too long. Four or +five days are, I think, an amply sufficient period. Experienced oars are +none the better for rowing in a heavy boat, and novices who have much to +learn in watermanship, and want a long period for the learning, can be +taught the requisite lessons only in a light ship. The difficulties of +sitting such a ship are, as a rule, much exaggerated; and the young oar +who watches the scratch crews rowing against a University crew, or sees +a Leander Eight setting out for the first time, is apt to be surprised +when he notes how eight men, who have never rowed together before, can +move along with uniformity and steadiness. There are, no doubt, +difficulties of balance and quickness in light ship rowing; but the +sooner these are faced the better for all concerned. I am assuming, of +course, that the novice has been already drilled in the manner described +in previous chapters. + +As to the total length of the period of practice from the start to the +day of the race, that must, and does, vary according to circumstances. A +University crew practising for a long race will be at work generally +from about the middle of January until towards the end of March, some +ten weeks in all. Cambridge college crews have six weeks, Oxford college +crews only about four, for the college races. A London, Thames, or +Kingston crew can command at least seven weeks for the practice of its +Henley crew. On the other hand, no winning Leander crew that I have +known has ever practised for more than three weeks as a combination; +though individual members of it, who had not been at work since the +previous year, may have been taking rowing exercise on their own account +for some little time before the eight got to work. As a typical example, +I may take the remarkable Leander crew of 1896. Five members of this +crew--Mr. Guy Nickalls, Mr. J. A. Ford, Mr. C. W. N. Graham, Mr. T. H. +E. Stretch, and Mr. H. Willis--had had no rowing exercise for a year; +one, Mr. W. F. C. Holland, had not worked, except for a casual regatta +in Portugal, since the final of the Grand Challenge Cup in 1893; the +other two, Mr. H. Gold and Mr. R. Carr, had been in regular practice at +Oxford or at Putney since the previous October. Two weeks before +practice in the Eight began, Messrs. Holland, Ford, Stretch, and Graham +began work in a Four, with Mr. Graham, the eventual bow of the Eight, at +stroke. Mr. Willis had half this period of preliminary practice in a +pair. Mr. Nickalls had for some weeks been working at Putney in a Four +and a pair. Just three clear weeks before the first day of Henley +Regatta the Eight was launched; but it was not until three days after +this that Mr. Nickalls was able to come into the boat, and the crew for +the first time rowed in its final order, the advent of Mr. Nickalls +resulting in four changes in its arrangement. And yet this crew defeated +Yale University, who had been practising for months, and other crews, +composed of good material, that had been together for six or seven +weeks. I have in my mind, too, another crew, a combination of three +Oxonians, two Cantabs, two Etonians, and one Radleian, who, on one +week's practice, managed to beat over a one-mile course the Eights of +the London and Thames clubs, in spite of their ten or eleven weeks of +practice. + +I do not wish to have it inferred from the foregoing facts that in my +opinion those crews are likely to turn out best which practise together +for a very short time. Still, the qualities of skill, keenness of +enthusiasm, strength, condition, and racing ability, are factors in +success even more important than length of practice. It ought, of +course, to be true that if you could get two crews equally matched as +regards these qualities that which had had the longer period of practice +should win because of its greater uniformity. Moreover, in most cases +extra length of practice _up to a certain point_ ought to imply +superiority of condition. Beyond that point a crew, though it maintains +its outward uniformity and style, will fall off in pace, because +overwork will have dulled the edge of its energies, and robbed it of the +brisk animation that marks the rowing of men trained to the very +needle-point of perfect condition. And on the whole, taking condition +and the risks of staleness into account, I should prefer to take my +chances for an ordinary race with a crew that had practised from four to +five weeks, rather than with one that had been at it for ten or eleven. +I leave out of account the Oxford and Cambridge boat-race, both because +of the length of the course over which it is rowed, and on account of +the frequent changes to which the authorities generally find themselves +compelled to resort. And even for this race, if a president could at the +outset be absolutely certain as to the general composition of the crew, +he would find, I think, that a period of seven weeks at the outside +would be fully sufficient for him and his men. The whole matter amounts +to this, that a captain or a coach must consider carefully all the +circumstances of his case--the skill, the condition, the experience and +the strength of his men, and the distance over which they have to race, +and must decide on the period of practice accordingly. I cannot on paper +lay down any fixed general rule for his guidance, but can only bring +before him a few detached considerations which may be useful to him as +food for reflection. For my own part, I may add that I have never found +the least difficulty, even after a year's rest from rowing, in getting +into very good racing condition on three or four weeks of work. + + +HOW TO ARRANGE THE DAILY WORK OF AN EIGHT. + +Let the real hard work be done in the earlier stages of practice. You +thus accustom your men to one another, and you grind them into a +uniformity which makes all their subsequent work easier. This plan has +been very successfully followed by Oxford crews. Before they get to +Putney they will have rowed over the long course of four miles some ten +times. As a result, the men are hard and row well together; and during +their stay at Putney it is found possible to ease them in their work, +so as to bring them fresh and vigorous to the post on the day of the +race. Supposing you have five weeks for practice, you ought, I think, +during the first fortnight to row your crew over the racing course at +least four times. During the next ten days one full course will be +sufficient. The work of the last ten days must vary according to the +condition of the men, but two half courses and one full course at a +racing stroke will probably be found sufficient. Save for the rare case +of an exceptionally long row, a practice of about an hour and a half +every day is enough. At Henley all crews practise twice a day, but I do +not think they spend more than two hours, if so much, on the water every +day. + + +RATE OF STROKE. + +The practice rate for paddling ought not in the early stages to be less +than twenty-eight to the minute, which you may raise two points when +rowing hard. Later on, when your men are doing their rowing work at +thirty-six or more, and when they are, or ought to be, well together, +you may drop the rate of paddling to twenty-six or twenty-five, in order +to give them periods of rest, and to instil into them that steadiness +of swing which they are apt to neglect when engaged in the effort of +working up the stroke to racing pace. For a course of a mile to a mile +and a half, a crew should be able to start at forty, continue at +thirty-eight, and, if necessary, finish at forty in the race. Even for +the Putney to Mortlake course a crew ought to be able to command forty +at a pinch. As a rule, however, over a four-mile course a crew will go +quite fast enough if it starts for not more than a minute at +thirty-seven to thirty-eight, and continues, in the absence of a +head-wind at an average of thirty-five.[9] At Henley most crews will +start off at forty-one to forty-two for the first minute, and continue +at thirty-nine. Anything higher than this is dangerous, though on a +course of two-thirds of a mile I have known a Four to row forty-six in +the first minute with advantage. + + [9] Against a head-wind the rate of stroke must be slower. A coach's + instructions would be, "Swing down and reach out well, and swing hard + back against the wind." A following wind makes a crew very unsteady, + unless they remember that, since the pace of the boat is increased by + the wind, they must catch the beginning sharper, to prevent the boat + running away from them, and take their oars out even quicker and cleaner + than before, in order to prevent the boat catching them up, as it were. + Above all, they must keep the swing slow when they have a following + wind. + +These instructions are intended to apply to light racing ships. For the +clinker-built fixed-seat boats that are used at Oxford and Cambridge for +the Torpids and Lent races, a racing rate of thirty-seven ought to be +high enough, seeing that the crews are mainly composed of young oars. +The second division crews of the Cambridge "May" races row with slides, +but in heavy, clinker-built boats. The advantages of this arrangement +are not obvious. Still, these crews ought to be able to race at +thirty-six to thirty-seven. As a rule, however, when I have seen them +practising a minute's spurt, nearly all of them seem to have imagined +that thirty-two strokes were amply sufficient for racing purposes. + + +PADDLING. + +Paddling should be to rowing what an easy trot is to racing speed on the +cinder-path. A crew when paddling is not intended to exert itself +unduly, but to move at a comfortable pace which excludes any sense of +fatigue, and enables the men to give their best attention to perfecting +themselves in style, and to harmonizing their individual movements with +those of the rest. In paddling men do not slash at the beginning so +hard, nor do they grind the rest of the stroke through with the same +power as when rowing. Less violent energy is put into the work, and the +stroke consequently does not come through so fast. The rate of paddling +must therefore be slower than that of rowing, since each stroke takes a +longer time for its completion. As a rule, too, the blade is in paddling +not quite so deeply covered, and cannot make the same rushing swirl +under water. During the earlier stages of practice paddling is merely +easier rowing; it is not so sharply distinguished from hard rowing as it +becomes later on. At the outset it is necessary to make your crew both +paddle and row with a full swing, in order to get length ineradicably +fixed in their style. But later on a coach may tell his men, when he +asks them to paddle, not only to use the easier movements prescribed +above, but also to rest themselves additionally by using a somewhat +shortened swing. Then, when they are to row, he must call on them to +swing forward and reach out longer; to swing back harder and longer, +with a more vigorous beginning; and to put more force into their +leg-drive. A very useful plan, especially for the purpose of getting a +crew finally together, is to make them do long stretches of paddling +varied here and there by about a dozen or twenty strokes of rowing, care +being taken, however, not to allow the paddling to get dead and dull, +and a special point being made of getting the rowing not only hard, but +very long. + +Paddling is a difficult art to learn, and only the very best crews +paddle really well with balance, rhythm, and ease. Many a time I have +seen a good crew and an inferior one paddling along the course together, +and almost invariably the good crew, which had mastered the trick of +paddling at a slow stroke and with perfect ease, was distanced. Yet a +moment afterwards, when they ranged up alongside, and started together +for a two minutes' burst of rowing, the good crew would leave its +opponents as though they were standing still. + + +HOW TO WORK THE STROKE UP TO RACING PACE. + +There comes a time in the history of every crew when, having been +plodding along comfortably at thirty-four, they suddenly realize that +the race is barely a week off, that if they are to have any chance of +success they must raise the stroke, and that they don't know how on +earth it is to be done, seeing that they have usually felt pretty well +cleaned out after rowing even a half course at their present rate. +However, they generally do manage _tant bien que mal_ to get it done, +and find in the end that thirty-eight is not really much more difficult +for men in good training than thirty-four. + +The best plan, I think, is to devote the greater part of an afternoon's +practice to short rows of half a minute and a minute at, say, +thirty-seven, and to wind up with three minutes of this. On that day +there will probably be at first a terrible amount of rushing and +splashing. On the following day you will find that things have settled +down, and you will be able to row for five minutes at the faster rate. +On the third day practise short pieces again at thirty-eight, +thirty-nine, forty; and on the fourth day row your full course at as +fast a rate as you can command. A coach should impress upon his crew +that a fast stroke is to be secured not by rushing forward with the +bodies, but by rattling away the hands quicker and by increasing the +force employed in forcing the oar through the water. The pace of the +bodies on the forward swing, though, of course, it does increase, should +feel as if it were slower. _Relatively to the rate of stroke used_, it +is, in fact, slower at a fast than at a slow stroke. The best +stroke-oars have been men who fully realized this, and who, either in +breaking from a paddle into a row, or in spurting during a hard piece of +rowing, gave their crew a delightful sense of steadiness and balance, +which enabled them to put their utmost energies into every stroke. + + +PRACTICE IN STARTING. + +During the week preceding the race a coach should devote a great part of +his attention to the task of getting his crew quick off the mark. If a +crew starts in a brisk and lively manner, and gets pace on its boat +immediately, it is far more likely to continue well, so long as its +strength and condition last, than a crew that ponderously drags its boat +off, with the notion that it can put pace on later. At the end of half a +minute the lively crew would be well ahead--no small moral advantage +where two crews are evenly matched. The best position for the first +stroke is a little more than half forward with the body and three parts +forward with the slide. The mind, as well as the muscles, must be intent +on the effort. At the word "Go" at once cover the blade deeply, spring +the body on to the work, use the arms vigorously on this occasion only, +and, above all, drive, drive, drive with the legs, wrenching the stroke +fully home with outside hand.[10] Then make a special point of rattling +hands out like lightning, and get hold of the second stroke when the +hands are over the stretcher. Again a lightning rattle, followed by a +longer swing. The fourth stroke should be a full one. During the first +two strokes the crew should watch stroke's blade, and take their time +from that. + + [10] The simplest and easiest plan is to have the back of the blades + flat on the water while you are waiting for the word. In rowing _with_ a + strong tide it may sometimes be advisable to have the top of the blades + turned over towards the stern and to square blades at the "Are you + ready?" But this requires a lot of practice, and even then generally + causes unsteadiness. + + +THE NECESSITY OF BEING EXHAUSTED. + +I hold it to be absolutely necessary that during practice men should +learn thoroughly to row themselves out. If they do not, they need never +expect to become properly fit for the hard strain involved in a race. If +men will only consent to put their best and hardest work into a practice +course, so that they may feel at the end of it that they have neither +wind nor strength left, I will guarantee that all the subsequent work +will become infinitely easier for them, and the race itself will be a +pleasure instead of a pain. I hate to see a crew finish a practice row, +no matter how short it may be, in perfectly fresh trim. That is a sign +that they must have shirked their work. Yet I have often read in +newspaper reports of the practice of crews some statement like the +following:--"The boat travelled well all through, and the time +accomplished was fast; but when it was over most of the men were much +distressed"--as if this were a reproach instead of a compliment. Such +"distress" is one of the necessary stages through which crews must pass +on their way to good physical condition and perfect racing power. If a +crew never tires itself in practice, it will never row fast in a race. + + +HOW TO JUDGE A MAN'S WORK IN A BOAT. + +This can only be done properly by watching both the movements of the +body and the action of the blade in the water. It may be assumed that if +the blade strikes the water fairly at the full reach, is covered at +once, produces a deep boiling swirl _under_ the water, and remains +covered to the end of the stroke, the oarsman who wields it must be +working, in spite of many possible faults of form. Again, if the body +moves well, and with a vigorous briskness through the stroke, it may be +found that the swirl of the blade through the water does not show +properly, because the blade is put in too deep. This, of course, is a +fault, for the oarsman is giving himself too much work, and the effect +on the propulsion of the boat is smaller; but, at any rate, there is +honesty of intention. On the other hand, a man may make a great show of +form with his body, and a great splash in the water, by merely covering +half his blade through the stroke, or by missing his beginning and +rowing light at the finish; or he may seem to be swinging his body on to +his work, and yet by some subtly contrived disconnection between body +and arms and legs, produce no effect on the water. For all this a coach +must be on the look out. If he has once done hard rowing himself, and +watched it in others, he will never mistake the sham article (the +"sugarer") for the genuine, though possibly clumsy, worker. + + +THE VALUE OF TUB-PAIR PRACTICE. + +Practice in the tub-pair is one of the greatest possible aids towards +the consolidation of an eight-oared crew. A coach or captain should +never omit during the early stages of work to take out his men two by +two in a tub. Sitting at ease in the stern, he can lecture them to his +heart's content, and can devote himself with far better effect than when +his crew are in the Eight to eradicating individual faults and drilling +the men into one uniform style. During the latter part of training, +however, the tub-pair is, with rare exceptions, an unnecessary burden. +The crew then require all their energies for the work of the Eight, in +which they ought to be learning the last important lessons of +watermanship and uniformity every day. To drag them into tub-pairs at +such a time can only weary them. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +OF AILMENTS--OF TRAINING AND DIET--OF STALENESS--OF DISCIPLINE--OF +COACHING. + + +AILMENTS. + +I may preface what I have to say about ailments by stating, as +emphatically as it can be stated, that every man who proposes to take +part in a race ought, before he begins practice, to be thoroughly +overhauled by a medical man. I do not believe that any man whose heart +and lungs and general constitution are sound can be injured by rowing. +On the contrary, I have seen scores and scores of instances in which +sound but imperfectly developed youngsters were formed and solidified +and made into robust men by the exercise. But if a doctor reports of an +apparently powerful man that his heart is weak and his circulation +defective, or that the state of his lungs is unsatisfactory, no power on +earth would induce me to include him in my crew. Race-rowing is one of +the severest strains to which a man can submit himself, and only a +perfectly sound man can go through it without taking harm. + +Coaches are sometimes ridiculed for the excessive care they take of +their men; and there are not wanting those who draw the inference that +rowing men are peculiarly liable to illness, and suffer, when attacked +by it, more than others. Nothing can be further from the truth. If we +are anxious, it is because we know that for the special strain involved +in racing a man must be in specially good condition, and we desire, +above all things, to avoid anything that may keep him back in his +training and his work. Moreover, even a slight illness may entail +temporary retirement from the crew, and thus necessitate changes in its +order which will prevent the men from getting together. + +In rowing hard a man should keep a good colour. If you see him turning +green and yellow, you may be sure that something is wrong with him, and +you must pack him off to the doctor at once. It may turn out that his +digestion is in fault, and that a careful attention to diet is all that +is necessary to cure him. I have seen only two men actually faint +during a race. One of them was a distinguished Oxford Blue, who +collapsed during a heat of the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley; the other +was a college oar rowing in the Cambridge Fours. With regard to him, we +discovered afterwards that he had overtaxed his strength by working in +the Cambridge engineering workshop for about six hours every day. Both +these cases took place a good many years ago, and in neither has any +permanent injury resulted. I have, of course, seen hundreds of men +absolutely rowed out at the end of a race; but, with hardly an +exception, they were perfectly fit a few minutes afterwards and, +possibly, in the course of a few hours they might be seen rowing in +another severe race with unimpaired strength and vitality. + +With regard to ailments generally, I cannot do better than quote Mr. +Woodgate in the Badminton book: "A crew should be under strict orders to +report _all_ ailments, if only a blister, _instantly_ to the coach. It +is better to leave _no_ discretion in this matter to the oarsman, even +at the risk of troubling the mentor with trifles. If a man is once +allowed to decide for himself whether he will report some petty and +incipient ailment, he is likely to hush it up, lest it should militate +against his coach's selection of him. The effect of this is that +mischief which might otherwise have been checked in the bud, is allowed +to assume dangerous proportions for want of a stitch in time. An oarsman +should be impressed that nothing is more likely to militate against his +dream of being selected than disobedience to this or any other standing +order. The smallest pimple should be shown forthwith to the +coach"--verily the coach is not only [Greek: dios], but [Greek: +polytlas]--"the slightest hoarseness or tendency to snuffle reported, +any tenderness of joint or sinew instantly made known." + +To these golden words I would merely add that in all more serious cases, +such as boils, colds, coughs, severe diarrh[oe]a, or strains, it is best +for the coach not to attempt any amateur doctoring, but to send his +oarsman at once to a qualified doctor. In nearly every large rowing +club, and at the Universities, there are to be found doctors who have +either rowed themselves, or have had long experience of treating the +ailments of rowing men; and it is far better to take their advice, +which, as a rule, does not incline to molly-coddling, than to run the +risk of losing a valuable oar out of the crew through one's own +quackery. + + +_Blisters._ + +Blisters are a common accompaniment of the early days of practice. They +are ordinarily innocuous enough if well treated; but a neglected blister +may result in a raw hand, and lead to blood-poisoning. The best plan is +to prick a blister at its side with a clean needle before going to bed, +and on the following day or two to row with a glove and a pad of +cotton-wool over the blister. The skin very soon hardens into a +callosity. + + +_Boils._ + +These are a sure sign that the blood is in a bad condition, due probably +to over-eating. They afflict novices much more often than old oars, who +have learnt by experience to diet themselves. A mild dose of Eno's Fruit +Salt before breakfast may be recommended. The quantity of beef and +mutton eaten must be largely reduced. Fish and the dark meat of poultry +should be the staple articles of diet, and not too much of those. Nor +must the mistake be made of making up for the decrease of meat by +over-loading the stomach with immense masses of vegetables, though in +moderation vegetables are excellent. Having thus done his best for the +patient's inside, the coach must send him to a doctor to have the boil +treated externally. + + +_Diarrh[oe]a._ + +Cut off fruits of all kinds; reduce meat; give an extra glass of port, +and if the complaint continues, send the afflicted to a doctor. + + +_Strains._ + +Ordinary muscular strains generally yield to a good rubbing with an +embrocation. For wrist-strains a leather band may be recommended. +Abdominal strains must be seen to by a doctor. + + +_Colds._ + +The best remedy for a severe cold is to give your man at least one day's +complete rest, and make him keep his room. Indeed, with most ailments a +day's rest will work wonders; and it is far better for a coach to make +up his reluctant mind to grant it, than to run the risk of losing a +valuable man altogether by keeping him chained to his oar when he is +unfit to work. However, no man who takes proper care of himself, and +always makes a point of wrapping up when his crew easies, ought to catch +a cold. + + +TRAINING AND DIET. + +The rules of training and diet should be the rules of common sense, +applied to cases in which the body has to prepare itself, by severe work +and perfectly simple, healthy living, for an exceptional effort or +series of efforts. Rules there must be, if only on account of the +advantage that comes of being able to make exceptions to them. But the +chief points must be regularity and simplicity--a regularity, that is, +which shall not entail an unvarying and wearisome monotony, and +simplicity which shall not exclude occasional little luxuries that act +as a stimulus to a man's jaded energies. + +I shall give here two tables showing the hours and the dietary of an +Oxford crew training during a little more than five weeks for the race +against Cambridge, and of a Leander crew training for nearly three +weeks for the Grand Challenge race at Henley Regatta. + + I. _Oxford Crew._ + + 7 A.M. Out of bed, and without bathing or washing dress + immediately in flannels. A cup of milk and a + biscuit. + + 7.15 " Out of the house. A brisk walk with one sharp + run of 150 yards. + + 7.50 " Back to the house. Bath, etc. + + 8.30 " Breakfast.--Fish, plainly cooked, without sauce. + Soles, whiting, and smelts are best. Salmon + is not allowed. Cutlets or beefsteaks, or grilled + chicken. Eggs, boiled, or poached, or fried, + sometimes scrambled. Mustard and cress, or + water-cress. Toast. Limited amount of butter. + Marmalade is allowed only during the last + fortnight of training. Not more than a cup + and a half of tea. + + 11 " At Putney, when the state of the tide permits it, + exercise in the boat. It should be noted that + the tide sometimes makes it necessary for the + crew to do its rowing in the morning, sometimes + in the afternoon. Occasionally work can be + done both in the morning and afternoon. + + 1 P.M. Lunch.--Cold meat. Tomatoes plainly made into + a salad with oil and vinegar. Toast. Small + quantity of butter. Oatmeal biscuits. One + glass of draught beer, or claret and water. + + 3 or 4 " (according to tide). Work in the boat. + + 6.30 " Dinner.--Fish, as at breakfast. An _entr['e]e_ of + pigeons, or sweetbread, or spinach and poached + eggs. Roast joint (not pork or veal), or else + chicken, with potatoes, mashed or boiled, and + boiled vegetables. Stewed fruit with rice puddings. + Sometimes jelly. Two glasses of draught + beer, or claret and water. For dessert, figs, + prunes, oranges, dry biscuits, and one glass of + port wine. + + 9.50 P.M. A glass of lemon and water, or a cup of water-gruel. + + 10 " Bed. + + (_Note._--Once or twice during training there is a "champagne + night," when champagne is substituted for beer or claret and water; + but this only occurs when the crew have been doing very hard work, + or when they show evident signs of being over-fatigued, and require + a fillip.) + + II. _Leander Training at Henley._ + + 7 to 8.30 A.M. Same as in previous table. + + 8.30 A.M. Breakfast.--Same as in previous table, save for + the frequent absence of meat. Marmalade + allowed. Strawberries or peaches without + sugar; no cream. + + 10.30 or 11, or 12 P.M. Out on the water. + + 1.30 P.M. Lunch.--Same as in previous table. + + 4.45 " Cup of tea with a slice of bread and butter, or a + biscuit. + + 5.30 or 6 P.M. Out on the water. + + 7.30 or 8 " Dinner.--Same as in previous table. + + 9.50 P.M. Same as in previous table. + + 10.15 " Bed. + + (_Note._--With most Leander crews, which are composed of experienced + oarsmen, it has been found possible to abolish restrictions on the + amount of liquor, and to allow the men to take what they want to + satisfy their thirst, which at Henley time is naturally more severe + than it is in the early spring at Putney. With a college crew of + younger and less experienced oars such liberty of action is not to + be recommended; but a trainer ought, during hot weather, to tell his + men that if they really want an extra half-glass or so, they are not + to hesitate to ask for it. Men in training will, however, generally + find that if they exercise a little self-control during the first + few days of training, when the restriction on their drink seems + specially painful, their desire for drink will gradually diminish, + until at last they are quite content with their limited allowance. + If, on the contrary, they perpetually indulge themselves, they will + always be wanting more. On this point I may cite the authority of + the following remarks extracted from a recent article in the + _British Medical Journal_:-- + + "Among the various discomforts entailed upon us by the hot weather + is thirst, which leads to many accidents. First and most especially + is the danger arising from the ingestion of ices and cold drinks, + which so many people fly to directly they feel hot. Difficult as it + may be to explain in precise physiological terms the evil + consequences which so often follow the sudden application of cold to + the mucous membrane of the stomach when the body is over-heated, + there is no doubt about the fact, and people would do well to + remember the risk they run when they follow their instinct, and + endeavour to assuage their thirst by huge draughts of cold fluids. + There can be but little doubt that the profuse perspiration which is + the cause of so many dangers is greatly aggravated by drinking, and + especially by drinking alcoholic fluids. No one can watch a tennis + match without noticing how the men perspire, while the girls hardly + turn a hair. Some, perhaps, will say that the girls play the feebler + game; but, game or no game, they exert themselves. The same also may + be seen at any dance. The secret is that the men follow their + instinct and slake their thirst, while the girls simply bear it. It + should be remembered that thirst is the result of want of fluid in + the blood, not want of fluid in the stomach, and that a pint or more + may be drunk before a single ounce is absorbed. Any attempt, then, + to assuage thirst by rapid drinking must of necessity lead to far + more being taken than is wanted, the moral of which is that if we + must drink, at least let us drink slowly." + + Besides asking his men to drink slowly, a coach will do well to see + that they take no drink at all before they have eaten a certain + amount of food. Between meals, except as set out in the tables given + above, no drink of any kind should be allowed. + + Over-eating, too, is a very common danger, especially in the case of + youngsters, and a coach must warn his crew severely against it.) + +A captain ought to be specially strict in insisting on getting his men +out of their beds at a fixed time, and in seeing that they do not stay +up too late at night. Absolute punctuality all round ought to be rigidly +enforced. If, however, anybody should resent the severities entailed by +this dietary, and pine for freedom, he may be recommended to try what I +may call the Ouida system. It is fully set out in "Under Two Flags," +from which, in a spirit of humble admiration, I venture to give an +extract:-- + +"'Beauty don't believe in training. No more do I. Never would train for +anything,' said the Seraph, now pulling the long blonde moustaches that +were not altogether in character with his seraphic cognomen. 'If a man +can ride, let him. If he's born to the pig-skin he'll be in at the +distance safe enough, whether he smoke or don't smoke, drink or don't +drink. As for training on raw chops, giving up wine, living like the +very deuce, and all as if you were in a monastery, and changing yourself +into a mere bag of bones--it's utter bosh. You might as well be in +purgatory; besides, it's no more credit to win then than if you were a +professional.' + +"'But you must have trained at Christ Church, Rock, for the Eight?' +asked another Guardsman, Sir Vere Bellingham--'Severe,' as he was +christened, chiefly because he was the easiest-going giant in existence. + +"'Did I! Men came to me; wanted me to join the Eight. Coxswain came, +awful strict little fellow, docked his men of all their fun--took plenty +himself, though! Coxswain said I must begin to train, do as all his crew +did. I threw up my sleeve and showed him my arm;' and the Seraph +stretched out an arm magnificent enough for a statue of Milo. 'I said, +There, sir, I'll help you thrash Cambridge, if you like, but train I +_won't_ for you or for all the University. I've been captain of the Eton +Eight; but I didn't keep my crew on tea and toast. I fattened 'em +regularly three times a week on venison and champagne at Christopher's. +Very happy to feed yours, too, if you like--game comes down to me every +Friday from the Duke's moors; they look uncommonly as if they wanted it! +You should have seen his face! Fatten the Eight! He didn't let me do +that, of course; but he was very glad of my oar in his rowlocks, and I +helped him beat Cambridge without training an hour myself, except so far +as rowing hard went.' + +"And the Marquis of Rockingham, made thirsty by the recollection, dipped +his fair moustaches into a foaming seltzer. + +"'Quite right, Seraph!' said Cecil. 'When a man comes up to the weights, +looking like a homonunculus after he's been getting every atom of flesh +off him like a jockey, he ought to be struck out for the stakes, to my +mind.'" + +The obvious inference from this is that if we want to avoid looking like +"homonunculi" we must acquire dukes as fathers, and get fattened on +venison and champagne. + + +SMOKING. + +There are no smokes in training. + + +STALENESS. + +In the practice of almost every crew there comes a period, generally +about half way through training, when they begin to show the effects of +hard work by a certain lassitude and loss of vigour. This, in fact, is +not genuine staleness, but is the half-way house to perfect condition. +An experienced coach can always detect the signs of it amongst his men. +Their tempers will be short, they will begin to mope about the room, and +their general manner will betray languor and listlessness, instead of +that brisk cheerfulness that one has a right to expect. Their appetite +will decrease, and at meals they will dally with their food instead of +consuming it with a hearty zest. If a coach is blind to these signs, and +pursues, in spite of them, the scheme of work and diet which he may have +laid down at the first, he will probably bring to the post a crew as +stale and lifeless as London shrimps. If, however, he grants certain +indulgences to those who are most affected; if he lets them lie in bed +of a morning, adds a basin of soup to their lunch or dinner, gives them +extra liquor, or champagne in place of their ordinary liquor, and eases +the work of the crew all round, he will probably find that within three +days they will be perfectly brisk and fit again. I remember the case of +an Oxford crew which showed the worst symptoms of staleness on a Friday. +Saturday to Monday they spent in Brighton, and returned so +reinvigorated, that on the following Wednesday they were able in the +race to row Cambridge down at Chiswick and win by a length. For extreme +cases of what I call genuine staleness, I do not think there is any +remedy except complete rest for a period more or less prolonged. I have +seen instances of this at Henley amongst University oarsmen, who had had +practically no rest since the previous October. + + +DISCIPLINE. + +Not the least important point in the management of a crew lies in the +preservation of strict discipline. While they are in the boat and +engaged in rowing, no man, except the captain or the cox, should speak a +word, unless he is appealed to by the coach. A wise captain, too, when +he has a coach in whom he trusts, will content himself with saying very +little indeed. To be constantly cursing his crew, or to be shouting +directions to them from the boat, not only irritates the other men, but +increases all the difficulties of a coach. To "answer back" a coach is a +capital offence, which ought to lead to immediate removal from the crew. +I can only remember one instance of it in all my experience, and that +was promptly followed by a humble apology. Silence, prompt obedience, +absolute subordination of the individual self to the collective good of +the crew, a quick and hearty willingness in endeavouring to carry out +orders or instructions, a cheerful temper when things are going awry, +and a constant keenness whether in rowing or paddling--these are model +qualities which will go far to make a man a valuable oar. Nothing has so +bad an effect upon a crew as the display of moroseness or sullenness on +the part of one of its members. If that member should chance to be the +captain, the baneful effects are increased tenfold. There are times of +inattention and slackness when a coach does well to be angry, and to +bring his men sharply back to a knowledge of their duty. + + +THE COACH. + +I cannot deal with this subject at any length, for good coaching is a +matter of temperament, sympathy, tact, and intelligence--qualities that +cannot be taught. The man who has these necessary qualities, and adds to +them a wide experience of rowing, can never go very far wrong in +coaching a crew. If a man can once establish between himself and his +crew that subtle bond which comes of their conviction that their welfare +and success are his chiefest desire, and that everything he says is +absolutely right, the rest will be comparatively easy. A few simple +hints may, however, be given. + +(1) Never nag at your crew, or at an individual. Point out his fault; +explain to him as clearly as you can how he ought to correct it, and +then leave him alone for a bit. Never weary your men with an incessant +stream of talk. Periods of complete silence on your part are very +valuable, to you and to the crew. + +(2) If you see signs of improvement in a man whom you have been +correcting, never fail to tell him so. A little encouragement of this +kind has more effect than heavy loads of objurgation. + +(3) Rebuke any carelessness very sharply, but always keep strong +measures, such as taking a crew back to the start, for really serious +emergencies. + +(4) Show no partiality, and make as little difference as you can between +man and man. It is useful to begin by coaching old hands with some +severity. New hands are encouraged by feeling that even a Blue or a +Grand Challenge winner is liable to error, and that a coach is not +afraid to tackle these eminent men. + +(5) Make a gallant effort never to lose your temper with an individual, +though loss of temper with a crew as a whole need not always be avoided. +When things go wrong in a crew, impress upon each and every man that he +is individually responsible for the defects. Every man is probably doing +something wrong, and in any case a determined and united attempt to row +better can do no harm. + +(6) Never tell your men that they are rowing "well," or " better," when +these statements are contrary to the truth. The men in the boat can +generally feel what is happening as well as you can see it from the bank +or the launch, and they are apt to lose confidence in a man who talks +smooth things when everything is rough. + +(7) Never confuse a man by telling him more than one thing at a time +while he is rowing. When the crew has easied you can lecture him and +them more at length. + +(8) Remember Dr. Warre's rule, that general exhortations, such as +"Time," "Beginning," "Smite," "Keep it long," and the like, are to be +given at the right moment, not used as mere parrot cries. + +(9) Vary the tone of your voice as much as possible. + +(10) Vary, if possible, the expressions you use in pointing out and +correcting faults. + +(11) Always insist on your crew putting on their wraps when they easy +after rowing hard. + +(12) Never allow men during summer training to stand, sit, or lie about +in the full blaze of the sun. + +(13) Teach by example as well as by precept. The coach should be able to +take his seat in a gig pair, and to show his men practically the style +he wishes them to row in, and how their faults may be corrected. + +(14) Always remember, while paying attention to the form of individuals, +that your main object is to secure uniformity in the crew. Never fail, +therefore, to correct faults of time instantly. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +OF THE RACE-DAY--OF THE RACE--OF THE NECESSITY OF HAVING A BUTT--OF +LEISURE TIME--OF AQUATIC AXIOMS. + + +THE DAY OF THE RACE. + +On this tremendous day, towards which all their efforts for weeks past +have been directed, the coach will find that all his crew are suffering +from that peculiar nervousness to which rowing men have given the name +of "the needle." It is a complaint against which no length of experience +can harden a man, and the veteran of a hundred races will feel it as +acutely as the boy who is engaged in his first struggle. A sort of +forced cheerfulness pervades the air. Men make irrelevant remarks about +their oars, their stretchers, or the notorious incapacity of their +rivals, while they are reading the newspapers or discussing the politics +of the day. Even a coach is seized with the universal affection, +however gallantly he may strive against it, and endeavour to entertain +the crew with all his best stories of triumphant victories, of defeats +averted by brilliant spurts, or of the last sayings of some well-known +aquatic humourist. Old oars drop in, and for a few moments divert the +conversation, only to flow back with it into the one absorbing topic +that occupies all men's minds. The feeling goes on increasing until at +last, oh joy! the time comes for getting into the boat. With his +faithful oar in his hand, and his feet fixed to the stretcher, a man +regains his confidence, and when the word is given he will find that the +only effect that the needle has had upon him has been to brace his +energies to their highest pitch. The duty of a coach on such an occasion +is clear. He must try to keep his men cheerful, and prevent them from +brooding over the race that is to come. Visits from old oars should be +encouraged, for it is often a relief and an amusement to a youngster to +find that some solid oar of the past is even more agitated than he is +himself. One thing must not be omitted, and that is the preliminary +spin, which should take place about two hours before the race, and +should consist of two sharp starts of ten strokes each and one hard row +of a minute. This has an invaluable effect in clearing the wind. I have +always felt, when I have rowed more than one race in a day, and I think +my experience will be confirmed by most other oarsmen, that I have been +able to row better, harder, and with less distress, in the second race +than in the first. An hour and a half before the race a man will be all +the better for a biscuit and a hot cup of strong meat soup, with perhaps +a dash of brandy to flavour it, but this must depend upon the hour at +which the race is rowed, for if you have lunched at one and have to race +at half-past three you will want nothing between times to stay your +stomach. The early morning sprint should be taken as usual. + +[Illustration: HENLEY REGATTA, 1897. + +(_New College_ v. _Leander_. _Won by New College by 2ft._)] + + +THE RACE. + +"I shall say, 'Are you ready?' once; if I receive no answer, I shall +say, 'Go!'" It is the voice of the umpire addressing us from the +steam-launch in which he will follow the race. He must be a man dead to +all feeling, incapable of sympathy, for he actually turns to one of his +fellow-passengers and makes a jesting remark, while our hearts are +palpitating and our minds are strung up to face the stern actualities of +the race. The other crew look very big and strong, and fit and +determined. We shall have to row our hardest, and we all know it. "Get +the top of your shorts properly tucked in," says our captain, "so as not +to catch your thumbs; and mind, all of you, eyes in the boat, and when +cox shouts for ten strokes let her have it. Come forward all." + +"Touch her gently, bow" (it is the cox who speaks, and his voice sounds +thin and far away and dream-like). "One more. That'll do. Easy, bow. Now +we're straight." + +"Are you ready?" from the umpire. Great heaven! will he never +say----"Go!" he shouts. There is a swish, a leap, a strain, a rattle of +oars, a sense of something moving very swiftly alongside, a turmoil of +water, a confused roar from the bank: we are off! + +We started splendidly. For half a minute I am a mere machine; thoughts, +feelings, energies--all are concentrated into one desire to work my +hardest and to keep in time. Then my mind clears, and I become conscious +once more of myself and my surroundings. Have we gained? I _must_ steal +a look. By Jupiter, they're leaving us! "Eyes in the boat, four," +screams the cox; "you're late!" Be hanged to cox! he's got eyes like a +lynx. Yes; there's no doubt of it--I can see, without looking out of the +boat, out of the corner of my eye. They're gaining still. Now their +stroke is level with me; now he has disappeared, and for a few strokes I +am conscious of a little demon cox bobbing and screeching alongside of +me. Then he, too, draws away, and their rudder is all I can see. At last +that also vanishes, and a sense of desolation descends on us. Nearly two +minutes must have gone; I know that by the landmarks we have passed. +Surely we ought to spurt. What can stroke be up to? Is he going to let +us be beaten without an effort. Ugh! what a shower-bath that was. It's +six splashing, as usual. Well, if we're beaten, we must just grin and +bear it. We shall have to congratulate the other ruffians. Hateful! +Somebody must get beaten. But we're not beaten yet, hang it all! Three +minutes. What's this? Cox is shouting. "Now, ten hard strokes together; +swing out, and use your legs!" He counts them out for us at the top of +his voice. Grand! We're simply flying. That's something like it. And +I'm not a bit done yet. We're none of us done. The boat's going like +smoke. "Nine!" yells the cox. "Ten! Now, don't slack off, but keep her +going. You're gaining, you're gaining! On to it, all of you." He is +purple in the face, and foaming at the mouth. Glorious! Their rudder +comes back to me; I see their cox. We _are_ catching them. Now for it! A +few strokes more and the boats are running dead level, and so they +continue for half a minute. Stroke has now, however, taken the measure +of his foes. We are steadying down and swinging longer, and I am +conscious that the other crew are rowing a faster stroke. It is now our +turn to leave them. Foot by foot we creep past them; their bows come +level with me, and then slowly recede. I can see the back of their +bowman. His zephyr has come out from his shorts; the back of his neck is +very pale. There can't be more than two minutes left now, and I'm still +fit, and my wind is all right. We are winning; I'm sure of it. No; +they're spurting again, and, by Jove! they're gaining! Spurt, stroke, +spurt! We mustn't get beaten on the post. But stroke, that wary old +warrior, knows what he is about. Unmistakable signs prove to him that +this effort is the last desperate rally of his enemies. He sees their +boat lurch; their time is becoming erratic; two of them are rolling +about in evident distress. His own crew he has well in hand; we are +rowing as one man, and he feels that he has only to give a sign, and our +restrained eagerness will blaze forth and carry us gloriously past the +post. Let us wait, he seems to say, a very few seconds more, until the +opposing spurt fades out to its inevitable end; so he rows on +imperturbably. But isn't he running it too fine? Not he. He gives a +quick word to cox, rattles his hands away, and swings as if he meant to +strike his face against the kelson of the boat. "Pick her up all!" +screams the cox. "Now then!" comes in a muffled gasp from the captain. +We feel that our moment has come, and, with a unanimous impulse, we take +up the spurt and spin the ship along. In a flash we leap ahead; we leave +the other crew as if it was standing still. We are a length ahead; now +we are clear; half a length of open water divides us from them. To all +intents and purposes the race is over. The crowd grows thicker; the +shouts from the bank become a deafening din. Enthusiasts scream futile +encouragements to pursuer and pursued, and in another moment the flag is +down, the cox cries, "Easy all!" and with triumph in our hearts we +realize that we have won. The captain turns round to us--he is rowing +No. 7--his face glowing with pleasure. "Well rowed indeed, you men!" he +pants. "You all did thundering well! And as for you, stroke----" but +words fail him, and all he can do is to clap his delighted stroke on the +back. Then, having duly exchanged the customary "Well rowed!" and its +accompanying rattle of oars in rowlocks with our gallant enemy, we +paddle home to the raft, where our exultant coach and our perspiring +partisans receive us with hand-shakings and embraces and fervently +epitomized stories of the struggle. "I knew you had got 'em all the +way!" says the coach. "Did you hear me shout when you got to the +half-way point?" "Hear you shout?" we reply in a chorus of joyful +assent. "Of course we did. That's why we spurted." Of course, we had +heard nothing; but at this moment we almost think we did hear him +plainly, and in any case we are not going to be so churlish as to +detract from anybody's joy over our victory. + +And so the struggle is ended, and we have won. Pleasant though it is to +know that training is over, there is not one of us who does not feel a +sense of sorrow as he realizes that these days of toil and hardship and +self-restraint, of glorious health and vigorous effort are past. All the +little worries under which we chafed, the discipline that at times was +irksome, the thirst, the fatigue, the exhaustion, the recurrent +disappointments--all these become part of a delightful memory. Never +again, it may be, shall these eight men strike the sounding furrows +together. The victory that has crowned us with honour has at the same +time broken up our companionship of labour and endurance; but its +splendid memory, and the friendships it knit together--these remain with +us, and are a part of our lives henceforth wherever we may be. + + +THE NECESSITY OF HAVING A BUTT. + +Let me turn now to lighter matters, for there are lighter matters +connected with rowing. And first let me insist on the necessity of +having a butt in a crew. It appears strange at first sight that the +system of training--that is to say, of diet, of early hours, of healthy +exercise, and of perfect regularity in all things, which has so +admirable an effect upon the condition of the body, should sometimes +impair the powers of the mind, and absolutely shatter the temper. I have +seen eight healthy, happy, even-tempered young men go into training +together for three weeks. They were all the best of friends. Tom had +known Dick at school, and both had been inseparable from Harry ever +since they had gone up to the University. With these three the other +five were closely linked by a common pursuit and by common interests. +Each one of them was a man of whom his friends could say, he was the +easiest man to get on with you could possibly meet. Yet mark what +happened. At the end of three weeks every man in that crew was the proud +possessor of seven detested foes. They ate their food in morose silence; +they took no delight in the labour of the oar, and each one confided to +his outside friends his lamentable opinions about the seven other +members of the crew. Even now, though years have passed away, no one who +rowed in that crew can look back without horror on those three terrible +weeks. Why was this so? The simple answer is this, that the crew in +question did not number among its members a butt. I doubt if the +importance of a butt in modern boat-racing has been properly recognized. +Speaking from an experience of many years, I should affirm +unhesitatingly, if I did not remember what I have written in previous +chapters, that in an ordinary crew, composed, as ordinary crews are, of +men and not of angels, the position of butt is a far more important and +responsible one than that of stroke or No. 7. If you can find a good, +stout, willing butt--a butt who lends himself to nicknames, and has a +temper as even as a billiard-table and as long as a tailor's +bill--secure him at once and make him the nucleus of your crew. There +may be difficulties, of course, if he should happen to be a heavy weight +without a notion of oarsmanship, but these defects can easily be +mitigated by good coaching, and in any case they cannot be allowed to +count against the supreme merit of keeping the rest of the crew in good +temper. Salient characteristics are apt to be a rock of offence to a +training crew. To be a silent thinker does not give rise to happiness in +the seven who watch you think. It is an even deadlier thing to be an +eloquent gabbler or a dreary drawler. There is nothing an ordinary +rowing man detests so much as windy eloquence, unless it be perhaps the +miserable indolence which is known as slackness. The butt must therefore +be neither silent, nor slack, nor a drawler. Nature will probably have +saved him from being a thinker or an orator. He must be simply +good-natured without affectation, and ready to allow tempers made stormy +by rowing and training to break upon his broad back without flinching. +Your true butt is always spoken of as "old" So-and-so, and, as a rule, +he is a man of much sharper wits, with a far keener insight into +character, than most of those who buffet or tease him. Among eminent +butts may be named Mr.----, but on second thoughts I refrain. + + +LEISURE TIME. + +It seems a mere platitude to say that a man who can occupy his spare +moments in writing or reading is likely to be happier and more +even-tempered than one who is never seen with a book or a pen in his +hand. Yet it is a platitude of which not many oarsmen realize the force; +and, indeed, it is not an uncommon sight to see most of the members of +a crew sitting about listlessly in armchairs or talking the stale +futilities of rowing shop when they might with more solid advantage be +engaged, let us say, in following Mr. Stanley Weyman's or Dr. Conan +Doyle's latest hero through the mazes of his exciting adventures. At +Oxford or Cambridge, of course, a man has his lectures to attend, his +fixed tale of work to get through. But at Putney or at Henley this is +not so. There a man is thrown back on his own resources, a companionship +which he does not always seem to find particularly cheerful or +attractive. A billiard table, of course, is a valuable adjunct to +training quarters, but this is scarcely ever found at Henley, and not +always at Putney. Besides, most of us, after a short time, cease to take +any pleasure whatever in a game in which we are not qualified to shine. +The joy of reading the sporting reporter's account of your doings, and +of proving conclusively that he knows nothing about rowing, lasts but a +short time every morning. I may, therefore, offer the oarsman a piece of +advice which is, sound, in spite of its copybook flavour, and that is, +that he shall cultivate a habit of reading, and, if possible, of reading +good literature. Many moralists might recommend this habit on the +common ground that good literature tends to improve the tone of a man's +mind; and even a coach who is not a moralist will find it useful in +distracting the thoughts of his men. Besides, it is quite pleasant in +after life to recognize a well-worn quotation in a newspaper article, +and to remember, probably with complete inaccuracy, where it originated. +A little attention to writing and spelling might also prove valuable. +Oarsmen who had devoted themselves, say for ten minutes a day, to these +simple tasks, would have been saved from perpetrating the following +correspondence, which I quote _verbatim et literatim_ from letters in my +possession:-- + +"DEAR---- + +"It has been reported to me that you broke training last night you were +seen smoking not only a few wiffs but a whole pipe I have therefore +decided to turn you out of the boat. + + "Yours, etc." + +Answer to the above-- + +"DEAR---- + +"I am in reciet of your letter it is true that I smoked two whifs (not +"wiffs" as you say) out of another man's pipe but that's all however I +don't want to row in your beastly boat. + + "Yours, etc." + + +AQUATIC AXIOMS. + +I may add here some axioms which have been printed before,[11] but which +I may venture to repeat in a treatise on rowing. The years that have +passed since they were first set down have not weakened my conviction +that they are accurate. I still believe myself justified in stating-- + +(1) That if two crews row a course within ten minutes of one another, +the wind is always more violent and the stream more powerful against the +crew in which you yourself happen to be rowing. + +(2) That it is always right to take off at least five seconds from the +time shown on your stop-watch in timing your own crew, and to add them, +by way of compensation, to the time shown on the same watch when timing +a rival crew. + +(3) That your own crew is absolutely the only one which ever rows the +full course right out or starts at the proper place. + +(4) That if your crew is impeded while rowing a course you must allow +ten seconds; but if any other crew is impeded you must allow only two +seconds. + +(5) That if you row a slow course, No. 5's stretcher gave way, or his +slide came off. + +(6) That you could always knock a quarter of a minute off when you row a +faster stroke, but that-- + +(7) You never do, as a matter of fact, row a faster stroke. + +(8) That your crew always rowed a slower stroke than the rest. + +(9) That you are sure to do a faster time to-morrow. + +(10) That your private opinion is, that if everybody in the crew did as +much work as you do yourself your crew would be many lengths faster, +and-- + +(11) (and last) That you always lose by the steering of your coxswain +three lengths, which all other crews gain by the steering of theirs. + + [11] In "In Cambridge Courts." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +FOUR-OARS AND PAIR-OARS--SWIVEL ROWLOCKS. + + +A good coxswainless four-oared crew represents skill and watermanship, +as distinguished from mere brute strength, in their highest development. +I may lay it down as an axiom that any man who can row well in a +coxswainless Four will row equally well in an eight-oared crew. The +converse of this is, however, by no means true. A man may do good work +in an Eight, and yet be incapable of doing himself justice in a Four, +or, indeed, of helping the pace of the boat in any way. Rowing of a more +refined order is requisite for a Four. Greater power of balance is +needed, and a more perfect sense of that rhythm which goes far to secure +uniformity in rowing. You may have in your Eight a clumsy heavy-weight, +who at No. 5 can use his strength to wonderful advantage, in spite of +various aberrations from correct form. But if you put this man at No. 3 +in a Four, the results are sure to be disastrous. An easier style of +movement is required for a Four. A strenuous application of all the +body-weight at the beginning of the stroke is still, no doubt, +necessary. The beginning must, of course, be gripped, and that firmly; +but the best four-oared rowing I have seen always gave me the impression +that a sort of "oiling" method of progression, in which steady +leg-pressure plays a prominent part, was best suited to a Four which is +not encumbered with the weight of a coxswain. Over and over again have +Eights been defeated at Henley for the Grand Challenge Cup, and yet +Fours, selected from their members, have been able to beat all comers in +the Stewards'. From 1868 to 1878 the London Rowing Club won the Grand +five times. In the same period of eleven years their Four was only once +defeated for the Stewards', proving, if any proof were needed, that an +inferior Eight (I use the term merely relatively) may contain a +first-class victorious Four. On the other hand, from 1891 to 1897, a +period during which Leander won the Grand five times, they were able to +win the Stewards' only once, and that was this year, when their Eight +was defeated. Instances of this kind might be multiplied. + +But besides skill in oarsmanship, another element, which adds greatly +both to the difficulties and pleasures of a Four, has to be considered. +This is the necessity that one of the oarsmen should not only row, but +also guide the course of the boat by steering with his foot. It is +evident that watermanship of a very high order is needed for this feat. +The steerer must know the course and all its points perfectly. The +ordinary oar often finds it difficult to keep time when his eyes are +glued on the back of the men in front of him, but the steerer in a Four +has to keep time and regularity, even though he may be forced to look +round in order to ascertain the true direction of his boat. An oarsman +in an Eight has both his feet firmly fixed; a steerer of a Four must +keep one foot constantly ready for movement. And all this he has to do +without making the boat roll, or upsetting the harmony of his crew. +These difficulties, no doubt, are great; but when once they have been +overcome, and the crew has shaken absolutely together, there can be few +pleasures in the world of exercise comparable to that of rowing in a +Four. + +During a long period the London Rowing Club had almost a monopoly of +good Fours. Their crews showed a degree of watermanship which in those +days University oarsmen despaired of attaining to. Gulston, Stout, A. de +L. Long, Trower, and S. Le B. Smith were not only names to conjure with, +but showed in their rowing that perfection of apparently simple ease +which lies at the root of success in four-oared rowing. Who that ever +witnessed it can forget the sight, once well-known at Henley, of Mr. F. +S. Gulston as he rowed and steered his Four to victory? As a recent +Cambridge versifier said of him-- + + "They can't recall, but ah, I can, + How hard and strong you looked, sir; + Twelve stone, and every ounce a man, + Unbeatable, uncooked, sir. + Our French friends, had they seen your rude + Vast strength had cried, '_Ah quel beau + Rameur, celui qui arque le coude_'-- + That is, protrudes his elbow. + + "Your ship could run like Charley's Aunt, + And you, demure as Penley, + Knew all the wiles that might enchant + The river nymphs at Henley. + No piles had yet marked out the way + Forbidding men to try on + The tricks that found round every bay + The short cuts to the 'Lion.' + + "Each inch of bay you knew by heart, + You knew the slackest water; + All foes who faced you at the start, + You beat, and beat with slaughter. + To 'form' a stranger, yet your style + The kind that much endures was. + I never saw--forgive the smile-- + A rounder back than yours was. + + "But round or straight, when all dismayed + Your rivals lagged in trouble, + Still with a firm, unfaltering blade + You drove the swirling bubble. + With you to speed the hours along + No day was ere spent dully, + Our stalwart, cheerful, matchless, strong, + Our undefeated Gully." + +As a matter of record it may be stated that Mr. Gulston won five Grand +Challenge Cup medals and ten Stewards' Cup medals, Mr. A. de L. Long +five Grand Challenge Cup medals and eight Stewards' Cup medals, and Mr. +S. Le B. Smith four Grand Challenge Cup medals, and seven Stewards' Cup +medals. No oarsman of the present day can boast of anything like such a +record in these two events. + +The art of four-oared rowing, then, was brought to perfection by the +crews of the London Rowing Club many years ago; but there is no danger +that it will be forgotten by oarsmen of the present day. Indeed, the +rowing of the Leander Four that won the Stewards' Cup this year was +about as good as four-oared rowing can be. They were absolutely +together, they rowed with most perfect ease, and in the race they beat +record time by seven seconds, and might have beaten it by still more, +had they not easied a length or two from the finish. Their weights were +as follows:-- + + Bow. C. W. N. Graham 10 st. 2 lbs. + 2. J. A. Ford 12 st. 1 lb. + 3. H. Willis 11 st. 12 lbs. + Guy Nickalls (stroke, and steers) 12 st. 7 lbs. + +From the above remarks it will be gathered that the great points to be +insisted upon in four-oared rowing are uniformity, and again uniformity, +and always uniformity. A coach should insist, if possible even more +strenuously than he insists in an Eight, on bodies and slides moving +with a faultless precision and perfectly together. Let him devote his +energies to getting the finish and recovery locked up all through the +crew, and let him see to it that the movements of their bodies shall be +slow and balanced on the forward swing, and strong and not jerky on the +back swing. More it would be difficult to add. + +When a Four is practising for a four-oared race alone--that is to say, +when its members are not rowing in an eight-oared crew as well, their +course of work should be similar to that laid down for an Eight. But +when, as often happens at Henley, a Four is made up out of the members +of an eight-oared crew, it will always be found better to allow its +members to do the bulk of their work in the Eight, and to confine +themselves in the Four principally to long and easy paddling, varied by +short, sharp bursts of rowing. It may be necessary for such a Four to go +over the full course once at top speed, but that ought to be enough. +Their work in the Eight should get them into condition; all that they +really need in the Four is to be able to row perfectly together. The +Brasenose Four that won the Stewards' in 1890 had never rowed over the +full course before the day of the race. Their longest piece of rowing, +as distinguished from paddling, had been a burst of three minutes. Their +men acquired fitness by working in the Eight, and proved their +condition by the two desperate races they rowed. + +As to steering, it used to be said that anybody might steer in a Four +except stroke, but Mr. Guy Nickalls has proved that a stroke can steer +as well as row. He has won four Stewards' Cup medals, has stroked and +steered in every race, and his boat has always been kept on a faultless +course. + +In the case of the ordinary oar, however, the old saying, I think, holds +good. Bow naturally is the best place to steer from, not only because in +turning his head he can obtain a clear view of the course, but also +because he has a considerable advantage in leverage, and ought to be +able to control the direction of his boat merely by relaxing or +increasing the power applied to his oar. The best part of the stroke for +looking round is, I consider, towards the finish. A turn of the head, +accompanied by an outward movement of the outside elbow to suit the +slightly altered position of the body, while keeping pressure on the +oar, is all that is necessary. Yet I have seen Mr. Guy Nickalls look +round in the middle of his forward swing without apparently disturbing +the equilibrium of the boat. In any case, the best thing a steerer can +do is to learn his course by heart, so that he may be able to steer for +the most part without looking round at all, judging the direction she is +taking by her stern and by well-known objects on the bank as he passes +them. Personally I prefer, and I think most men prefer, to steer with +the outside foot. The captain of a Four should always look carefully to +his steering-gear to see that the wires and strings are taut, and that +they move properly and without jamming over the wheels. I have seen more +than one race lost by accidents to the steering-gear that might have +been avoided by a little preliminary attention. + + +PAIR OARS. + +This, too, is a very pleasant form of rowing, both with a view to racing +and merely for casual amusement. The main elements for success are +similar to those laid down in the case of Fours. In pair-oared rowing, +however, there is one important point which distinguishes it from all +other forms of rowing. It is absolutely essential that the two men +composing a Pair should not row "jealous," _i.e._ neither of them must +attempt to row the other round in order to prove his own superior +strength and ability. Such a course of action not only makes progress +circuitous and slow, but also ends by entirely destroying the tempers of +both oarsmen. In a Pair, even more than in a Four, the bow oar has a +considerable advantage in leverage, whence it comes that a lighter and +less powerful man can often row bow in a Pair with a strong and heavy +stroke. The most surprising instance of this occurred in the Oxford +University Pairs of 1891, which were won by the late Mr. H. B. Cotton, +rowing bow at 9 st. 12 lbs., to the stroke of Mr. Vivian Nickalls, who +weighed close on 13 st. An instance to the contrary was afforded by the +winners of the Goblets at Henley in 1878. These were Mr. T. C. +Edwards-Moss, bow, 12 st. 3 lbs., and Mr. W. A. Ellison, stroke, 10 st. +13 lbs. The Goblets at Henley have been won six times by Mr. Guy +Nickalls, and five times by his brother Vivian. + + +SWIVEL ROWLOCKS. + +There has been, during the past year, a movement in favour of using +swivel rowlocks, not only in sculling-boats, but also in Pairs, Fours, +and Eights, though the majority of English oarsmen, even when inclined +to use them in Pairs and Fours, set their faces against them for +Eights. The advocates of swivels contend that by their use the hands are +eased on the recovery, and the jar that takes place when the oar turns +on a fixed rowlock is absolutely abolished. These advantages seem to me +to be exaggerated, for, though I have carefully watched for it, I have +never seen an Eight or a Four retarded in her place for even a fraction +of a second by the supposed jar due to the turning of the oar on the +feather in fixed rowlocks. On the other hand, I am convinced that for an +ordinary eight-oared crew the fixed rowlock is best, and for the +following reasons:-- + +The combined rattle of the oars as they turn constitutes a most valuable +rallying-point. The ears are brought into action as well as the eyes. +This advantage is lost with swivels. In modern sculling-boats a man must +use swivels, for the reach of the sculler extends to a point which he +could not reach with fixed rowlocks, as his sculls would lock before he +got there. As he moves forward he is constantly opening up, his arms +extending on either side of his body; but in rowing, one arm swings +across the body, and unless you are going to screw the body round +towards the rigger, and thus sacrifice all strength of beginning, you +cannot fairly reach beyond a certain point, which is just as easily and +comfortably attained with fixed rowlocks as with swivels. Moreover--and +here is the great advantage--you have in the thole-pin of a fixed +rowlock an absolutely immovable surface, and the point of application of +your power is always the same throughout the stroke. With a swivel this +is not so, for the back of the swivel, against which your oar rests, is +constantly moving. To put it in other words, it is far easier with a +fixed rowlock to get a square, firm, clean grip of the beginning, and +for the same reason it is easier to bring your oar square and clean out +at the end of the stroke. A really good waterman can, of course, adapt +himself to swivels, as he can to almost anything else in a boat, but his +task will not be rendered any easier by them. For average oars, and even +for most good oars, the difficulties of rowing properly will be largely +increased, without any compensating advantage, so far as I am able to +judge. In the case of novices, I am convinced that it would be quite +disastrous to attempt to make them row with swivel rowlocks. + + +_Measurements of Racing Four built by J. H. Clasper._ + +(In this boat Leander won the Stewards' Cup, 1897.) + + ft. ins. + Length over all 42 3 + Greatest breadth of beam, exactly amidship 1 8-3/8 + From centre of seat to sill of rowlock 2 8-1/2 + Length of play of slides 1 3-7/8 + Height of sliding-seat above skin of boat 8-7/8 + Height of heel-traps above skin of boat 1-5/8 + (This would make the heels about one inch + above skin of boat.) + Height of sill of rowlock above seat 6-3/4 + Depth forward 6-1/8 + Depth aft 5 + + +_Measurements of Oars used._ + + Length over all 12 0-1/2 + Length in-board 3 8-1/2 + Length of blade 2 8 + Breadth of blade 5-3/4 + +This boat is some three feet shorter than the average of Fours nowadays. + +The oars used by the New College Four measured over all 12 ft. 6 ins.; +in-board, 3 ft. 8-1/2 ins.; breadth of blades, 5-1/2 ins. + + +_Measurement of a Pair Oar built by Sims, of Putney._ + +(In this Pair Mr. H. G. Gold, and Mr. R. Carr won the University Pairs +at Oxford, their weights being 11 st. 10 lbs. and 12 st. 8 lbs. +respectively.) + + ft. ins. + Length over all 37 1 + Greatest breadth 1 3-3/4 + Length of slide play 1 4 + Distance from sill of rowlock to centre of seat 2 8-1/2 + Height of seat above skin of boat 8-1/8 + Height of heels above skin of boat 1-1/4 + +[Illustration: HENLEY REGATTA. + +(_A Heat for the Diamonds._)] + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +SCULLING. + +_By Guy Nickalls._ + + +In writing an article on sculling, a sculler must of necessity be +egotistical. He can only speak of what he himself feels to be the +correct way of doing things, and cannot judge of how a different man +feels under the same circumstances. I therefore put in a preliminary +plea for forgiveness if in the course of these remarks the letter "I" +should occur with excessive frequency. Sculling is so entirely an art by +itself, that a man might just as well ask a painter how he produces an +impression on a canvas as ask a sculler why he can scull, or how it +comes that so many good oarsmen cannot scull. Ask an ordinary +portrait-painter why he cannot sketch a landscape, and ask an ordinary +oarsman to explain why he cannot scull, and to the uninitiated the +answer of both will have the same sort of vagueness. Sculling differs +so vastly from rowing that no man who has not tried his hand at both can +appreciate how really wide apart they stand; and the fact that sculling +depends to such a great extent on one's innate sense of touch and +balance, makes it extremely hard for a man who has tried his hand with +some success at both sculling and rowing to explain to the novice, or +even to the veteran oarsman, wherein the difference lies. There is as +much difference between sculling and rowing as there is between a single +cyclist racing without pacemakers, steering and balancing himself and +making his own pace, and a man in the middle of a quintette merely +pedalling away like a machine at another man's pace, and not having the +balance or anything else solely under his control. The difference in +"feel" is so great that one might liken it to the difference between +riding a light, springy, and eager thoroughbred which answers quickly to +every touch, and pounding uncomfortably along on a heavy, coarse-bred +horse, responding slowly to an extra stimulus, and deficient in life and +action. + +To scull successfully one must possess pluck, stamina, and a cool head, +and must, above all, be a waterman. A man may _row_ well and +successfully, and yet possess none of these qualities. Nothing depresses +a man more when he is sculling than his sense of utter isolation. If a +spurt is required, he alone has to initiate it and carry it through; +there is no cheering prospect of another strong back aiding one, no +strenuous efforts of others to which one can rally, no cox to urge one +to further effort. You feel this even more in practice than in actual +racing, especially when going against the clock. You are your own +stroke, captain, crew, and cox, and success or failure depends entirely +and absolutely upon yourself. No one else (worse luck) is to blame if +things go wrong. + +The pace of a sculling-boat is strictly proportionate to the quality of +its occupant. A good man will go fast and win his race; a bad man +cannot. A good man in an Eight cannot make his crew win; and a bad man +in an Eight may mar a crew, but he can also very often win a race +against a crew containing better men than himself. + +People have often asked me why a first-class oar should not of necessity +be a good sculler. This, although a hard matter to explain, is partly +accounted for by what I have said above, in that sculling is so greatly +a matter of delicate touch and handling. Even good oars are as often as +not clumsy and wanting in a quick light touch. Very few really big men +have ever been fine scullers. This is partly accounted for by the fact +that so few boats are built large enough to carry big weights, and +consequently they are under-boated when practising. Many big weights, +_e.g._ S. D. Muttlebury and F. E. Churchill, have been good and fast +scullers at Eton, but two or three years afterwards are slow, and get +slower and slower the longer they continue. This, I think, is a good +deal owing to the muscle which a big man generally accumulates, +especially on the shoulders and arms, and he therefore lacks the +essential qualities of elasticity, lissomeness, and quickness with the +hands. + +Big, strong men also generally grip with great ferocity the handles of +their sculls, and these being small, the forearm becomes cramped, and +gives out. Many good oarsmen have never tried to scull, and those who +have generally give it up after a first failure, which is more often +than not due to want of attention to detail. What passes for good +watermanship in an Eight is mere clumsiness in a sculling-boat, and, as +a matter of fact, there are far fewer really good watermen than the +casual observer imagines. + +I asked three of our best modern heavy-weight oarsmen to tell me the +reason why they could not scull. The Thames R.C. man said the only +reason why he had never won the Diamonds was because he had never gone +in for them. This was straightforward, but unconvincing to any one who +had watched this gentleman gambolling in a sculling-boat. The Cambridge +heavy-weight affirmed solemnly that he could scull, and was at one time +very fast. He subsequently admitted that he could never get a boat big +enough, and, secondly, his arms always gave. The Oxford heavy-weight +replied much to the same purpose, without the preliminary affirmation. + +Many men can scull well and slowly, but few can really go fast, and +this, I think, is due to the fact that they do not practise enough with +faster men than themselves, and so do not learn by experience what +action of theirs will best propel a boat at its fastest pace. Nothing is +more deceptive than pace; when a man thinks he is going fastest he is +generally going slowest. He gets the idea that he is going fast because +his boat is jumping under him, and creating a large amount of side-wash; +but an observer from the bank will notice that although the sculls are +applying great power, that power is not being applied properly, and his +boat will be seen to be up by the head and dragging at the stern, and +bouncing up and down instead of travelling. + +The first and foremost thing, then, to be attended to for pace is +balance, _i.e._ an even keel, and to obtain this your feet should be +very firm in your clogs. As those supplied by the trade are of a very +rough and rudimentary character, they will nearly always require padding +in different places. You should be able to feel your back-stop just so +much that when leaning back well past the perpendicular you can push +hard against it with a straight leg. You are then quite firm, and can +control your body in the event of your boat rolling. Although when a man +has become a waterman he will find the back-stop unnecessary, it is +safest for the novice to have it, so as to be able to press against it; +otherwise, having nothing to press against at the finish of his stroke, +he may acquire the bad habit of relying entirely on his toes to pull him +forward. In such a position he is unstable, and if his boat rolls he has +no control over his body. + +Having got your balance, the next thing to be thought of is the stroke. +Reach forward until the knees touch either armpit; put the sculls in +quite square, and take the water firmly (be most careful not to rush or +jerk the beginning); at the same time drive with the legs, sending the +slide, body and all, back; the loins must be absolutely firm, so that +the seat does not get driven away from underneath the body. If you allow +the loins to be loose and weak you will acquire that caterpillar action +which was to be seen in several aspirants to Diamond Sculls honours last +year, and which ruined whatever poor chance they ever possessed. This +diabolical habit of driving the slide away, although common to many +professionals, cannot be too severely condemned, as it relieves the +sculler from doing any work at all except with the arms, which, if thus +used, without swing and leg-work to help them, cannot, unless a man is +enormously muscular in them, hold out for any great length of time. The +firm drive will start the swing of the body, which may be continued a +fraction of time after the slide has finished. You will find that when +you have driven your slide back your body will have swung well past the +perpendicular (and in sculling you may swing further back than you are +allowed to in rowing). When in that position a sculler is allowed to do +that which an oarsman must not, viz. he may help to start his recovery +by moving his body slightly up to meet his sculls as they finish the +stroke. Thus by keeping his weight on the blades in the water as long as +possible, instead of in his boat, he strengthens the finish and prevents +his boat burying itself by the bows. The stroke from the beginning +should go on increasing in strength to the finish, which should be firm +and strong, but, like the beginning, not jerked or snapped. Strength +applied to the finish keeps a boat travelling in between the strokes. + +The finish is by far the hardest part of the stroke, and is most +difficult to get clean and smart. The position is naturally a far weaker +one than that of the oarsman, as the hands are eight inches or so +further back, and at the same time six inches or so clear of the ribs. +In this position nine out of ten scullers fail to get a really quick +recovery with the sculls clean out and clear of the water, the hands +away like lightning and clear of the knees, and the body at the same +time swinging forward. As soon as the hands have cleared the knees they +should begin to turn the blade off the feather, so that by the time you +are full forward the blades are square and ready to take the water. +Professionals recommend staying on the feather until just before the +water is taken, but this is apt to make the novice grip his handles +tightly, and press on them almost unconsciously when he should be very +light. He will thus make his blade fly up and miss the beginning. In +order to ensure both hands working perfectly level and taking and +leaving the water exactly together, a man should watch his stern, and by +the turn given either way he can easily detect which hand is not doing +its right amount of work. Which hand you scull over or which under makes +little or no difference. Personally, I scull with the right hand under. +In holding a scull the thumb should "cap" the handle; this prevents you +from pulling your button away from the thowl even the slightest bit, and +makes your grip firmer and steadier. If in steering you must look right +round, do so shortly before you are full forward, as soon as the hands +have cleared the knees, but generally steer by the stern, if you can, +without looking round, and almost unconsciously by what you notice out +of the corner of either eye as you pass. + +Modern professionals, with very few exceptions, scull in disgracefully +bad form. W. Haines, Wag Harding, and W. East, at his best, are perhaps +the only exceptions I know to this rule. English professionals, owing to +the manual labour with which most of them start life, become abnormally +strong in the arms, and trust almost entirely to those muscles. Their +want of swing, their rounded backs, and "hoicked" finish they carry with +them into a rowing-boat. Nothing shows up their bad form in rowing so +much as sandwiching a few pros. in a goodish amateur crew--"by their +style ye shall know them." They have acquired a style which does not +answer, and which they cannot get rid of, and they consider an Eight can +be propelled in the same manner as a sculling-boat. Nothing is more +erroneous. They cannot assimilate their style to the correct one. Two +pros. sometimes make a fair pair, because they may happen to "hoick" +along in the same style. Professional Fours are a little worse than +Pairs, and their Eights disgraceful. I am of opinion (and I fancy most +men who know anything about rowing will agree with me) that England's +eight best amateurs in a rowing-boat would simply lose England's eight +best pros. over any course from a mile upwards. This inability to +assimilate one's style to that of another man, or body of men, may be +the reason why some excellent amateur scullers proved inferior oars, or +it may be that they can go at their own pace and not at another man's. I +myself have often felt on getting out of a sculling-boat into an Eight +great difficulty and much weariness at being compelled to go on at +another man's pace, and only to easy at another's order. If you are +practising for sculling as well as rowing there is nothing like being +_captain_ of an Eight or stroke of a Pair or Four. + +The novice, if he has toiled so far as this, is no doubt by now saying +to himself that I am only repeating what he knows already, and that what +he especially requires are hints as to rigging his boat, size and shape +of sculls, and various measurements, the pace of stroke he ought to go, +etc., Of course, the smaller the blade the quicker the stroke, and _vice +vers[^a]_. It should be remembered that even 1/16 of an inch extra in the +breadth of a blade makes a lot of difference. Blades, I think, should +vary according to the liveliness of water rowed on, and according to the +strength of the individual. For myself, I am rather in favour of smaller +blades than are generally used. My experience leads me to believe that +racing sculls should be from 9 ft. 8-1/2 ins. to 9 ft. 9-1/2 ins. in +length all over; in-board measurement from 2 ft. 8-1/4 ins. to 2 ft. 9 +ins., but, of course, this entirely depends on how much you like your +sculls to overlap. When they are at right angles to the boat, my sculls +overlap so much that there is a hand's-breadth of space in between my +crossed hands. The length of blade should be about 2 ft.; breadth of +blade, from 5-3/4 ins. to 6-1/4 ins. Even on the tideway sculls should +be as light as a good scull-maker can turn them out, so long as they +retain their stiffness. Do not, however, sacrifice stiffness to +lightness. It is rather interesting to compare these measurements with +those of a pair of sculls hanging over my head as I write; these were +used in a championship race eighty years ago, and have a heavy square +loom to counteract their length and consequent weight out-board. The +measurements are--8 ft. 8 ins. in length over all, 1 ft. 9 ins. +in-board; length of blade, 2 ft. 5 ins.; breadth of blade, 3-1/8 ins. I +give below roughly what should be the measurements of a boat according +to the weight of the sculler. For a man of-- + + 9 stone. 12 stone. 13 stone. + Length 30 ft. 31 ft. 31 ft. 3 ins. + Width 9 ins. 10-1/2 ins. 11-1/2 ins. + Depth 5-1/4 ins. 5-1/2 ins. 5-3/4 ins. + " forward 3-1/4 ins. 3-1/2 ins. 3-5/8 ins. + " aft 2-1/2 ins. 2-1/2 ins. 2-5/8 ins. + Weight 24 lbs. 28 lbs. 34 lbs. + +As to slide, I hold that a man should slide to a point level with his +rowing-pin--never past it, lest the boat should be pinched instead of +being driven at the beginning of the stroke. The clogs should be fixed +at an angle of 55 deg. to the keel (_i.e._ an angle measured along the back +of the clogs). If the angle is much smaller, the feet and legs lose +power when the sculler is full back, and the drive at the finish is +weakened. If the angle is greater, the difficulty of bending the +ankle-joints sufficiently as the slide moves forward becomes very +serious. The distance of fifteen inches from the heel of the clogs to +the edge of slide when full forward may be slightly reduced, but only +slightly. For instance, if reduced, as is sometimes done, to ten inches, +the body comes too close to the heels in the forward position to enable +the sculler to get a strong, direct, and immediate drive, and the boat +is pinched. + +A very old sculling-boat of mine--and perhaps the best that Clasper ever +built--was built for Mr. F. I. Pitman in 1886. She owed her pace to the +fact that she was very long aft, and consequently never got up by the +head; her cut-water was always in the water, even when her occupant was +full forward; and the most marvellous thing was that, low as she was, +she did not bury her nose, considering that she had to endure a weight +of 170 lbs. or so, shifting its position fore and aft to the extent of +sixteen inches. She is a marvel of the boat-builder's art, and was built +of exceptionally close-framed cedar, which takes a long time to get +water-soaked, and indeed should never do so if properly looked after. +Her dimensions were: Length, 31 ft. 2 ins.; length from edge of sliding +seat when forward to stern-post, 14 ft. 6-1/2 ins.; width, 11-1/4 ins.; +depth forward, 3-1/4 ins.; depth aft, 2-5/8 ins.; depth amidships, 5-1/2 +ins.; from heels to back edge of slide when back, 3 ft. 5-1/4 ins.; +leverage, _i.e._ measurement from thowl to thowl across, 4 ft. 9 ins.; +from heels to edge of seat when forward, 15-1/4 inches. She won the +Diamond Sculls in 1886, 1888, 1889, 1890; the amateur championship in +1886, 1887, 1888, 1889, 1890; besides the Metropolitan Sculls and +several minor races. + +It is a great mistake to try and get a boat too light. The eagerness a +man will display in cutting down everything to lessen the weight of his +craft, until he is sitting on the water on a weak bit of nothing, is +really astounding. Three or four extra pounds often make all the +difference, whether a boat is stiff and keeps on travelling, or whether +she jumps, cocks her head, and waggles about generally. + +As to the pace of stroke, from twenty-two to twenty-six strokes a minute +is a fair practice paddle, twenty-four to twenty-eight for sculling +hard, and in racing, even for a minute, never attempt anything over +thirty-eight. I once sculled seventy-eight strokes in two minutes, and +felt more dead than alive at the end of it. It is harder work to scull +thirty-eight strokes in a minute than it is to row forty-four in the +same time. If you do start at thirty-eight, drop down as soon as +possible to thirty-four, thirty-two, or even thirty, according to +circumstances of wind and weather, etc. My best advice to the novice is +to go just fast enough to clean out his opponent before the same thing +happens to himself, or, even better still, to get his opponent beaten, +and leave himself fresh. But always remember if you are at all evenly +matched, that however bad you feel yourself, your opponent is probably +in just as bad a plight. Talking of pace reminds me of how soon even the +best scullers tire. In sculling a course against time at Henley, a good +man may get to Fawley, the halfway point, in about the same time as a +Pair, and yet will be half a minute slower from that point to the +finish; and for the last quarter-mile the veriest tiro can out-scull a +champion, provided the latter has gone at his best pace throughout. In +scull-racing the advantage of the lead is greater than in rowing, as a +sculler can help his own steering by watching the direction of the +other's craft. Yet you should never sacrifice your wind to obtain the +advantage, for recollect that in sculling you can never take a blow or +an easy for even a stroke. If you are behind, never turn round to look +at your opponent, as by doing so you lose balance and pace, and many a +good man has lost a race by so doing. Keep just so close up to your man +as to prevent him giving you the disadvantage of his back wash. + +Training for sculling requires more time and practice than training for +rowing. If it takes an Eight 6 weeks to get together and fit to race, it +takes a Four 9 weeks, a Pair 12 weeks, and a Sculler 15 weeks. If a man +is training for both rowing and sculling at the same time, and racing in +both on the same day, it takes lengths and lengths off his pace, for +rowing upsets all that precision so necessary in sculling. If a man +sculls and rows at Henley, and does both on the same day, and practises +for the same daily for a month beforehand, I should think it would make +him from six to eight lengths slower on the Henley course. Otherwise, +train as you would for rowing, the only difference being that a little +more time should be spent in the actual sculling than is spent in the +actual rowing. + +Having attended Henley Regatta since 1883, and having raced there for +twelve years in succession, I have met with various scullers. Mr. J. C. +Gardner, taking him all round, was the finest I have ever seen of +amateurs. He was quite the best stripped man I have ever seen, his +muscles standing out like bars of steel all over his body; he was a very +neat, finished sculler, the only fault I could find with him being a +tendency to a weak finish. W. S. Unwin, a light weight, was extremely +neat, but his style was rather spoilt by a roundish back. F. I. Pitman, +his great rival, was perhaps a better stayer, and had a more elegant +style. Vivian Nickalls, for a long man, was a fine sculler, handicapped +by an awkward finish and handicapped also by the fact that he never +entirely gave his time up to sculling only--his chief characteristic +being a fine, healthy, long body swing. M. Bidault, a Frenchman, who +rowed in the Metropolitan Regatta some years ago, was 7 ft. 4-1/2 ins. +high; he weighed 17 stone; his boat weighed 50 lbs., was 35 feet long, +had a 5 ft. leverage; his sculls were 11 ft. 10 ins. long. Compare with +him Wag Harding, with a boat 19-1/2 lbs. in weight, weighing 9 stone +himself, and you will see in what different forms and shapes men can +scull. And M. Bidault was a fast man for a quarter of a mile. The +fastest sculler for half a mile I have ever seen was Herr Doering, who +sculled for the Diamonds in 1887. The slowest man I have ever seen +was---- Well, I won't mention names, as he might go in for the Diamond +Sculls again. Rupert Guinness, although not what I should call a born +sculler, obtained his great proficiency in sculling by dint of a very +long and careful preparation, by months and months of continual +practice, and by not hampering his sculling by entering and practising +for rowing events at the same time--in fact, by making a speciality of +sculling. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +STEERING. + +(SOME HINTS TO NOVICE COXSWAINS.) + +_By G. L. Davis_, + +Cox of the Cambridge Eight, 1875-79; Cox of Leander, 1880-85. + + +Many people think that any one, provided he be of the proper weight, is +fitted to fill the post of coxswain. + +Nobody, however, knows better than the actual rowing man what an amount +of useless labour and irritation a crew can be saved by possessing a +good man in the stern, not to mention the assistance he can afford both +directly and indirectly in getting a crew together. Certainly a mere +tiro, having acquired the elementary knowledge that if he pulls the +right rudder-line he will turn his boat to starboard, _i.e._ to the +right, and that if he pulls his left line he will turn her to port, +_i.e._ to the left, may be able to guide a boat sufficiently well for +ordinary purposes; but even in the period of training a crew, and still +more so in the race, there is undoubtedly plenty of scope for a clever +coxswain to distinguish himself. There is no royal road to good +steering. Pains and perseverance are necessary, as in every other branch +of athletics. The attainment of perfection in steering is not all that +is requisite; there are many other qualities added to this skill which +combine to make a coxswain worthy to be reckoned in the front rank--a +position which all coxswains should aim for. + +In the days of Tom Egan the steerer had to act as coach to his crew, but +nowadays he is no longer called upon to do so. He is, in the first +place, chosen on account of his light weight; but eligible though he may +be in this respect, he is too often quite incapable in other ways of +performing his duties. Should this be the case, a crew would be well +advised in carrying a few more pounds, or even a stone or two extra, if +by so doing they manage to gain an able and experienced coxswain. There +are certain qualities which are absolutely essential in the right sort. +He should have light hands, judgment, a cool head, and plenty of nerve +to enable him to keep his presence of mind in the face of a sudden +predicament or unforeseen danger. There are numberless occasions both in +practice and during races when risks are run. A boat laden with +pleasure-seekers may suddenly pop out from the bank into the course. The +coolness of the coxswain may avert very much more serious consequences +than the loss of a stroke or two, such as a broken rigger or an injury +to an oarsman, by a touch of the rudder and a ready appeal to his crew +to mind their oars. + +During a University Boat Race, in which I was steering the Cambridge +Boat, a waterman's wherry, with two or three occupants, was suddenly +pulled out from the Surrey shore at a short distance above Hammersmith +Bridge. The course at this point lies somewhat near to the bank, and the +Oxford Boat was nearly level with mine. The wherry was directly in my +way, and, as far as I could make out, those who were in it seemed to be +in doubt as to whether they should row still further out or make for the +shore. If I went to the right, a foul was imminent with the Oxford Boat; +if to the left, I should have got into slack water and lost ground by +the _d['e]tour_. There was no time for those in the wherry to waste in +making up their minds, so I promptly made straight for them with the +object of driving them out of my course. The desired effect followed. +They got sufficient way on in the direction of the shore to enable me to +steer straight on and clear them. My action involved the ticklish +question of judgment of distance and of pace, namely, should I reach the +spot before the wherry was clear; and this anecdote illustrates my +point--that quickness in making up the mind, and, when it is made up, in +acting, is _essential_ to a coxswain. + +The duties of a coxswain consist of many and varied details. To make a +smart crew, attention should be paid to discipline both in and out of +the boat, and he can and ought to further this object to the utmost of +his power, thereby saving the coach or captain a great deal of trouble. +If the coxswain of a light eight-oared racing ship has been ordered to +get her into the water, he ought to be there to superintend the order +being carried out. He should bid his crew "stand by" their riggers, and +see that each man is in readiness to lift and carry her to the water's +edge. There is generally a waterman at hand, but whether there is or +not, the coxswain should be ready, if necessary, to remove any stool +upon which the ship may have been resting, so as to prevent any +stumbling on the part of his men. His place is near the rudder (unless +she is launched stern foremost, when, of course, it would be +impossible), to prevent any injury happening to it, until the boat is +safely in the water. He will then get the oarsmen into her in an orderly +manner. There is necessity for this, for otherwise the boat's back may +be strained. This might occur by allowing stroke and bow to get in +first, owing to a boat of such length and lightness of build being +supported in the centre and at the same time weighted at each end. The +best order for the men to take their places is, 4, 5, 3, 6, 2, 7, bow, +and then stroke. The coxswain should call out their numbers one by one, +holding the boat firmly whilst they take their seats, and on no account +allow more than one man to get in at the same time. In disembarking, it +is part of his duty to see that the crew leave the ship in the reverse +order. The coxswain seats himself in the aftermost thwart perfectly +upright, with his legs crossed tailor-fashion, and takes up the +rudder-lines one in each hand; and, before he gives any command, should +see that his steering gear is in proper order. It is a common and useful +custom for the purpose of preventing the hand from slipping, to have +attached to each line a piece of wood of about three to four inches in +length, and one and a half in circumference, called a tug. These the +coxswain clasps tightly, one in each hand. Some coxswains hold their +rudder-lines in front of the body, others behind; but in my opinion the +best place to hold them is by the side, with the hands resting one on +each gunwale. The coxswain, by thus supporting himself, can better +preserve a firm and steady seat. He should never slip about on his seat, +but always keep his body as nearly as possible erect, and balanced from +his hips. He must on no account roll with the boat, and should endeavour +to prevent himself being moved to and fro by the action of the rowers. +Often a narrow strip of wood is nailed to the seat the better to enable +him to sit firm. The lines must be kept taut, and tied together in front +of him, lest by any accident he should lose one or both overboard. After +having shoved off and paddled into position, he should see that the +bows of his boat point straight for the course he wishes to steer. He +will then start his crew by calling upon them to "get ready," when they +will divest themselves of any superfluous clothing and make any other +necessary preparations. He will then say "Forward!" or "Forward all!" +for them to come forward in readiness for the first stroke. He should +now take care that his boat is level, and should tell the oarsmen on the +side to which she may list to raise their hands, or call upon the crew +to get her level. After that he asks, "Are you ready?" as a final +warning, and lastly cries, "Row!" or "Paddle!" as may be required. Some +other forms are employed, but this is as good as any, and better than +most, and the same words should always be used when once adopted. In the +event of a crew making a bad start, they should be at once stopped and +restarted. If the coxswain be desirous for his crew to stop rowing or +paddling, "Easy all!" is the term to use, and this order should be given +almost immediately after the commencement of a stroke, to prevent the +rowers coming forward for the next one. In case it may be necessary to +bring his boat up sharp, he will say, "Hold her up all!"[12] and if (at +any time) there is any danger of the oars touching anything, he should +cry, "Mind your oars, bow side," or "stroke side," as the case may be. +The boat is ordinarily turned on the port (left) side by calling upon +bow and No. 3 to paddle, and stroke and No. 6 to back water, or back, +for brevity; and on the starboard (right) side by calling upon Nos. 2 +and 4 to paddle, and Nos. 5 and 7 to back. In each case the coxswain +naturally assists with the rudder. When turning a racing ship, for fear +of weakening her, the paddling and rowing should not take place +simultaneously. + + [12] This is the term used at Cambridge, where "Hold her" is also used + with the same meaning. At Oxford, "Hold her up" means "Paddle on + gently;" and "Hold her all," or "Stop her all," would be the order if a + sudden stoppage were required. To carry out such an order the rowers + turn the blades flat on the water, and raise their hands quickly, thus + burying blades in the water. + +Whatever the coxswain addresses to his crew should be spoken clearly and +distinctly, so that all may hear without difficulty. The preceding +instructions comprise most of the everyday terms that a coxswain should +know. + +Now let me turn to his functions of a semi-coaching character, of +keeping his crew in time. Whether the crew are rowing or paddling, he +must carefully watch the time of the oars, both as they catch the water +and leave it. If the oarsman catches the water too soon, he should be +told not to hurry; if too late, he should be told, "You're late." If he +leaves it too soon, or, as it is called, clips his stroke at the finish, +he should be told to finish it out, etc. (but if an oarsman finishes it +after the stroke, I cannot advise the coxswain to take notice of it). +All these semi-coaching remarks, if I may so call them, should be +prefaced with the number of the crew to whom they are addressed, for the +purpose of calling his attention, and must be used with judgment and +tact, for nothing can be more aggravating, not to say maddening, to an +oarsman at any time, more especially when fagged in a race, to hear +incessantly the possibly high-pitched and monotonous tones of a +coxswain. There is only one fault that will excuse him shouting himself +hoarse, if he be so disposed, and it is the fault, or rather vice, of +one of the crew looking out of the boat; and he should at once cry, +"Eyes in the boat!" and continue to do so until he is obeyed. There are +certain acts of watermanship which an efficient coxswain will not +neglect to carry out, namely, when turning to come down-stream, to swing +his boat round by pulling her head outwards into the current; and, on +the other hand, when turning to proceed up-stream, to thrust her nose +into the slack water inshore, and allow her stern to come round in the +same manner; and always to bring his boat in to the raft or +landing-stage with her head pointing up-stream. + +There is no need for me to set out the rules of the road for a coxswain +to follow, as they can be read at any time in the Rowing Almanack, which +comes out annually, and is published at the _Field_ office. + +To steer a straight course, a coxswain should fix upon a high and +conspicuous object some distance ahead, and endeavour to keep the nose +of his boat dead on it; and when learning his course, he should remember +to choose objects of a permanent nature, or in the race he will be in +difficulties. Now, the keeping of a straight course is not so simple as +it appears; in fact, it is a most difficult thing to do properly, and +there is no case in which the advantage of a coxswain with light hands +is better displayed. It will be noticed that such a one leaves scarcely +a ripple in his wake, whilst another will leave a considerable wash. The +reason of it is this: that whilst the former uses practically no rudder, +the latter, by first pulling one line and then the other, causes the +stern of his boat to swing from side to side, until, as the sailors say, +she becomes wild--that is to say, so unsteady that the further she +travels the more rudder she will require to prevent her bows from yawing +and to keep her course. He should never steer for a curve in the bank or +for other projections--as, for instance, the buttress of a bridge--in +such a manner as to be compelled to sheer out to clear them. He should +approach a sharp corner as wide as possible, in order to reduce the +acuteness of the angle at which he will have to take it, and should have +the boat's head round by the time that the axis or pivot, if I may use +the term, on which the boat swings, and which in the eight-oared boats I +steered was usually trimmed to be somewhere between the seats of Nos. 4 +and 5, is off the most prominent point. + +The difficulty of taking this sort of corner is increased when the +course lies up-stream, according to the strength of the current; for not +only does the current acting on the bows tend to prevent the boat +coming round, but also to drive her head towards the opposite bank. When +the Cam at Cambridge is in flood, "Grassy" and Ditton are corners of +this character, but usually that river runs sluggishly. But even then +these corners present many difficulties. "Grassy" is on the right bank +of the river, and therefore on the coxswain's left; Ditton is on his +right. The former is the harder to manipulate properly, by reason of the +river becoming a narrow neck shortly before the corner is reached. + +In taking "Grassy," the coxswain should keep close to the tow-path bank +until he commences to make the turn. It is impossible to explain on +paper the exact spot when he should do so. The common fault is to begin +too soon. Practice and experience only can teach him when to time his +action correctly; but having acquired this knowledge, he will get his +boat round with but a moderate amount of rudder, especially if he call +upon bow and No. 3 for a little extra assistance. + +Some years ago, during the Lent Term Bumping Races at Cambridge, the +coxswain of one of the boats, with the intention of cutting off the +preceding one as it was being steered round in the correct way, took +this very corner close to the inside bend at its very commencement, and +in so doing acted contrary to the principle of giving a sharp corner a +wide berth at the first part. The consequence was that, having failed to +calculate the pace at which the other was travelling, and having missed +his bump, he found it impossible to bring his boat round, ran high and +dry on to the opposite bank, and was, of course, himself bumped. + +Ditton should be approached as wide as the coxswain can manage, by +hugging the opposite bank until he begins to bring the boat's head +round, which, as in the case of Grassy, should not be done until as late +as possible. Here, too, Nos. 2 and 4 may be called upon to help her +round. The rudder should be put on between the strokes as a rule, +gradually, and not with a jerk, which has a tendency to cause the boat +to roll. It should be used as lightly as possible, and never under +ordinary circumstances put hard on. The effect of a cross wind is to +drive the stern of a boat to leeward, and to bring her bows up into the +wind. This should be counteracted by the coxswain steering to windward +of his usual course, and by lee rudder to meet her: how much can only +be learnt by experience, and must be regulated by the strength of the +wind. The fin, which is a thin plate of metal fixed slightly abaft the +coxswain's seat on her keelson, is of great assistance in keeping the +boat straight under such circumstances. + +The coxswain should pick up information relating to his course by +observation, inquiries, and in every way he can, and, previous to a +race, he should take careful stock of the direction and force of the +wind, and shape his course accordingly. It is a good plan to be taken +over the course either in a row-boat or launch, by some one acquainted +with it, for the purposes of instruction. He can gain a general idea of +the Putney to Mortlake course by watching the barges which float up and +down the river with the tide, and are kept in mid-stream by long sweeps. +But every coxswain should learn to scull; he can then not only get his +weight down by exercise, if required, but familiarize himself with the +set of the stream, flats, and other peculiarities of a course by actual +experience. Training for the purpose of reducing the weight of the +coxswain is a questionable expedient; but if practised with moderation, +and if natural means are employed, the object, if worth it--which I very +much doubt--may be attained, and little harm done; but weakness, the +result of excessive wasting, is not unfrequently accompanied with an +impaired judgment and loss of nerve, the absence of which may lead to +serious consequences. Moreover, a coxswain not only requires a certain +amount of physical strength to manage a boat of the length of an +eight-oar, but, to do himself justice, should come to the post feeling +full of energy and determination. In level races the coxswain of the +leading boat should never take his opponents' water, unless reasonably +certain that he cannot be overtaken, for a sudden sheer out involving +loss of pace and ground at a critical time has before now lost a race; +and when alongside, and in close proximity, he should avoid watching the +other boat, otherwise he will in all probability steer into it, such is +the apparent force of attraction exercised over a coxswain by the +opposing crew. One coxswain should not "bore" the other. Boring is the +act of one coxswain steering closer and closer to another until he +gradually succeeds in pushing him out of his own water. This cannot +take place when both coxswains engaged are equally skilful, and equally +well acquainted with the course, for neither will give way. At the best +it is not sportsmanlike, and there is no desire on the part of the +majority of rowing men to win a race by the trickery of the coxswains. +At the annual University Boat Race Dinner, when the old Blues and other +friends assemble to do honour to the two crews, it is the time-honoured +custom to drink the health of the coxswains. On one of these occasions, +a well-known Oxford coxswain, who, in the fog that prevailed at the +start of the race, had been pressed out of his course by the opposing +crew, in returning thanks made a witty allusion to the subject in these +words: "I have been," he said, "very much interested in this race, but I +have also been very much bored." It was a speech meant for the occasion, +and was received with the applause it deserved; but it was not meant +seriously, nor was it taken so by his equally well-known Cambridge +rival. + +I may at this point give a word of advice to a coxswain in a Bumping +Race. He should, throughout the race, keep his true course, and not +follow any vagaries of the boat in front of him, except with the +immediate object of making his bump; he must never shoot for his bump +when going round a corner, and ought always to make sure of his position +before making a shot, so as not to waste the energy of his men by +missing time after time, and zigzagging across the river. When he has +been bumped, or has made a bump, he should at once clear out of the way +to make room for the boats following. In all races he should encourage +his crew at intervals with such expressions as, "Now, you fellows! Well +rowed! On to it!" etc. But an incessant flow of language not only sounds +ridiculous, but must be a nuisance to the crew themselves. In a +ding-dong race, however, when neither crew can get away from the other, +he will naturally urge them more strenuously to further exertions. He +should watch the time as carefully as in practice, and call upon his +crew to "Reach out," or "Keep it long," if he notices that they are +getting short and scratchy; and he may quietly keep the stroke posted up +in the doings of the opponents, telling him how they are rowing, how far +ahead they are, and so on. In training quarters, especially if the crew +are despondent, the more depressed they are, the more he should +endeavour to cheer them up and inspire confidence in them. + +Finally, let me advise coxswains when steering to wear warm and +waterproof clothing in cold and wet weather, and thus possibly save +themselves much suffering from rheumatism and other complaints in +after-life. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +COLLEGE ROWING AT OXFORD. + +_By C. M. Pitman,_ + +New College; President O.U.B.C. 1895. + + +If we try to examine the causes of success or failure, of a run of good +crews or bad crews from one University or the other, it is impossible to +overestimate the importance of good organization, good management, and +friendly rivalry in the college boat clubs. In the long run, the success +or failure of the University Crew depends in no small measure upon the +amount of trouble taken and the amount of keenness shown by the various +colleges in practising for their different races during the year. It is +only by very careful coaching and assiduous practice in his college +Torpid and Eight, that a man who has not rowed before going up to the +University can ever hope to attain to a place in the University Crew; +and it is only by trying to apply his learning to advantage in +college races during the year that one who has just gained his blue can +hope to be of greater value to the University in the following spring. + +[Illustration: A BUMP IN THE EIGHTS.] + +Only a small number of the men who take up rowing at the University +attain to a seat in the Trial Eights, and fewer still, of course, get +their blue. It is by rowing for their college, then, in Eight or Torpid, +that the majority of University men gain their experience, and so it is +but natural that even more interest is usually manifested in the +practice of the Eights than in that of the University Crew itself. + +Most of the colleges at Oxford have now what is known as an "amalgamated +club," which supplies the finances of all the various branches of +athletics. That is to say, every undergraduate member of the college +pays a fixed subscription to the amalgamated club fund, and the money +thus collected is allotted proportionately to the different college +clubs. The money thus allotted, with the addition in some cases of small +sums received as entrance fees for college races, forms the income of +the college boat club; and out of this income is paid a capitation fee +to the University Boat Club, which varies according to the number of +undergraduates on the college books, the rest of the money being devoted +to providing boats, oars, etc.--the ordinary expenses, in fact, for +carrying on the college boat club. + +A freshman, when he first comes up to Oxford, has, as a rule, made up +his mind to which particular branch of athletics he intends to devote +himself. If he intends to play football, and does not happen to have +come up with a great reputation from his public school, he finds it +somewhat hard at first, however good he may be, to make himself known; +but if he makes up his mind to row, he finds everything cut and dried +for him. + +At the beginning of the October Term, a notice is put up for the benefit +of freshmen and others, that those desirous of being coached must be at +the barge on and after a certain day, at 2.30. The coaching is +undertaken by any of the college Eight of the preceding term who are in +residence, and any others whom the captain of the boat club may consider +qualified. The men are taken out at first in tub-pairs or heavy fours; +and grotesque, to say the least of it, are the movements of the average +freshmen during the first few days of his rowing career. The majority of +men who get into a boat for the first time in their lives seem to +imagine that it is necessary to twist their bodies into the most +uncomfortable and unnatural it positions, and is hard at first to +persuade them that the movements of a really good oar are easy, natural, +and even graceful. It is not long, however, as a rule, before a +considerable improvement becomes manifest, and, at the end of the first +fortnight or so of the term, most of the novices have begun to get a +grasp of the first principles of the art. + +About the end of the second week of the term the freshmen are picked up +into Fours. These crews, which row in heavy tub-boats, practise for +about three weeks for a race, which is rowed during the fifth or sixth +week of the term. After a day or two of rest, the best men from these +Fours are taken out in eights. No one who has not rowed in an eight with +a crew composed almost entirely of beginners can imagine the discomfort, +I might almost say the agony, of these first two or three rows. One of +the chief causes of this is that the boats used on such occasions are +usually, from motives of economy, very old ones, the riggers being often +twisted and bent by the crabs of former generations, and the boats +themselves heavy and inclined to be waterlogged. + +During the last day or two of the term, the captain, with a view to +making up his Torpids for the next term, generally tries to arrange one +or two crews selected from the best of the freshmen and such of the old +hands as are available; and justly proud is a freshman if, having got +into a boat for the first time at the beginning of the term, he finds +himself among the select few for the first Torpid at the end of it. + +At the beginning of the Lent Term the energies of the college boat clubs +are entirely devoted to the selection and preparation of the crews for +the Torpids. The smaller colleges have one crew and the larger ones two, +and in some cases three, crews each. No one who has rowed in his college +Eight in the races of the previous summer is permitted to row in the +Torpid, so the crews are generally composed partly of men who rowed in +the Torpid of the preceding year, but who were not quite good enough to +get into the Eight, and partly of freshmen; the boats used must be +clinker built of five streaks, with a minimum beam measurement of 2 ft. +2 in. measured inside, and with fixed seats. + +Although I do not propose here to say anything about the general subject +of training, I cannot refrain from making one remark. It is in +practising for the Torpids that freshmen generally get their first +experience of strict training, and for this reason there is no crew more +difficult to train than a Torpid. Most of the men after their first +experience of regular work have fine healthy appetites, and, as a rule, +eat about twice as much as is good for them, with the result that, even +if they escape violent indigestion, they are painfully short-winded, and +find the greatest difficulty in rowing a fast stroke. The Torpids train +for about three weeks before the races, which take place at the end of +the fourth and the fifth weeks in term. They last for six nights, and +are bumping races, the boats starting 160 ft. apart. A hundred and sixty +feet is a very considerable distance to make up in about three quarters +of a mile, and at the head of a division a crew must be about fifteen +seconds faster over the course to make certain of a bump. + +Of performances in the Torpids that of Brasenose stands by itself. They +finished at the head of the river in 1885, and remained there for eleven +years, until they were displaced by New College in 1896. + +The only other race in the Lent Term is the Clinker Fours. This race is +rowed in sliding-seat clinker-built boats, and the crews consist of men +who have not rowed in the Trial Eights or in the _first_ division of the +Eights in the previous Summer Term. For some occult reason there is +never a large entry for the Clinker Fours, although the race affords an +excellent opportunity of seeing how the best of the Torpid men row on +slides, and should thus be a great help to the captain of a college boat +club in making up his Eight for the next term. With so small an entry +for the Clinker Fours, most of the college captains devote their time +after the Torpids, for the rest of the term, to coaching their men in +sliding-seat tubs, the time at the beginning of the Summer Term being so +short that it is absolutely necessary to get the men who have been +rowing on fixed seats in the Torpids thoroughly accustomed to slides by +the end of the Lent Term, and also to have the composition of the +next term's Eight as nearly as possible settled. + +[Illustration: LENT RACES IN THE PLOUGH REACH.] + +At the beginning of the Summer Term, time, as I have said, is rather +short, and consequently it is the custom at most colleges to make the +Eight come into residence about a week before the end of the vacation. +The _esprit de corps_ and energy which are shown during the practice +are, perhaps, the most noticeable features of college rowing at +Oxford--a circumstance to which may be attributed the fact that the +crews turned out by the colleges at the top of the river are often +wonderfully good, considering the material out of which they are formed. +The Eights are rowed at the end of the fourth week and at the beginning +of the fifth week in term, six nights in all. They start 130 ft. +apart--that is to say, 30 ft. less than the Torpids. About the same +number of boats row in a division in the former as in the latter, the +bottom boat starting at the same place in each case; consequently the +head boat in the Eights has a slightly longer course to row than the +head Torpid. + +The start of a boat race is always rather nervous work for the crews, +but the start of a bumping race is worse in this respect than any. A +spectator who cares to walk down the bank and look at the crews waiting +at their posts for the start cannot fail to notice that even the most +experienced men look extremely uncomfortable. + +[Illustration: A START IN THE EIGHTS.] + +The start is managed thus: at the starting-point of each boat a short +wooden post is driven firmly into the ground. These posts are exactly +130 ft. apart, and to each is attached a thin rope 60 ft. long with a +bung at the end, while by each post a punt is moored. About twenty +minutes or a quarter of an hour before the appointed time, the crews +start from their barges and paddle gently down to their respective +starting-places, where they take up their positions alongside of the +punts. Five minutes before the starting-time the first gun is fired as a +sort of warning. These guns are fired punctually to the second, and by +the first gun the men who are going to start the different crews set +their stop-watches. The duty of these "starters" is to keep the crews +informed of the exact time, by calling out, "One minute gone," "Two +minutes gone," etc. The second gun goes one minute before the start, and +as soon as it is fired, the waterman slowly pushes the boat out from +the side of the punt by means of a long pole pressed against stroke's +rigger, the coxswain holding the bung at arm's-length in his left hand, +with the cord taut so as to counteract the pressure of the pole, and +"bow" and "two" paddling very gently so as to keep the boat at the very +furthest extension of the rope. "Thirty seconds more," calls the +starter; "fifteen," "ten," "five," "four," "three," "two," "look +out"--Bang! and, except for those who are doomed to be bumped, the worst +is over till the next night. Directly a bump is made both the boat which +has made the bump and the boat which is bumped draw to one side, and on +the next night the boat which has made the bump starts in front of its +victim of the preceding evening. The Eights are the last event of the +season in which the colleges compete against one another on the river, +and the interest and excitement of the college in the doings of its crew +generally find their final outlet, in the case of a college which has +made five or six bumps or finished head of the river, in a bump +supper--an entertainment of a nature peculiar to Oxford and Cambridge, +which is, perhaps, better left to the imagination than described in +detail. + +It is a curious fact that, although the ideal aimed at by each college +is the same, different colleges seem to adhere, to a very considerable +extent, year after year to the same merits and the same faults. One +college gets the reputation of not being able to row a fast-enough +stroke; another, of being ready to race a week before the races and of +getting worse as the races proceed, and, try as hard as they like, they +do not seem to be able to shake off the effect of the reputation of +their predecessors. So, again, one college gets the reputation of rowing +better in the races than could possibly be expected from their form in +practice, or of always improving during the races. The most notable case +of late years, perhaps, was the traditional pluck of Brasenose. For +eleven years in the Torpids and for three years in the Eights their +certain downfall was predicted, but year after year, sometimes by the +skin of their teeth and sometimes with ease, they managed to get home. +The best performances in the Eights, as a matter of mere paper record, +are those of Trinity and Magdalen, who have each rowed head of the river +for four years in succession, the former in 1861, 1862, 1863, and 1864, +and the latter in 1892, 1893, 1894, and 1895. Magdalen can also boast +of not having finished lower than third in the Eights for some fifteen +years. Brasenose have finished head of the river fourteen times since +the races were started in 1836; University nine times, and Magdalen +seven times. The best performance in any one year is that of New College +in the season 1895-96, when they completely swept the board, being head +of the river in Eights and Torpids, and winning the University Fours, +Pairs, and Sculls. The only other college race besides those I have +described is the Fours. This race is rowed in coxswainless racing-ships +during the fourth week of the October Term. It is a "time" race, the +crews, which row two in a heat, starting eighty yards apart, the +finishing-posts being, of course, divided by the same distance. A time +race is a very unsatisfactory affair compared with an ordinary "breast" +race, but it is rendered necessary by the narrow winding river, for +there is not room between Iffley and Oxford for two boats to row +abreast. Oxford College crews, undoubtedly excellent though they often +are, have been singularly unsuccessful at Henley. The Grand Challenge +Cup has only been won by a college crew from Oxford twice within the +memory of the present generation (_i.e._ by Exeter, in 1882, and by New +College in the present year). Wadham, it is true, won it in almost +prehistoric times (1849), and the tradition is handed down that they +took the light blue in their colours from those of the crew which they +defeated--a tradition which I need hardly say the members of the sister +University always meet with a most emphatic denial. + +It may, perhaps, seem that so far I have described college rowing as if +its organization were so perfect that there is little or no difficulty +in managing a college boat club successfully. This is by no means the +case. Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown, even though it be merely +that of the captaincy of a college boat club. + +In the first place, it is not always as easy as might be imagined to get +men to row. Men who cannot be induced to row when they come up to the +University may be divided into two classes--those who refuse because +they do not wish to take up any branch of athletics, and those who will +not row because they wish to do something else. The former class (_i.e._ +those of them who, after a moderate amount of persuasion, will not come +down to the river) are not, as a rule, worth bothering about. They are +generally weak, soft creatures, whose highest ambition is to walk +overdressed about the "High," and, if possible, to be considered +"horsey" without riding--the class, in fact, generally known as +"bloods." Or else they belong to that worthy class of beings who come up +to the University to read and only to read, and imagine that it is +therefore impossible for them to row. The "blood" is, or should be, +beneath the contempt of the rowing authorities, and the "bookworm" is +generally impervious to argument, in spite of the fact that he would be +able to read much harder if he took regular exercise. + +With regard, however, to those men who refuse to row because they want +to go in for something else, a little diplomacy and a little personal +trouble on the part of the college captain, such as coaching men at odd +hours, once or twice a week, when it suits their convenience, will often +work wonders. Instances of this may be seen in the fact that many +colleges have of late years been materially assisted by a sturdy +football player in the Torpid or Eight, and in the fact that Rugby +football blues have rowed in the University Eight during the last three +years. Another great difficulty which the captains of the smaller +college boat clubs have to face is that of procuring good boats with +very limited finances. The usual practice is to save up money for +several years to buy a new eight, and to continue to row in her long +after she has become practically useless, and, indeed, positively +incompatible with good rowing. This is a difficulty which can to a great +extent be got over by getting second-hand boats. These can be bought for +about half price when they have only been used one or two seasons by the +University, or by one of the larger (and therefore richer) college boat +clubs, which can afford to get a new boat as often as they want one. By +this means a college boat club, however poor, can always have a boat +which, if not quite new, is at least comparatively modern, instead of +being a water-logged hulk some eight or ten years old, such as one often +sees wriggling along at the tail end of the Eights. + +Yet another obstacle is there which it is not easy to overcome. It is +often almost impossible to find a trustworthy coach. There is nearly +always some one in residence who is considered capable of looking after +the college Eight, but the ignorance of college coaches is often only +too manifest from the arrant nonsense they may be heard shouting on the +bank. There is only one remedy I can suggest. Let the college captain +secure some member of the University Crew, or any one else who knows +what he is talking about, to take the crew for a couple of days, and +_make the College coach accompany him_. He will thus learn something of +the rowing of the crew, and you will hear him the next day pointing out +the _real_ faults to which his attention has thus been called. + +In conclusion, I must add that, keen though the rivalry between the +various colleges always is, it is a rivalry which, by the encouragement +it gives to rowing, confers good and good only upon the interests of the +O.U.B.C., and never degenerates into a jealousy which might be +prejudicial to the success of the University as a whole. The college +captains elect as president of the O.U.B.C. the man whom they consider +to be best fitted for the post, to whatever college he may belong, for +they know that the president will select his crew absolutely +impartially, will never think of unjustly preferring men who belong to +his own college, but will always do his best to serve the interests of +the University.[13] + + [13] For further details of college rowing at Oxford and Cambridge, the + reader is referred to the extracts from the rules and regulations of the + two University Boat Clubs printed in the appendix to this book. + +[Illustration: THE GOLDIE BOATHOUSE.] + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +COLLEGE ROWING AT CAMBRIDGE. + + +The casual visitor would scarcely imagine that Cambridge resembled +either Macedon or Monmouth in the possession of a river. He sees in The +Backs what looks rather like a huge moat, designed to keep marauders +from the sacred college courts, and filled with discoloured water, +destitute seemingly of all stream. This he knows cannot be the racing +river. The innumerable bridges forbid the notion, although Ouida has, in +one of her novels, sprinkled it with a mixture of racing Eights and +water-lilies. He wanders on from college to college, and nowhere does he +come across the slightest sign of the river of which he has heard so +much. Indeed, a man may stroll on Midsummer Common within about a +hundred yards of the boat-houses without suspecting the existence of the +Cam. I can well remember convoying to the river an enthusiastic +freshman who had just joined his college boat club. At every step I was +asked whether we were yet approaching the noble stream. I answered +evasively, and with an air of mystery which befits a third-year man in +the presence of freshmen. At length we turned on to the common, which is +bounded by the Cam; on the further bank stand the boat-houses. There +were crowds of men busy in the yards, there were coaches riding on the +nearer bank, but of the river itself there was no indication. We were +still about two hundred yards away when a Lady Margaret Eight passed, +the heads of the crew in their scarlet caps being just visible above the +river-bank as they swung backwards and forwards in their boat. I felt my +freshman's grip tightening on my arm. Suddenly he stood stock still and +rubbed his eyes. "Good heavens!" he said in an awestruck voice, "what on +earth are those little red animals I see running up and down there? +Funniest thing I ever saw." I reassured him, and in a few moments more +we arrived at the Cam, crossed it in a "grind," and solved the puzzle. +Distance, therefore, can scarcely be said to lend enchantment to the +view, since at anything over one hundred yards it withdraws the Cam +altogether from our sight. It is not easy, indeed, to see where the +attractions of the Cam come in. It has been called with perfect justice +a ditch, a canal, and a sewer, but not even the wildest enthusiasm would +have supposed it to be a running stream, or ventured at first sight to +call it a river. Yet this slow and muddy thread of water has been for +more than seventy years the scene of excitements and triumphs and +glories without end. Upon its shallow stream future judges and bishops +and Parliament-men--not to speak of the great host of minor celebrities +and the vaster army of future obscurities--have sought exercise and +relaxation; to its unsightly banks their memory still fondly turns +wherever their lot may chance to be cast, and still some thousand of the +flower of our youth find health and strength in driving the labouring +Eights and Fours along its narrow reaches and round its winding corners. +It may well excite the wonder of the uninitiated that, with so many +natural disadvantages to contend against, the oarsmen of Cambridge +should have been able during all these years to maintain so high a +standard of oarsmanship. Time after time since the year when First +Trinity secured the first race for the Grand Challenge have her college +crews carried off the chief prizes at Henley against all competitors, +until, in 1887, Trinity Hall swept the board by actually winning five +out of the eight Henley races, other Cambridge men accounting for the +remaining three. The record of Cambridge rowing is thus a very proud +one; but those who know the Cambridge oarsman and his river will find no +difficulty in accounting for it. The very disadvantages of the Cam all +tend to imbue the man who rows upon it with a stern sense of duty, with +the feeling that it is business and not pleasure, hard work and not a +picnic, that summon him every day of the term to the boat-houses and +urge him on his way to Baitsbite. We are forced to do without the +natural charms that make the Isis beautiful. We console ourselves by a +strict devotion to the labour of the oar. + +The man who first rowed upon the Cam was in all probability a lineal +descendant of the daring spirit who first tasted an oyster. His name and +fame have not been preserved, but I am entitled to assume that he +flourished some time before 1826. In that year the records of Cambridge +boat clubs begin. There is in the possession of the First Trinity Boat +Club an old book, at one end of which are to be found the "Laws of the +Monarch Boat Club," with a list of members from 1826 to 1828, whilst at +the other end are inscribed lists of members of the Trinity Boat Club, +minutes of its meetings, and brief descriptions of the races in which it +was engaged from the year 1829 to 1834. The Monarch Boat Club was by its +laws limited to members of Trinity, and, I take it, that in 1828 the +club had become sufficiently important to change its name definitely to +that of Trinity Boat Club. At any rate, it must always have been +considered the Trinity Club; for in the earliest chart of the Cambridge +boat races--that, namely, of 1827--in the captains' room of the First +Trinity Boat-house, "Trinity" stands head of the river, and no mention +is made of a Monarch Club. These ancient laws form a somewhat Draconian +code. They are twenty-five in number, and eight of them deal with fines +or penalties to be inflicted upon a member who may "absent himself from +his appointed crew and not provide a substitute for his oar," or who may +"not arrive at the boat-house within a quarter of an hour of the +appointed time." There were fines ("by no means to be remitted, except +in the case of any member having an _aegrotat_, _exeat_, or _absit_, or +having been prevented from attending by some laws of the college or +University") for not appearing in the proper uniform, for "giving orders +or speaking on a racing day, or on any other day, after silence has been +called" (exception being made in favour of the captain and steerer), and +for neglecting to give notice of an intended absence. To the twelfth law +a clause was subsequently added enacting "that the treasurer be +chastised twice a week for not keeping his books in proper order." + +From the minutes of the Trinity Boat Club I extract the following +letter, dated Stangate, December, 1828, which shows that even at that +early date the first and third persons carried on a civil war in the +boat-builder's vocabulary:-- + +"Rawlinson & Lyon's compliments to Mr. Greene wish to know if there is +to be any alteration in the length of the set of oars they have to send +down have been expecting to hear from the Club, therefore have not given +orders for the oars to be finished should feel obliged by a line from +you with the necessary instructions and be kind enough to inform us of +the success which we trust you have met with in the New Boat. + + we remain Sir + Your ob^t Servts + RAWLINSON & LYON." + +In 1833 it is curious to read, "towards the end of this Easter term six +of the racing crew were ill of influenza, etc., when the boat was bumped +by the Queens', which we bumped next race, but were bumped again by +them, and next race owing to a bad start the Christ's boat bumped us +immediately being nearly abreast of us at the bumping-post." Was this +the _grippe_, I wonder? In the Lent Term, 1834, it is stated, "The +second race we touched the Christ's after the pistol was fired the first +stroke we pulled, and lost our place to the Second Trinity for making a +foul bump." By the way, in the oldest minute-book belonging to the +University Boating Club, extending from 1828 to 1837, I find the Second +Trinity boat occasionally entered on the list as "Reading Trinity." It +continued to enjoy this bookish reputation up to 1876, when a debt +which continued to increase while its list of members as constantly +diminished, brought about its dissolution. Its members and its +challenge-cups were then taken over by First Trinity. + +In an old book belonging to First Trinity is preserved a map of the +racing river, which explains much that would be otherwise inexplicable +in the various entries. In those days the races began in the short reach +of water in which they now finish. A little below where Charon now plies +his ferry were the Chesterton Locks, and in the reach above this +starting-posts seem to have been fixed for the various boats. When the +starting-pistol was fired the crews started rowing, but apparently no +bump was allowed before the bumping-post, fixed some little way above +the first bend where the big horse-grind now works. Any bump before this +was foul, and the boat so fouling appears to have been disqualified. +This post once passed, the racing proper began and continued past +Barnwell up to the Jesus Locks. It must be remembered that the Jesus +Locks were not where they are now, but were built just where the Caius +boathouse now stands, there being a lock cut in the present bed of the +river, and the main stream running quite a hundred yards south of its +present course, and forming an island, on which stood Fort St. George. +This was altered in 1837, when the Cam was diverted to its present +course, and the old course from above Jesus Green Sluice to Fort St. +George was filled up. + +A few more extracts relating to the first beginnings of college +boat-races may be of interest. In 1827 there were six boats on the +river--a ten-oar and an eight-oar from Trinity, an eight-oar from St. +John's, and six-oars from Jesus, Caius, and Trinity, Westminster. In +1829 this number had dwindled to four at the beginning of the races on +February 28; but in the seventh race, which took place on March 21, +seven crews competed, St John's finishing head of the river, a place +they maintained in the following May. Usually from seven to nine races +appear to have been rowed during one month of the term, certain days in +each week having been previously fixed. Crews were often known by the +name of their ship rather than by that of their college. I find, for +instance, a _Privateer_, which was made up, I think, of men from +private schools, a _Corsair_ from St. John's, a _Dolphin_ from Third +Trinity (which was then, and is still, the Club of the Eton and +Westminster men), _Black Prince_ from First Trinity, and _Queen Bess_ +from the Second or "Reading" Trinity. The following regulations, passed +by the University Boat Club on April 18, 1831, will help to make the old +system of boat-racing quite clear:-- + +"1. That the distance between each post being twenty yards will allow +eleven boats to start on the Chesterton side, the length of the ropes by +which they are attached to the posts being ten yards. + +"2. That the remainder of the boats do start on the Barnwell side at +similar distances, but with ropes fifteen yards in length. + +"3. That there also be a rope three yards long fixed to the head of the +lock, which will be the station of the last boat, provided the number +exceed twelve." + +These arrangements allowed thirteen boats to start at once, and special +provision was made for any number beyond that. Obedience to the properly +constituted authorities seems from an early period to have +characterized the rowing man. I find that in 1831 a race was arranged +between the captains of racing crews and the rest of the University, to +take place on Tuesday, November 29. On Monday, the 28th, however, there +arrived "a request from the Vice-Chancellor, backed by the tutors of the +several colleges, that we should refrain from racing on account of the +cholera then prevailing in Sunderland. We accordingly gave up the match +forthwith, and with it another which was to have been rowed the same day +between the quondam Etonians and the private school men." The secretary, +however, adds this caustic comment, "It is presumed that Dr. Haviland, +at whose instigation the Vice-Chancellor put a stop to the race, +confounded the terms (and pronunciations?) 'rowing' and 'rowing,' and +while he was anxious to stop any debauchery in the latter class of men, +by a _slight_ mistake was the means of preventing the healthy exercise +of the former." + +The umpire for the college races seems never to have been properly +appreciated. Indeed, in 1834, the U.B.C. solemnly resolved "that the +umpire was no use, ... and accordingly that Bowtell should be +cashiered. In consequence of this resolution, it was proposed and +carried that the same person who had the management of the posts, lines, +and starting the boats should also place the flags on the bumping-post, +and receive for his pay 4_s._ a week, with an addition of 2_s._ 6_d._ at +the end of the quarter in case the starting be well managed, but that +each time the pistol misses fire 1s. should be deducted from his weekly +pay." + +In 1835, in consequence of the removal of the Chesterton Lock, the +U.B.C. transferred the starting-posts to the reach between Baitsbite and +First Post Corner, and there they have remained ever since. + +Side by side with the college boat clubs, formed by the combination of +their members for strictly imperial matters, regulating and controlling +the inter-collegiate races, but never interfering with the internal +arrangements and the individual liberty of the college clubs, the +University Boat Club grew up. With two short but historical extracts +from its early proceedings, I will conclude this cursory investigation +into the records of the musty past. On February 20, 1829, at a meeting +of the U.B.C. Committee, held in Mr. Gisborne's rooms, it was resolved +_inter alia_ "That Mr. Snow, St. John's, be requested to write +immediately to Mr. Staniforth, Christ Church, Oxford, proposing to make +up a University match;" and on March 12, on the receipt of a letter from +Mr. Staniforth, Christ Church, Oxford, a meeting of the U.B.C. was +called at Mr. Harman's rooms, Caius College, when the following +resolution was passed:--"That Mr. Stephen Davies (the Oxford +boat-builder) be requested to post the following challenge in some +conspicuous part of his barge: 'That the University of Cambridge hereby +challenge the University of Oxford to row a match at or near London, +each in an eight-oared boat, during the ensuing Easter vacation.'" + +Thus was brought about the first race between the two Universities. Mr. +Snow was appointed captain, and it was further decided that the +University Boat Club should defray all expenses, and that the match be +not made up for money. It is unnecessary for me to relate once again how +the race was eventually rowed from Hambledon Lock to Henley Bridge, and +how the Light Blues (who, by the way, were then the Pinks) suffered +defeat by many lengths. The story has been too well and too often told +before. Each crew contained a future bishop--the late Bishop of St. +Andrew's rowing No. 4 in the Oxford boat, whilst the late Bishop Selwyn, +afterwards Bishop of New Zealand, and subsequently of Lichfield, +occupied the important position of No. 7 for Cambridge. Of the remainder +more than half were afterwards ordained. + +So much, then, for the origins of College and University racing. +Thenceforward the friendly rivalry flourished with only slight +intermissions; gradually the race became an event. The great public +became interested in it, cabmen and 'bus-drivers decorated their whips +in honour of the crews, sightseers flocked to the river-banks to catch a +glimpse of them as they flashed past, and their prowess was celebrated +by the press. It is not, however, too much to say that without the keen +spirit of emulation which is fostered by the college races both at +Oxford and Cambridge, the University boat-race would cease to exist. +Truly a light blue cap is to the oarsman a glorious prize, but there are +many hundreds of ardent enthusiasts who have to content themselves with +a place in the college boats in the Lent or the May Term. Want of form, +or of weight, or of the necessary strength and stamina may hinder them +from attaining to a place in the University Eight, but they should +console themselves by reflecting that without their patient and earnest +labours for the welfare of their several colleges it would be impossible +to maintain a high standard of oarsmanship, or to form a representative +University Eight. Let me, therefore, be for a page or two the apologist, +nay, rather the panegyrist, of the college oarsman, with whom many of my +happiest hours have been spent. + +Before entering upon the serious business of life as a freshman at +Cambridge, the youth who is subsequently to become an oar will in all +probability have fired his imagination by reading of the historical +prowess of past generations of University oars in races at Henley or at +Putney. Goldie who turned the tide of defeat, the Closes, Rhodes, +Gurdon, Hockin, Pitman the pluckiest of strokes, and Muttlebury the +mighty heavy-weight, are the heroes whom he worships, and to whose +imitation he proposes to devote himself. A vision of a light blue coat +and cap flits before his mind; he sees himself in fancy wresting a +fiercely contested victory from the clutches of Oxford, and cheered and +f[^e]ted by a countless throng of his admirers. With these ideas he becomes +as a freshman a member of his college boat club, and adds his name to +the "tubbing list." He purchases his rowing uniform, clothes himself in +it in his rooms, and one fine afternoon in October finds himself one of +a crowd of nervous novices in the yard of his college boathouse. One of +the captains pounces on him, selects a co-victim for him, and orders him +into a gig-pair, or, to speak more correctly, "a tub." With the first +stroke the beautiful azure vision vanishes, leaving only a sense of +misery behind. He imagined he could row as he walked, by the light of +nature. He finds that all kinds of mysterious technicalities are +required of him. He has to "get hold of the beginning" to "finish it +out," to take his oar "out of the water clean" (an impossibility one +would think on the dirty drain-fed Cam), to "plant his feet against the +stretcher," to row his shoulders back, to keep his elbows close to his +sides, to shoot away his hands, to swing from his hips, under no +circumstances to bend his back or to leave go with his outside hand, +and, above all, to keep his swing forward as steady as a rock--an +instruction to which he conforms by not swinging at all. These are but a +few points out of the many which are dinned into his ears by his +energetic coach. A quarter of an hour concludes his lesson, and he +leaves the river a much sadder, but not necessarily a wiser man. +However, since he is young he is not daunted by all these unforeseen +difficulties. He perseveres, and towards the end of his first term reaps +a doubtful reward by being put into an Eight with seven other novices, +to splash and roll and knock his knuckles about for an hour or so to his +heart's content. Next term (the Lent Term) may find him a member of one +of his college Lent boats. Then he begins to feel that pluck and +ambition are not in vain, and soon afterwards for the first time he +tastes the joys of training, which he will be surprised to find does not +consist entirely of raw steaks and underdone chops. Common sense, in +fact, has during the past fifteen years or so broken in upon the foolish +regulations of the ancient system. Men who train are still compelled to +keep early hours, to eat simple food at fixed times, to abjure tobacco, +and to limit the quantity of liquid they absorb. But there is an +immense variety in the dishes put before them; they are warned against +gorging (at breakfast, indeed, men frequently touch no meat), and though +they assemble together in the Backs before breakfast, and are ordered to +clear their pipes by a short sharp burst of one hundred and fifty yards, +they are not allowed to overtire themselves by the long runs which were +at one time in fashion. Far away back in the dawn of University rowing +training seems to have been far laxer, though discipline may have been +more strict, than it is now. Mr. J. M. Logan (the well-known Cambridge +boat-builder) wrote to me on this subject: "I have heard my father say +that the crews used to train on egg-flip which an old lady who then kept +the Plough Inn by Ditton was very famous for making, and that crew which +managed to drink most egg-flip was held to be most likely to make many +bumps. I believe the ingredients were gin, beer, and beaten eggs, with +nutmegs and spices added. I have heard my father say that the discipline +of the crews was of an extraordinary character. For instance, the +captain of the Lady Margaret Boat Club used to have a bugle, and after +he had sounded it the crew would have to appear on the yard in high hats +and dress suits with a black tie. The penalty for appearing in a tie of +any other colour was one shilling. The trousers worn on these occasions +were of white jean, and had to be washed every day under a penalty of +one shilling. The wearing of perfectly clean things every day was an +essential part of the preparation." + +All this, however, is a digression from the freshman whom we have seen +safely through his tubbing troubles, and have selected for a Lent Boat. +I return to him to follow him in a career of glory which will lead him +from Lent Boat to May Boat, from that to his college Four, and so +perhaps through the University Trial Eights to the final goal of all +rowing ambition--the Cambridge Eight. He will have suffered many things +for the sake of his beloved pursuit; he will have rowed many weary +miles, have learnt the misery of aching limbs and blistered hands, +perhaps he may have endured the last indignity of being bumped; he will +have laboured under broiling suns, or with snowstorms and bitter winds +beating against him; he will have voluntarily cut himself off from many +pleasant indulgences. But, on the other hand, his triumphs will have +been sweet; he will have trained himself to submit to discipline, to +accept discomfort cheerfully, to keep a brave face in adverse +circumstance; he will have developed to the full his strength and his +powers of endurance, and will have learnt the necessity of unselfishness +and patriotism. These are, after all, no mean results in a generation +which is often accused of effeminate and debasing luxury. + +A few words as to our scheme of boat-races at Cambridge. Of the Lent +races I have spoken. They are rowed at the end of February in heavy +ships, _i.e._ fixed-seat ships built with five streaks from a keel. +Thirty-one boats take part in them. Every college must be represented by +at least one boat, though beyond that there is no restriction as to the +number of boats from any particular college club. No man who has taken +part in the previous May races is permitted to row. In fact, they are a +preparatory school for the development of eight-oared rowing. Next term +is given up to the May races, which are rowed in light ships, _i.e._ +keel-less ships with sliding seats. No club can have more than three or +less than one crew in these races. In this term the pair-oared races +are also rowed, generally before the Eights. The Fours, both in light +ships and, for the less ambitious colleges whose Eights may be in the +second division, in clinker-built boats, take place at the end of +October, and are followed by the Colquhoun, or University Sculls, and +next by the University Trial Eights, two picked crews selected by the +President of the University Boat Club from the likely men of every +college club. The trial race always takes place near Ely, over the three +miles of what is called the Adelaide course. Besides all these races, +each college has its own races, confined to members of the college. But +of course the glory of college racing culminates in the May term. Who +shall calculate all the forethought, energy, self-denial, and patriotic +labour, all the carefully organized skill and patient training which are +devoted to the May races; for so they are still called, though they +never take place now before June? Every man who rows in his college crew +feels that to him personally the traditions and the honour of his +college are committed. The meadow at Ditton is alive with a brilliant +throng of visitors, the banks swarm with panting enthusiasts armed with +every kind of noisy instrument, and all intent to spur the energies of +their several Eights. One by one the crews, clothed in their blazers, +with their straw hats on their heads, paddle down to the start, pausing +at Ditton to exchange greetings with the visitors. In the Post Reach +they turn, disembark for a few moments, and wander nervously up and down +the bank. At last the first gun is fired, the oarsmen strip for the +race. Their clothes are collected and borne along in front by perspiring +boatmen, so as to be ready for them at the end of the race. The men step +gingerly into their frail craft and await the next gun. Bang! Another +minute. The boat is pushed out, the coxwain holding his chain; the crew +come forward, every nerve strained for the start; the cry of the careful +timekeepers is heard along the reach, the gun fires, and a universal +roar proclaims the start of the sixteen crews. For four "nights" the +conflict rages, bringing triumph and victory to some, and pain and +defeat to others; and at the end comes the glorious bump-supper, with +its toasts, its songs, and its harmless, noisy rejoicings, on which the +dons look with an indulgent eye, and in which they even sometimes take +part for the honour of the college. + +Happy are those who still dwell in Cambridge courts and follow the +delightful labour of the oar! For the rest of us there can only be +memories of the time when we toiled round the never-ending Grassy +corner, spurted in the Plough, heard dimly the deafening cheers of the +crowd at Ditton, and finally made our bump amid the confused roar of +hundreds of voices, the booming of fog-horns the screech of rattles, and +the ringing of bells. What joy in after-life can equal the intoxication +of the moment when we stepped out upon the bank to receive the +congratulations of our friends, whilst the unfurled flag proclaimed our +victory to the world? + +To such scenes the mind travels back through the vista of years with +fond regret. For most of us our racing days are over, but we can still +glory in the triumphs of our college or our University, and swear by the +noblest of open-air sports. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +ROWING AT ETON COLLEGE. + +_By W. E. Crum_, + +Captain of the Boats, 1893; President O.U.B.C. 1896, 1897. + + +In most books that have been published on rowing matters, a chapter has +been devoted to rowing at Eton. But these accounts have been mainly of a +historical nature, and have not, I think, dealt sufficiently with the +career of an Eton boy, from the time when he passes through the ordeal +of the swimming examination up to the proud moment when he wears the +light blue at Henley, representing his school in the Ladies' Plate. + +Before any boy is allowed to go on the river at all, he is obliged to +satisfy the authorities of his ability to reach the banks of the river +safely if he should upset while boating. This swimming examination is +held about once a week after bathing has commenced in the summer half +at the two bathing-places, Cuckoo Weir and Athens, which are reserved +for the use of the boys alone. + +On the Acropolis, a mound raised some ten feet above the water for +diving purposes, sit the two or three masters whose duty it is to +conduct the "passing." On one side a punt is moored, from which the boys +enter the water head first as best they can. They have to swim a +distance of about twenty yards, round a pole, and return, showing that +they can swim in good style, and can keep themselves afloat by "treading +water." + +When a boy has successfully passed this examination, he is at liberty to +go on the river. As it is probably well on in the summer half before he +has passed, and it is more than likely that he has never before handled +an oar, we will suppose that he does not enter for the Lower Boy races +that year, but has to learn by himself, with no coaches to help him, the +rudiments of rowing and sculling on fixed seats. Always on the river, +whenever he has an hour to spare from his school duties, the Lower Boy +soon acquires that knowledge of "watermanship" for which Etonian oarsmen +are famous. + +By the end of the summer half, he can sit his sculling-boat in +comparative safety, and has learnt, perhaps, at the cost of several +fines, the rules of the river, which are considered sacred by all Eton +boys. + +The ensuing winter terms are devoted to football and fives, rowing not +being allowed; and we may pass on to the next summer, when our Lower Boy +will probably enter for both Lower Boy sculling and pulling (_i.e._ +pairs). These two races are rowed in boats almost peculiar to Eton. That +used for the Lower Boy pulling is called a "perfection," of which the +design is due to the Rev. S. A. Donaldson; it is an open, clinker-built, +outrigged boat, which recalls the lines of the old Thames wherry. That +used for the Lower Boy sculling is known as a "whiff," an open clinker +boat with outriggers. On an average about a dozen competitors enter for +these events, five or six boats being started together, the first and +second in each heat rowing in the final. The course, which is about two +miles long, begins opposite the Brocas, extending for a mile upstream, +where the competitors turn round a ryepeck, and then down-stream to the +finish, just above Windsor Bridge. + +If fairly successful in his school examinations, the boy whose career we +are considering will, after his second summer, have reached the fifth +form, a position which entitles him to be tried for the boats. He +probably does not succeed in obtaining the coveted colour at the first +attempt; and it is, say, in his third summer, that he first comes under +the eye of a coach. + +For the last month of the summer half, as many as ten or a dozen eights +are taken out by members of the Upper Boats every evening, and four +crews are selected from these, put into training, and carefully coached, +and after about a fortnight's practice race against each other from +Sandbank down to the bridge, a distance of about three-quarters of a +mile; the race is called "Novice Eights," and each crew is stroked by a +member of the Lower Boats. Every boy who rows in this race may be sure +that he will get into the boats on the following 1st of March; and +having reached this important point in an Eton wetbob's career, I must +endeavour to explain the meaning of the term "The Boats," which I have +already frequently used. + +The Boats are composed of one ten-oared, and nine eight-oared crews, +presumably made up of the eighty-two best oarsmen in the school; the +boats are subdivided into two classes, Upper and Lower Boats. + +The Upper Boats comprise the ten-oared _Monarch_, and the two eights, +_Victory_ and _Prince of Wales_; the Lower Boats are more numerous, +consisting of seven eights, which have characteristic names, such as +_Britannia_, _Dreadnought_, _Hibernia_, and _Defiance_. Each of the +Upper Boats has a distinctive colour just like any other school team, +whereas all members of the Lower Boats wear the same cap. + +At the head of the Eton wetbob world there reigns supreme the Captain of +the Boats, who is always regarded in the eyes of a small Eton boy as +next in importance only to the Prince of Wales and the Archbishop of +Canterbury. He is captain of the _Monarch_, and after him, in order of +merit, come the captains of the other boats, who act as his lieutenants; +these captains are practically appointed by the first captain of the +previous year, and were probably all members of the Upper Boats in that +year. + +At the beginning of each summer term the Captain of the Boats calls a +meeting of his other boat captains; he has by him a list of all those +who were already members of the boats the year before, and he knows +pretty correctly the form of every one of them; thus, with his +lieutenants' help he can assign to each oarsman the boat in which he +considers him worthy to row. + +The first boat to be made up is the _Monarch_. Though nominally the +first of the boats, the _Monarch_ is actually composed of those who, +from their place in the school, or from their prowess at other games, +deserve some recognition; in fact, I may best designate the members of +the "ten," as good worthy people, who have tried to row well and have +not succeeded. + +The next boat is the _Victory_, and here we find the pick of the +previous year's Lower Boats. Though junior, and in order of precedence +below all the captains of the various boats, these eight have just as +much chance of rowing in the eight at Henley as any of the captains; for +the younger oar, whose faults can easily be cured, is often preferred to +his stronger senior, whose faults are fixed and difficult to eradicate. + +Similar to the _Victory_, though of rather a lower standard, is the +_Prince of Wales_, or "Third Upper;" and this is composed of the +remnants of the previous year's Lower Boats who are not quite good +enough for the _Victory_. The great distinction in the present day +between Upper and Lower Boats is that all those in the former may row in +any boat on sliding seats, while to those in the latter only fixed seats +are allowed. + +Having completed his Upper Boats, the captain has now to fill the seats +in the seven Lower Boats. A few of the refuse, one may almost call them, +of the year before are still left; refuse, because it is rarely the case +that a boy who is more than one year in Lower Boats develops into a +really good oar. To these are generally assigned the best places in the +Lower Boats, and after them come, in order of merit, as far as possible, +all those who rowed in the previous summer in the "Novice Eight" race. + +Thus, just as the _Victory_ is always better than the _Monarch_, so the +_Dreadnought_, the second Lower Boat, is often better than the +_Britannia_, which may be composed of old "crocks." + +On the 1st of March and the 4th of June in each year the boats row in +procession, in their order, each boat stroked by its captain, up to +Surley Hall, where, on the 4th of June, a supper is held. But I will +leave a description of the 4th of June till later, and will return to +where I left our successful Etonian, who has just received his +Lower-Boat colours. + +During his first summer half in the boats he is practically never out of +training. As soon as he has rowed one race he must begin practice for +the next. The first race of the season is "Lower Eights." Four crews are +chosen from among members of the Lower Boats, are coached for three +weeks by members of the Upper Boats, and then race for a mile and a +half. After this follow "Lower Fours," in which, again, four crews take +part, chosen from the best of those who have raced in Lower Eights. +These two races are rowed in order that those in authority may see how +their juniors can race, and also that the said juniors may profit by +efficient coaching. No prizes are awarded; they simply row for the +honour of winning. After these come Junior Sculling and Junior Pulling, +two races again confined to the Lower Boats. They are rowed in light, +keelless, outrigged boats, with fixed seats, no coxswain being carried +by the pairs. And here, again, much watermanship is learned, for the +Eton course is a difficult one to steer, and only those who steer well +can have any chance of a win. As many as fifty entries are sometimes +received for Junior Sculling, for though an Eton boy may have no chance +of winning a race, he will start, just for the sport of racing and +improving his rowing, a proceeding which might well be imitated at +Oxford or Cambridge. Each boy who starts in one of these races has to +wear a jersey trimmed with a distinctive colour, and carry a flag in his +bows; and it is extraordinary what ugly combinations some of them choose +and think beautiful. + +These four races have taken our young friend well on into the summer +half; but after Henley is over, he will probably have to represent his +House in the House Four race. Perhaps at his tutor's there may be one or +two who have rowed at Henley in the Eight, and with these, and possibly +another boy in Lower Boats, he has to train for another three weeks to +row in what has been called, in a song familiar to Etonians of late +years, "_the_ race of the year." It is an inspiriting sight for any one +who wishes to get an idea of an Eton race to see the crowds of men and +boys, masters and pupils, wetbobs and drybobs, running along the bank +with the race, some so far ahead that they can see nothing, some with +the boats, some tired out and lagging behind, but all shouting for a +particular crew or individual as if their lives depended on it. + +In the last few years another race has been established for the Lower +Boats; but it has not met with the approval of many Old Etonians. It is +a bumping race, similar to those at Oxford and Cambridge, rowed by the +different Lower Boats--_Britannia_, _Dreadnought_, etc. It is claimed +that by practising for this race many of those who would not otherwise +get much teaching are coached by competent people, and thus the standard +of rowing is raised; but the opponents of the measure object, and as I +think rightly, on the grounds that the average oar in the Lower Boats +has quite enough rowing and racing as it is, and that even if more +racing were needed, a bumping race is the very worst that can be rowed. +It is necessary at the Universities, on account of the narrowness of the +rivers, to hold these races, for two boats cannot race abreast; but they +must tend to make crews rush and hurry for two or three minutes, and +then try to get home as best they can. + +So much for the Lower Boat races. And there is only one more point to +add concerning the Lower Boats: at the end of each summer half a list is +published called "Lower Boat Choices," comprising about twenty of the +Lower Boat oarsmen; to these also is given a special colour; and it is +in the order of these choices that places in the Upper Boats are +assigned in the following spring. + +Having, therefore, in the next year, risen to the dignity of the Upper +Boats, our Etonian has before him almost as many races as when he was in +Lower Boats. His first is "Trial Eights." This takes place at the end of +the Lent term, between two eight-oared crews, rowing on sliding seats, +and chosen by the Captain of the Boats. It is from these two crews, +picked from the Upper Boats and the boat captains, that the Henley Eight +has to be chosen; and it is, therefore, the object of the first and +second captains of the boats to equalize them as far as possible, so +that they may have a close race, and that the rowing and stamina of +individuals at high pressure may be watched. In the summer half come the +School Pulling and Sculling, similar to junior races, but rowed on +sliding seats, and confined to the Upper Boats. The winner of a school +race, besides getting his prize, is entitled to wear a "School +Shield"--a small gold shield, on which are engraved the Eton arms, and +the name and year of the race won. To secure a "School Shield" is one of +the greatest ambitions of every ambitious Etonian. + +These two races being over, practice for the Eight which is to row at +Henley begins. Every day the Captain of the Boats, aided by one or two +masters, who have probably represented their Universities at Putney in +their day, has out two crews, composed of the best of those who are in +Upper Boats. These crews are gradually weeded out till, perhaps, only an +eight and a four are left; and then, at last, the Eight is finally +chosen. + +It is difficult to say who should be pitied most while this process of +choosing the crew is going on--the captain or those who are striving for +their seats; the captain always worried and anxious that he should get +the best crew to represent his school, the crew always in agony lest +they should be turned out, and should never be able to wear the light +blue. Of course, the captain has the advice of those much more +experienced than himself; but if there is a close point to settle, it +is on him alone that the responsibility of the choice falls. + +Once safely settled in the boat, there follows a period of five or six +weeks of mixed pleasure and pain, for every crew, however good, must +pass through periods of demoralization when for a few days they cease to +improve, and periods of joy when they realize that, after all, they have +some chance of turning out well. + +For the last three weeks of this Henley practice the Eight is in strict +training; but training for Eton boys is no great hardship. The days of +"hard steak and a harder hen" are over. The Eton boy is always fit, and +the chief point he has to observe is regularity. + +His meals are much the same as usual--breakfast at eight, lunch at two, +a light tea at five, supper together at eight in the evening, and bed at +ten. There is no need to pull him out of bed in the morning, as at the +Universities, for he has to go to school every morning at seven o'clock; +he does not usually smoke--or, at any rate, is not supposed to by the +rules of the school, and it is rarely that this rule is broken--and he +does not indulge in large unwholesome dinners, after the manner of many +undergraduates. + +Every evening at six o'clock he goes down to the river, and is probably +tubbed in a gig-pair before rowing down the Datchet reach in the Eight. +About twice a week the crew rows a full racing course, and is taken in +for the last three minutes by a scratch crew, which goes by the name of +"duffers," composed of five or six Old Etonians and masters, and one or +two Eton boys, who are kept in training as spare men. The crew is +coached from a horse by one of the masters--of late years Mr. de +Havilland, who is certainly as keen for his crew to win as any boy in +the school. + +For the last five years the crew has taken a house at Henley for the +days of the regatta, and gone to Henley by train the afternoon before +the races. Though much wiser, this departure from Eton is not as +impressive as in older days, when the crew used to drive to Henley for +each day's racing; when, filled with pride and shyness, the young +oarsman used to issue from his tutor's, wearing for the first time his +light-blue coat and white cap, and walk to Mr. Donaldson's or Dr. +Warre's house, where waited the brake which was to convey the crew, +with the cheers of the crowd, along the hot, dusty road to Henley. In +1891, the last year that this drive was taken, the crew, before the +final of the Ladies' Plate, had to drive no less than seventy-five miles +in three days. They were only beaten by a few feet, and there is little +doubt that but for this most tiring drive they would have won. Once at +Henley, all is pleasure. No crew is more popular, none more cheered, as +it paddles down the course to the starting-point and as it arrives first +at the winning-post. The scene of enthusiasm, not only among Etonians, +but among the whole rowing world, when an Eton crew wins the Ladies' +Plate after a lapse of several years, is past description. + +After Henley come House Fours; and then the list of Upper Boat choices +is made up by the Captain of the Boats. The captain, by this means, +appoints his successor for the following year, for he arranges these +choices in order of merit, just as Lower Boat choices are arranged, and +the highest choice remaining at Eton till the next year becomes captain. +Thus the power of the captain is absolute; he can appoint whomever he +likes to be his successor, and it is seldom that the choice falls on +the wrong boy. Besides being the sole authority in these matters, the +captain has to arrange all the money matters of the E.C.B.C.; over five +hundred pounds pass through his hands in a year, and this gives an extra +responsibility to his post. Of course all his accounts are carefully +audited by one of the masters, and the experience gained, not only in +looking after money, but also in arranging dates of races, in choosing +and in captaining his crew, and in judging disputed points, is well +worth all the trouble and worry entailed. + +Our Eton Lower Boy has now reached the position of Captain of the Boats, +and here I will leave him to go on either to Oxford or Cambridge and +represent his University at Putney. A few words, however, may still be +added. + +There is a great difference between teaching a boy of sixteen and a man +of twenty to row, and this difference lies in the fact that it is much +easier, and perhaps even more important, to teach your boy to row in +good form. By good form, I mean the power to use all his strength +directly in making the boat move so that no energy is wasted in making +the body pass through the extraordinary contortions and antics often +seen in an inferior college crew. + +It is easier to teach the boy of sixteen to row in good form, because +his muscles are not yet formed, and his body still lithe and supple; it +is more important to teach him, because he is not so strong as his +elders, and consequently has not as much strength to waste. + +A description of best how to use your strength would be out of place +here, for it will be found set forth in another part of this volume. Let +me, therefore, pass on to a subject which lately has caused considerable +discussion--the subject of the length of the course for the Junior and +School races. All these races are held over a course of about three +miles in length, and take some twenty minutes to row. They start +opposite the Brocas, and continue up-stream round "Rushes," and then +down-stream to Windsor Bridge. The contention of many is that the length +of these races is too great, and that the trial put on boys of perhaps +fifteen years of age is too severe. From this view of the matter I +differ, for to any one who has rowed over both the Henley and Putney +course it will be evident that the forty strokes per minute for a mile +and a half would be more trying to a young boy than the thirty-four per +minute for four miles. + +A short note on the proceedings of the wetbobs on the 4th of June, the +great day of celebration at Eton, may have some interest. + +As I have said, a procession of all the boats takes place on this day. +About five o'clock they start in order from the Brocas, and row to +Surley Hall, where, in tents on the grass, a supper is prepared. After +supping, they return to the rafts in time for a display of fireworks, +the crews standing up in their boats and tossing their oars, whereby a +very pretty effect is obtained. The dresses worn by the crews are quaint +and old-fashioned on this great day. All are dressed in white ducks, a +shirt of the colours of their boat, a dark-blue Eton jacket trimmed with +gold or silver braid, and a straw hat covered with various emblems of +their boat. The coxswains of the Upper Boats wear naval captain's +clothes, while the Lower Boat coxswains represent midshipmen. + +So much for Eton rowing; and, in finishing, I must pay a slight tribute +to three old Etonians, to whom the success of Eton rowing is mainly +due. They are Dr. Warre, the Rev. S. A. Donaldson, and Mr. de +Havilland; and I feel sure that out of these three, who have all done +yeomen service for their school, I may single out Dr. Warre, and yet +give no offence to his two successors. Before Dr. Warre came to Eton as +a master, in the early sixties, the masters had taken little interest in +the proceedings on the river; consequently the traditions of rowing, +learnt mainly from the riverside watermen, were not of a very high +standard. Eton had never rowed in any races, except against Westminster, +and it was due to Dr. Warre's efforts that competition for the Ladies' +Plate was first allowed. From this date till the middle of the eighties, +Dr. Warre was always ready to coach when asked, but never till asked, +for he believed, and still believes strongly, in allowing the boys to +manage their own games as far as possible. + +How well he kept his principles of rowing up to date is shown in his +pamphlets on rowing and coaching, for probably no one but he could have +written so clear and concise a description as he has given. + +Besides being an eminent coach, he understands thoroughly the theories +of boat-building, his ideas being well exemplified of late by the boats +which won for Eton in '93, '94, '96, and '97. + +When the duties of head-master became too engrossing to allow him to +devote as much time to the Eight as formerly, his place was taken, and +well filled, by Mr. Donaldson. Mr. Donaldson was always a most keen and +patient coach, and followed closely on the head-master's lines; and his +cheery voice at Henley--clear above all the din of the race--once heard, +could never be forgotten. He was very successful with his crews, and +helped them to win the Ladies' Plate several times. + +In 1893 Mr. de Havilland first coached the Eight, and, since this date, +has had an unbroken series of wins. In the first year of his coaching, +fifteen-inch slides, instead of ten-inch, were used, and this, aided by +his excellent advice, helped to produce one of the fastest Eights that +Eton has ever sent to represent the school. Mr. de Havilland has that +wonderful knack, possessed by some good coaches, of training his crew to +the hour, and it is surprising with what speed his crews always improve +in the last week or so of practice. + +I can only hope, in conclusion, that I have to some extent succeeded in +explaining to the uninitiated the mysteries of the career of an Eton +wetbob during the five or six happiest years of his life spent at the +best of schools. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +AUSTRALIAN ROWING. + +_By E. G. Blackmore._ + + +A country which has produced such scullers as Beach and Searle, not to +mention Trickett, Laycock, Kemp, Nielson, Stanbury, and many others of +less calibre, may well claim a place in a work treating of the science +and art of rowing. In the limits of a chapter it is scarcely possible to +give an exhaustive account of Australian oarsmen and oarsmanship, and as +the performances of the leading Colonial scullers are sufficiently well +known, from their having competed on English waters, this record will be +almost entirely confined to amateur rowing, as practised in Australia. + +That large continent, with the island of Tasmania, consists of six +colonies, in all of which the art is cultivated, with more or less +enthusiasm. + +The first record we can find of anything like boat-racing occurs in +1818, when ships' gig races were rowed in the Sydney Harbour, while the +first regatta was held in the same place in 1827. In 1832 an +Australian-born crew, in a locally built whale-boat, beat several crews +of whaling ships. Passing over a series of years, in which nothing of +more than local and momentary interest occurred, we find that in 1858, +in the first race rowed on the present Champion course, the Parramatta +River, Green beat an English sculler, Candlish, in a match for [L]400. I +am inclined to regard this as the real foundation of New South Wales +professional sculling, which afterwards culminated in the performances +of Beach and Searle. The mother colony is the only one of the group +which has produced a professional sculler of any class. Amongst amateurs +none has yet appeared who could be placed in the first rank. + +In all the Colonies there are rowing associations which regulate and +control amateur rowing. Of these, New South Wales alone has attempted to +maintain the amateur status on English lines. The other associations +recognize men who would not pass muster at any regatta in the United +Kingdom where the regulation definition obtains. To the New South Wales +Association about ten clubs are affiliated. Under its auspices regattas +are held in the harbour of Sydney, and one on the Parramatta River. The +former water is utterly unfit for first-class racing, as it is +exceedingly rough, exposed to sudden winds, and hampered with steam +traffic of all sorts. In September--regarded as the commencement of the +rowing season--there is an eight-oar race, the winners of which rank as +champions for the ensuing year, and fly the "Premiership Pennant." On +January 26 is held the Anniversary Regatta, which, founded in 1834, has +been an annual event since 1837. + +The Parramatta River course, on which champion events are decided, and +which Hanlan, Beach, and Searle have made classic ground, is 3 miles 330 +yards. It is practically straight, with a strong tide, the set of which +is very difficult to learn. At times it is so affected by wind, as to +render rowing impossible. The most perfect water is that of the Nepean +River. Here a straight 3-1/4 miles course can be found, perfectly calm, +and with no current. It was on this river that Beach beat Hanlan in +1887. + +The Victorian Rowing Association holds three Championship events in the +year--sculls, fours, and eights rowed in best boats on the Lower Yarra, +and an annual regatta on the Albert Park Lake, though in former years it +has taken place on the Upper and the Lower river. Important meetings are +also held at Ballarat, Geelong, Warrnambool, Bairnsdale, Colac, +Nagambie, and Lake Moodemere. The length for Intercolonial and +Championship races is 3 miles 110 yards, with the tide, which may be set +at three miles an hour. + +The South Australian Association holds an annual regatta on the river +Torrens, and has champion races for eights, fours, and sculls, on the +Port River. The city course is one mile, that for the champion races, +three miles. The Torrens is at the best an inferior river for rowing, +while the Port Water is a broad tidal stream, exposed to south-west +winds, and at times exceedingly rough. + +Queensland, Tasmania, and Western Australia, like their sister Colonies, +have associations, and hold regattas. + +The great event of the year is the Intercolonial eight-oar race, rowed +alternately in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. Western Australia is +now (1897) entering the field, but her crew is composed almost entirely +of former Victorian oarsmen. In the past the rowing of Victorian crews +has been generally far superior to that of the other Colonies, and in +1894 the Victorian combination was the nearest approach to English form +that has yet been attained. South Australia has not so far been +represented. Speaking generally, none of the picked eights of the +Colonies have ever shown form or pace within measurable distance of the +best college crews at Oxford and Cambridge, or the eights which may be +seen at Henley. There is no approach to that systematic rudimentary +teaching, coaching, and training, which proves so successful on English +waters, and without which no crew can ever become that perfect human +machine which a finished eight should be. + + +_Public School Rowing._ + + +_Sydney._ + +The principal rowing schools in New South Wales are the Church of +England Grammar School, North Shore, the Sydney Grammar School, and St. +Ignatius College. Under the "Athletic Association of the Great Public +Schools" an annual regatta is held on the Parramatta River in May. The +events are--"Schools Championship," Maiden Fours, Junior Eights, and a +June Handicap Sculling Race. The association has fixed the distance at +1-1/4 miles. The races are rowed in string test gigs; and 8 mins. 15 +secs. is considered good time for school crews, whose age, it must be +remembered, does not equal that of English schoolboys. The boathouses of +the two grammar schools are at Berry's and Woolloomooloo Bays, in the +harbour; and they are at a disadvantage compared with St. Ignatius +College, which, at Lane Cove River, has a splendid course and smooth +water. The ten days of the Easter vacation are spent by the two former +schools in "Rowing Camp," _i.e._ they migrate to the Parramatta River, +where there are better opportunities of systematic work and coaching. +Each club, notably St. Ignatius, has a good set of boats, those of the +North Shore School being fitted with convertible fixed or sliding seats, +carried on frames. The form of the two grammar schools is decidedly +good, and conforms to the English standard much more nearly than that of +most of the clubs. + + +_Victoria._ + +There are five schools approaching, as nearly as circumstances allow, +the great public schools of England, viz. in the capital, the Church of +England Grammar School, the Scotch College, Wesley College, St Patrick's +College, and the Church of England Grammar School at Geelong. + +Two races are rowed annually, for first and second crews, each school in +turn having the choice of course, which is either on the Upper or Lower +Yarra, the Albert Park Lagoon, or the Barwon at Geelong. For first crews +the distance is 1-1/4 miles, for second a mile, the boats being string +test gigs, fixed seats. Of all the schools none has a record equal to +that of Geelong, where rowing, in comparison with other sports, occupies +the same position as at Eton. To the Cambridge Eight it has contributed +four oars, including the well-known heavyweight S. Fairbairn; while in +the memorable race of '86, when Pitman made his victorious rush on the +post, the school had an "old boy" in each boat--Fairbairn rowing for the +Light Blues, and Robertson, whose father had been in Hoare's famous '61 +crew, for Oxford. In the Cambridge Trial Eights seven "old Geelongs" +have rowed; in the Oxford Trials only one; while the school has also +been represented in the Grand Challenge and other races at Henley. + +The Public Schools' Race for first crews was established in 1868, and +for second in 1878. Geelong first rowed for the former in 1875, since +when it has twelve wins to its credit, and the same number in the minor +event. + +The Boat Club was established in 1874, and at the present date has a +roll of fifty-six members, an excellent boathouse, and nineteen boats. +It holds an annual school regatta in June. + +Rowing at the other schools is very spasmodic, mostly confined to a few +weeks' training for the above races. + + +_South Australia._ + +There are only two schools in South Australia which merit the +designation of public schools in the English sense, viz. St. Peter's +Collegiate School and Prince Alfred College, both in the immediate +neighbourhood of the city. + +Adelaide is bisected by the river Torrens, where, by reason of a dam, a +mile and a half of water is available for rowing. But the course is so +tortuous that racing is limited to a mile. The accumulation of silt is +so great, and the growth of weeds and rushes so rapid, that for some +five months in the year the river is kept empty for necessary +operations; and at the best of times the water is slow and sluggish. At +the annual regatta, under the Rowing Association, the rivals have often +competed in a special race; but they ran the chance of being drawn to +row private schools. In order to make rowing as important a part of +school athletics as cricket and football, the present writer, who was +then chairman of the Rowing Association, instituted in 1893 an annual +race between these schools for a challenge shield, to be rowed on the +tidal river at the Port, over a straight mile course. The boats used are +half-outrigged, clinker, keelless fours, fixed seats, with a +twenty-six-inch beam. The crews practise on the home water, and finish +their preparation on the scene of the contest. So far, St. Peter's +College has won each event in the easiest style. A race has also been +established with the Geelong school. Of three, each of which has been of +the closest, Geelong has won once, St. Peter's twice. The boats used are +full outrigged clinkers, with sliding seats. + +In spite of the inferior water, rowing at St. Peter's is becoming almost +as popular with the boys as cricket and football. To this state of +things their success against Prince Alfred and Geelong crews has +materially contributed, as well as the institution of school regattas. +The club has a good boathouse, with the right class of boats for +teaching and coaching, viz. steady, roomy, half-outrigged, clinker +fours, with keels, convertible as fixed or sliders. + + +_University Rowing._ + +There are three Universities of Australia--those of Sydney, Melbourne, +and Adelaide. Racing was first instituted when Sydney and Melbourne met +on the water of the latter in string test gig fours over a three and a +half miles course. In the following year they met on the Parramatta. +Melbourne won on both occasions. The race was then discontinued, but in +1885 the Sydney University Boat Club was founded, and in 1888 the three +Universities mutually agreed to establish the race as an annual event in +eights, to be rowed in turn on the Parramatta, the Yarra, and the Port +Adelaide rivers, over a three mile course. Of nine races rowed--in two +of which Adelaide, and in one of which Sydney, did not compete--Sydney +has won four times, Melbourne thrice, and Adelaide on two occasions. The +presentation by Old Blues of Oxford and Cambridge of a magnificent cup, +to be held by the winners, has given a great stimulus to the race, and +invested it with an importance which otherwise would not have attached +to it. It has served to establish the continuity of the contest, and to +connect the local Universities with their more famous elder sisters of +England. + +The Sydney U.B.C. undoubtedly takes the lead in prosecuting rowing. It +promotes annual races for Freshmen, and intercollegiate fours between +the three colleges of St. John's, St. Andrew's, and St. Paul's. Since +their inauguration, in 1892, St. Paul's has won on every occasion except +in 1894. In 1895 and 1896 the U.B.C. won the Rowing Association +Eight-oar Championship. + +There is an annual race in eights between Ormond and Trinity Colleges of +the Melbourne University, besides a few other less important events, but +the rowing spirit is not in such evidence as in Sydney and Adelaide. The +latter is simply a teaching and examining University, with members so +few that it is rather a matter of finding eight men to put in a boat +than of picking or selecting a crew from a number of aspirants. Its +success and enterprise are the more remarkable. + +Speaking generally of University form in Australia, it is far inferior +to that of a good college eight. Nor is the reason far to seek. There is +no such recruiting ground as, for instance, Eton or Radley, not to +mention other rowing schools, nor are there the opportunities for making +oars such as the college clubs at the two great Universities present, +with the successive stages of the Torpids and Lent races, the May and +Summer Eights, Henley, and the Trial Eights. Coaching, as in England, +from the tow path or a fast steam-launch, is practically impossible, and +the number of those who have a scientific knowledge of oarsmanship, and, +what is rarer still, the gift of imparting it to a crew, individually +and collectively, is small indeed. Coaching in Australia is done from +the stern, or from another boat, or by an occasional view from the bank, +sometimes from a launch seldom fast enough to keep up, or range abeam. +Pair-oar tubbing is of course utilized. Sydney University rowing is, +however, far superior to non-University oarsmanship. The men sit up, use +their backs and legs well, understand the knee work at the end of the +slide, and do not rush their recovery. They are somewhat deficient in +fore and aft swing, have a tendency to sky the feather, and rarely +catch their water at the first. Melbourne rowing is wanting in body +work, and conspicuous for absence of length. The men apparently are +taught to discard on slides every approach to fixed-seat form, instead +of to retain as much as possible. Thanks to a strong Oxford inspiration +in Adelaide, and a belief in fixed-seat form as the foundation of good +rowing on slides, an Adelaide school or University crew is conspicuous +for length, reach, and swing. The pace of the eights is far behind +English standard. + + +_Boatbuilding in Australia._ + +It was the opinion of Hanlan that in the matter of boats and sculls he +had never been so well served as by Donnelly and Sullivan of Sydney, a +judgment as regards sculls endorsed by Beach and Searle. Chris. Nielsen, +the sculler, has brought out a boat which he claims to be faster than +the ordinary wager boat, with, against, or without tide, in rough water +or smooth. The dimensions for an 11-1/2 stone man are--length, 23 ft.; +beam, 16 ins.; depth, 7 ins.; for'ard, 6 ins.; aft, 5-1/2 ins.; full +lines throughout; height of seat from heel plates, 7 ins.; height of +work from seat, 5-3/4 ins.; needs no fin, steers well, very light off +hand; weight without fittings, 14 lbs. Riggers are bicycle tubing +fittings, ordinary Davis gate; Colonial cedar, pine, and hickory +timbers. The Australian-built boats are probably, so far as lines, +general design, and workmanship, quite equal to the best English craft. +For pairs, fours, and eights the Melbourne builders, Fuller, Edwards, +and Greenland, are of the first class. They use a skeleton frame for the +slides, built with angle pieces. This has all the rigidity of Clasper's +more solid style, is lighter and stronger, and when the boat is being +emptied allows the free escape of water. A Colonial eight is certainly +lighter than those sent to Australia by Clasper or Rough. Probably the +English builders have overestimated the weight of Australian eight-oar +crews, which do not scale anything approaching a 'Varsity eight. Seating +down the middle is generally preferred, which the present writer thinks +has everything in its favour. The great drawback from which local +builders suffer is the want of seasoned cedar. From this cause their +boats do not last as long as English ones. + + +_Times._ + +I am not disposed to place much reliance on time as a test of a crew or +a sculler, as conditions can never be so identical as to make comparison +a safe guide. Still a certain interest attaches to records. It is +contended that the Parramatta is a fifth slower than the Thames. The +best trial with the tide that I know of is for a mile, 5 mins. 20 secs. +with a four; 4 mins. 47 secs. with an eight. Over the whole course, 3 +miles 330 yards, an eight has put up 17 mins. 12 secs., one mile of +which was compassed in 4 mins. 52 secs. On the Yarra the Victorian Eight +of 1889 is said to have rowed two measured miles in 10 mins. 2 secs. At +Brisbane, in 1895, the Sydney International Eight, with a strong stream, +compassed three miles in 15 mins., but the distance is doubted. On the +Nepean course, 3 miles 440 yards, Sullivan beat Bubear in 19 mins. 15 +secs., no current. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +ROWING IN AMERICA. + + +The sport of rowing, as I gather from Mr. Caspar Whitney's well-known +book,[14] was in its infancy in America when it had already taken a +prominent place amongst our amateur athletic exercises in England. The +Detroit Boat Club, established in 1839, was the first rowing +organization in America. Next came Yale University, which established a +Boat Club in 1843, and was followed by Harvard University in 1846. The +first boat-race between Harvard and Yale took place in 1852 on Lake +Winipiseogee, New Hampshire, in eight-oared boats with coxswains. Other +meetings between these two followed at intervals until 1859, when a +College Union Regatta was instituted. This took place at Worcester +(Mass.), on Lake Quinsigamond, in six-oared boats without coxswains, the +bow oar invariably steering, and was continued, with an interruption of +three years during the Rebellion, until 1870, when the course was +changed to the Connecticut River. Up to this time two Universities only +had competed besides Yale and Harvard; but in 1872 the number increased +considerably, and in 1875 no less than twelve different Universities +were represented in one race. These were, in the order in which they +finished, Cornell, Columbia, Harvard, Dartmouth (Hanover, N.H.), +Wesleyan (Middletown, Conn.), Yale, Amherst (Mass.), Brown (Providence, +R.I.), Williams (Williamstown, Mass.), Bowdoin (Brunswick, Maine), +Hamilton (Clinton, N.Y.), and Union (Schenectady, N.Y.). The most +eventful of these big regattas was that of 1874 at Saratoga, when nine +boats entered. Harvard and Yale, having adjoining stations, +unfortunately became engaged in a dispute as to "water," and were left +disputing by several boats. Harvard got away from the entanglement +first, leaving Yale with her rudder and one oar broken, and went in +pursuit of the others; but in spite of the most heroic efforts, were +beaten by Columbia and Wesleyan, who finished respectively first and +second. In 1876 Harvard and Yale decided to withdraw from these crowded +meetings, and in this and the following year they rowed a private match +at Springfield in Eights with coxswains, and in 1878 on the Thames at +New London, where they continued their annual contest up to and +including 1895.[15] In that year there took place a break in the +athletic relations between these two Universities, and in 1896 Harvard +took part in a "quadrangular" race with Cornell, Columbia, and +Pennsylvania Universities. This was won by Cornell, Harvard being +second, and was rowed on a perfectly straight four-mile course at +Poughkeepsie on the River Hudson, where Cornell, Columbia, and +Pennsylvania had decided some previous contests. In the present year, +however, the differences between Harvard and Yale were happily adjusted, +and a race was rowed at Poughkeepsie between them and Cornell, in which +Cornell came in first, Yale defeating Harvard for second place. Harvard, +Yale, Columbia, Pennsylvania, and Cornell possess at the present day +the most important University rowing organizations, and at all of them +the sport is practised with that intense keenness which characterizes +the young American in everything that he undertakes. Especially is this +the case with Harvard and Yale. Their rivalry has continued for many +years, and a meeting between them in rowing, or in any other sport, +evokes among their members an eagerness and an enthusiasm of which an +Englishman can have little conception. Most of the Universities that +took part in the contests of the seventies seem to have dropped +altogether out of the rowing world. Last year saw a new arrival in the +shape of the University of Wisconsin. These Westerners, in spite of +their difficulties of climate, were able to form a very good freshman +crew, which defeated the Yale freshmen in a two-mile race. This year the +Wisconsin University Eight rowed a two-mile race against the Yale +University Eight, but were unable to make much of a show against them. +The United States Naval Academy at Minneapolis can also put a very fair +crew on the water, though the course of their studies allows them but +little leisure for practice. This year they were defeated by Cornell in +a two-mile race. The chief rowing school of America is undoubtedly St. +Paul's, at Concord, New Hampshire. It is divided into two boat-clubs, +the Halcyon and the Shattuck, and the teaching and training of the boys +are looked after by Mr. Dole, a man of great knowledge and experience in +rowing matters. They practise on a large lake situated close to the +school buildings, and show on the whole very fair form, though in this +respect they cannot equal an Eton crew. Rowing recruits from this school +are eagerly sought after by Harvard and Yale, in whose contests old St. +Paul's boys have a very brilliant record. At Groton School, in +Massachusetts, the boys row in Fours on the river Nashua, their coach +being Mr. Abbot, a graduate of Worcester College, Oxford. Rowing, +however, at Groton has not yet assumed the importance it has at St. +Paul's, baseball being considered of the first importance, and the +captain of baseball having the right to claim rowing boys for his team. +Not a few Groton wet-bobs have, however, done well in Harvard and Yale +crews. Besides these two rowing-schools, there is also the High School +of Worcester (Mass.), whose Eight this year--the first, I believe, in +its rowing history--rowed a severe but unsuccessful race against the +Harvard freshmen on Lake Quinsigamond, and later in the summer won the +race for Intermediate Eights at the National Regatta held on the River +Schuylkill at Philadelphia. + + [14] "A Sporting Pilgrimage" (published in 1895 by Messrs. Osgood, + McIlvaine & Co.), one of the best all-round accounts of English sport + that it has ever been my good fortune to read. + + [15] For many of these details I am indebted to an article by Mr. J. A. + Watson-Taylor in the _Granta_. + +[Illustration: A HARVARD EIGHT ON THE RIVER HUDSON AT POUGHKEEPSIE.] + +To an English reader, with his experience of Henley Regatta, it will +seem strange that the Universities in America should take little or no +part in any rowing contests except their own private matches, and should +have no voice, and apparently no wish to have any voice, in the general +management of the sport outside the Universities. But such is the case. +The National Association of Amateur Oarsmen of America has more than +sixty clubs affiliated to it, but neither Harvard nor Yale nor Cornell +is amongst the number. The National Association holds a successful +regatta every year in August, but no really representative Eight from +Harvard or Yale has ever, I believe, taken part in it. With that +exception, this Association corresponds to our Amateur Rowing +Association, and in its constitution states its object to be "the +advancement and improvement of rowing amongst amateurs." By Article III. +of the Association an amateur is defined as "one who does not enter in +an open competition; or for either a stake, public or admission money, +or entrance fee; or compete with or against a professional for any +prize; who has never taught, pursued, or assisted in the pursuit of +athletic exercises as a means of livelihood; whose membership of any +rowing or other athletic club was not brought about, or does not +continue, because of any mutual agreement or understanding, expressed or +implied, whereby his becoming or continuing a member of such club would +be of any pecuniary benefit to him whatever, direct or indirect;[16] who +has never been employed in any occupation involving any use of the oar +or paddle; who rows for pleasure or recreation only, and during his +leisure hours; who does not abandon or neglect his usual business or +occupation for the purpose of training, and who shall otherwise conform +to the rules and regulations of this Association (as adopted August 28, +1872, amended January 20, 1876, and July 18, 1888)." + + [16] This clause is intended especially to prevent any so-called amateur + oarsmen being surreptitiously compensated for rowing, as, for instance, + by being furnished lucrative employment in sinecure positions. + +"Any club which shall issue or accept a challenge for the purpose of +holding a professional race, shall be for ever debarred from entering an +individual or crew in the Regattas of the Association, and such club, if +connected with the Association, shall be expelled." + +In point of strictness, it will be noticed this Rule does not suffer by +comparison with that of our own Amateur Rowing Association.[17] Indeed, +in some respects it is both fuller and stricter. Practically the only +difference is that whereas we disqualify as an amateur one who has been +employed in manual labour for money or wages, or who is or has been by +trade or employment for wages a mechanic, artizan, or labourer, or +engaged in any menial duty, this exclusion finds no place in the +American Amateur definition. The Laws of Boat-racing adopted by the +Association are practically the same as our own. + + [17] See Appendix. + +It may be interesting to contrast the organization and management of +rowing at an American University with the systems that a long tradition +has consecrated at Oxford and Cambridge. In our Universities, in the +first place, each particular sport is entirely independent of all +others. Each has its own club, its own funds, derived from the +subscriptions of its members, and each manages its own affairs and +arranges its own contests, except occasionally in the matter of +convenience of date, without any reference whatever to the others. A don +is usually treasurer of these clubs, but he has no special authority or +control merely because he is a don. His experience and greater knowledge +are placed at the disposal of undergraduates in matters of finance; that +is all. Certain general University rules as to time of residence, etc., +have to be observed, but beyond this the dons assume absolutely no +authority at all in the sports of the undergraduates. The undergraduates +themselves, through undergraduate officers, elected by themselves, make +all their own arrangements as to dates, matches, and everything else +connected with their competitions; and a don would as soon think of +flirting with a barmaid as of interfering with these matters in virtue +of his donship. This point is really of capital importance. The +responsibility of everything connected with the sports of the University +thus falls upon the proper shoulders--those, namely, of the +undergraduates who take part in them. The full glory of the victory is +theirs, and a defeat they must feel is due to them alone. They cannot +shift the blame to any don or committee of dons, and, as they must +acknowledge themselves responsible, so the necessity of taking steps to +restore the fortunes of their club is the more strongly brought home to +them. The captain of a Boat Club is its absolute autocrat as regards +work and discipline and the selection of his crew. The coach whom he +asks to instruct them may possibly be old enough to be his father, but +the coach, none the less, defers with an almost filial respect to the +captain, through whom all executive orders are issued. In practice, of +course, the wise captain is guided in most matters by his coach, but, +should a serious difference arise between them, it is the coach who must +give way to the authority of the captain. This uncontrolled management +of their sports by the undergraduates is, it seems to me, no unimportant +part of a University education; and a man may learn from it even more +valuable lessons in conduct, self-control, and the treatment of his +fellow-men, than from all the books, papers, and examinations of his +University curriculum. + +At an American University a very different situation exists. I will take +the case of Harvard, not merely because it is more familiar to me, but +because it is typical in its general features, though not, of course, in +all its details, of the position taken up by the authorities at most +American Universities with regard to the sports of the undergraduates. +From the earliest days of athletic exercises the Faculty, or Governing +Body, of the University has kept a very tight control over them. It has +issued rules and ordinances, allowing or forbidding certain +competitions, deciding not only the number, but the date and place of +matches in which it was allowable to take part, and regulating and +controlling the conduct of those undergraduates who took part in +athletics. This system, no doubt, originated at a time when the numbers +at Harvard were comparatively small, and when the men entered College at +an age considerably younger than is usual in England. But the numbers at +Harvard have increased by leaps and bounds, and the age of +undergraduates is now on an average the same as at Oxford and Cambridge. + +In recent years, indeed, a slight change has been found advisable. The +control of all athletics, whether rowing, baseball, football, or track +athletics, is vested in what is called an Athletic Committee, composed +of three professors (_Anglic['e]_, dons), three graduates of the +University, and three undergraduates. These nine, who are not selected +on any representative system, promulgate laws, conduct negotiations, +settle dates, and generally perform those details of business which in +England are left entirely to the undergraduates. For instance, the +negotiations for a resumption of athletic relations with Yale University +were on the Harvard side managed by and through the Athletic Committee. +Moreover, the Athletic Committee has in its hands the appointment of +coaches for the crew, and for the football, baseball, and athletic +teams. The captain of a crew or a team is, to be sure, elected by the +undergraduates themselves, the established system being that the crew +should, before disbanding itself, elect the captain for the ensuing +year. But no election of this kind is valid until it has been confirmed +by the Athletic Committee. From the above account, in which I have +confined myself to facts, and have not attempted to criticize, it will +be seen how profound are the differences between athletic organizations +at English and American Universities. + +But there are further differences which have nothing to do with the +system of control and management. An English University is composed of +many colleges, each entirely independent, so far as the management of +its affairs are concerned. An English University Boat Club is organized +on the same principle. It is made up of representatives of all the +College Boat Clubs, and combines these autonomous institutions for what +may be termed Imperial purposes. College rowing at Oxford and Cambridge +foments a keen and healthy rivalry, and to no small extent helps to keep +up the standard of University rowing. In America, on the contrary, the +University is one, and apparently indivisible. There are no colleges, +and, therefore, there is no aggregation of College Boat Clubs such as we +have at home. The want of this element is, no doubt, a serious +disadvantage to an American University Boat Club. The only element of +rivalry comes from the competition of the four different classes (_i.e._ +years, as we should call them--freshmen; second-year men, or +"sophomores;" third-year men, or "juniors;" and fourth-year men, or +"seniors") against one another in an eight-oared race in the spring. +Beyond this there has been hitherto no internal competition between +members of the University Boat Club. Compare this single race with the +long series of contests in which an English University oarsman takes +part. He may begin in October with the Fours, row in the University +Trial Eights in December, and in the University crew in the following +March. Then come the College eight-oared races in May or June, followed +by Henley Regatta in July, to say nothing of pair-oar races, and +sculling races, and College Club races, or of the various Thames +regattas, in which he may take part during what remains of the summer. +He thus gains invaluable lessons, both in watermanship and in racing +experience, which are not open to his American cousin. + +For this absence of competitions in an American University Boat Club, +the severe American winter, which closes the rivers from about the +middle of December until early in March, is only partly responsible. +During October and November the rivers are open; but up to the present +very little advantage has been taken of these valuable months. At +Harvard there has hitherto been no race or series of races for Fours or +Pairs or Scullers, and freshmen, during their first term, have been +exercised on a rowing machine, when they might, with infinitely greater +profit, have gained instruction on the water. + +Early in January, when the undergraduates have returned from their short +Christmas vacation, a "squad" for the University crew has generally been +formed and sent to the "training-table," and the men composing it have +been put into regular exercise, consisting of running varied by +occasional skating, and of rowing practice every day in the tank. When +the ice breaks up in March an Eight appears upon the water, and +practises regularly from that time until towards the end of June, when +its race against the rival University takes place. This long period of +combined practice has many obvious drawbacks, which will at once strike +an experienced oarsman. I believe better results might be obtained by +allowing members of the University "squad" to take part in the Class +races, and then, after a period of rest, selecting the University crew. + +[Illustration: COACHING ON THE RIVER HUDSON.] + +Notwithstanding, however, all these disadvantages, rowing at American +Universities has reached a high standard--a result due to the +extraordinary earnestness and enthusiasm of those who take part in it. +The American University oarsman is in every respect as strong and as +well-developed in physique as the average Englishman. All he lacks is +the prolonged racing experience, which makes the Englishman so +formidable and robust an opponent. There are men amongst the old oars of +Harvard, Yale, and Cornell, who have made skilled rowing their special +study, and whose knowledge of all points of the game is fully as great +as that of our English oars. Yale, in particular, has, during the last +ten years, been able to turn out some wonderfully fine and powerful +crews; but the tendency amongst the American University oarsmen, during +recent years, has been to sacrifice body-swing to the mere piston action +of the legs on a very long slide. There is now, however, a reaction, due +to the visits paid by Cornell and Yale to Henley in 1895 and 1896, and +the long body-swing and general steadiness, which are marked features of +English rowing, are now being very successfully cultivated in America. + +At the five chief rowing Universities--Harvard, Yale, Columbia, +Pennsylvania, and Cornell--it is also customary to train a freshman crew +every year, not merely for the local class races, but for competition +against one another, the races taking place a few days before those in +which the University crews compete. This year Yale defeated Harvard by +something more than a length, Harvard being about three-quarters of a +length ahead of Cornell. The race--a two-mile one--was very severe, and +the crews, considering their material, showed, on the whole, better form +than that displayed by the University crews. A week later the Cornell +freshmen defeated those from Pennsylvania and Columbia over the same +course. It is surprising to see what good results can be obtained from +these freshmen crews. The men composing them have, for the most part, +not rowed before coming to the University; they have had no graduated +system of instruction on fixed seats. Up to March, all their rowing has +been done on hydraulic machines in the gymnasium. They then launch a +sliding-seat Eight and practise for the Class races at the beginning of +May. After that they are carefully taken in hand, and trained for their +race in June against the other Universities. It is from this freshman +crew, and from the older hands, who may have been rowing in the Class +races, that the 'Varsity crew of the following year will be recruited. + +The number of students at American Universities is thus stated in Mr. +Caspar Whitney's book: Harvard, 3100; Yale, 2400; Pennsylvania, 2500; +Columbia, 1600; Cornell, 1800; as against about 2400 at Oxford, and 2800 +at Cambridge. + +I ought to add that the use of swivel rowlocks is almost universal in +America, and that all their Eights are built with the seats directly in +a line in the centre of the boat. Boats of _papier mach['e]_ have had a +great vogue, their builder being Waters of Troy; but there is now a +reaction in favour of cedar boats, as being stiffer and more durable. +The Harvard and Yale boats this year were built by Davy of Cambridge +(Mass.), and were beautiful specimens of the art. American boats, +however, cost at least twice as much as English boats. T. Donoghue, of +Newburgh, N.Y., makes most of the oars that are used in first-class +racing. They are lighter by a full pound than our English oars, and are +every bit as stiff. It is a real pleasure to row with them. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +A RECENT CONTROVERSY: ARE ATHLETES HEALTHY?--MR. SANDOW'S VIEWS ON THE +TRAINING OF OARSMEN. + + +It would not be right, I think, to send forth a new book on rowing +without referring to the controversy that has recently been carried on +in the columns of the _St. James's Gazette_ under the general title of +"Are Athletes Healthy?" The discussion, which concerned itself mainly +with oarsmen, is naturally of very deep interest, not only to them, but +to the fathers and mothers who are anxious about the welfare of their +energetic sons, and who, if the charges alleged against rowing can be +proved, will, of course, do their best to dissuade their offspring from +indulging in this pernicious exercise. I should have preferred to +discuss the matter in the earlier chapters of this book, but the +printing was already so far advanced as to render this course out of +the question, and I am therefore compelled to deal with it somewhat out +of its place in this final chapter. + +[Illustration: ROWING TYPES. + +NO. 1.] + +It would be idle to deny that there was some reason for beginning this +discussion. Within the past two years three magnificent young oarsmen, +Mr. H. B. Cotton, Mr. T. H. E. Stretch, and Mr. E. R. Balfour, have +died; the first after an illness of six months' duration, the other two +after being ill for less than a fortnight. They were all Oxford men, had +rowed in victorious races both at Putney and at Henley, and two of +them--Mr. Cotton and Mr. Balfour--had been actually rowing and racing +till within a short time of the attack that proved fatal to them. Mr. +Stretch had not raced, except in scratch Eights at Putney, since the +Henley Regatta of 1896, some ten months before he died. + +It has been asserted that these three untimely deaths were due directly +to the severe strain undergone both in preparation for racing and in the +actual races in which these oarsmen took part, and that had they been +content with unathletic lives they might have lived on for many years. +Can that be proved? I admit that I do not wish to think the allegation +capable of proof, for these three were my familiar friends. I had +coached and trained them all; with two of them I had rowed in several +races; I had spent innumerable happy days in their society, and the +sorrow I feel in having lost them would be terribly increased if I were +forced to believe that our favourite sport had had any part in hastening +their end. In these cases I will confine myself to stating facts within +my own knowledge, and will leave those who read my statement to say +whether on a fair view of the matter the exercise of rowing can be held +blameworthy. + +I may begin by saying that it is the invariable rule at Oxford to send +all men who may be required for the University Eight to undergo a +preliminary medical examination. This examination is no perfunctory one. +It is conducted by Mr. H. P. Symonds, a gentleman of very wide +experience, especially amongst undergraduates, and I have known several +instances in which, owing to his report, an oarsman has had to withdraw +temporarily from the river, and has lost his chance of wearing the +coveted blue. There has never been any question about yielding to Mr. +Symonds's judgment. His verdict, if adverse, has always been accepted +as final both by the oarsman concerned and by the president of the Boat +Club. In all the three cases with which I am dealing, Mr. Symonds passed +his men as perfectly sound in heart and lungs and in every other organ. + +I take the case of Mr. Stretch first, in order to eliminate it +conclusively. The cause of his death was appendicitis, followed by +severe blood-poisoning. It is quite impossible to connect this painful +and malignant illness with rowing or with any other exercise. The +_appendix vermiformis_, which is the seat of the disease, is an +unaccountable relic in the internal organization of human beings; it is +liable to be affected mysteriously and suddenly in the young and the +old, and the only effective remedy, I believe, is by means of an +operation which removes it altogether. Mr. Stretch had, as I said, not +trained and raced for ten months, and up to the moment of his illness +had been in the enjoyment of robust and almost exceptional health. + +Mr. Cotton, whose case I now proceed to consider, was an Eton boy, and +had rowed a great deal during his school days, though he had not been +included in the Eton crew at Henley. He was a man of small stature, +beautifully built and proportioned, well-framed, muscular, strong, and +active. On coming to Oxford he continued his rowing, and being a good +waterman and a man of remarkable endurance and courage, he was in his +second year placed at bow of the University crew. Altogether he rowed in +four victorious Oxford crews, he won the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley +twice as bow of a Leander crew, he won the Stewards' Cup in a Magdalen +College Four, rowed Head of the River three times, besides taking part +in many other races more or less important. During his whole rowing +career I knew him to be unwell only once, and that was in 1893, when he +suffered from a sore throat at Putney. In 1895 he rowed bow of the +Oxford Eight for the fourth time. The training of this crew was a very +anxious one. Influenza was very prevalent, and one after another the +Oxford men were affected by this illness. There were only two +exceptions, and one of these was Mr. Cotton, who was never sick or sorry +for a single day during the whole period of practice. Shortly after the +race he came to stay with me. He was then perfectly strong, perfectly +healthy, and in wonderfully good spirits, and showed not the least sign +of being stale or exhausted. He told me himself, on my congratulating +him on having escaped the influenza, that he had never felt better or +stronger in his life than he did at that time. On the Easter Monday he +bicycled from Bourne End to Oxford and back (a distance of nearly +seventy miles as he rode it), and, as he had had to battle against a +strong cold wind on the return journey, he was very tired on his +arrival. On the following morning, however, he appeared perfectly well. +Towards the end of that week he complained of feeling "very +lackadaisical and having a bad headache," but he attached no importance +to these symptoms, and soon after went back to Oxford with a view to +rowing in the Magdalen Eight. The tired feeling and the headache, +however, continued, and eventually got so bad that he had to take to his +bed with a high temperature and all the other symptoms of violent +influenza. This illness, neglected at the outset, almost immediately +settled on his lungs, both of which were congested with pneumonia. +Owing, as Mr. Symonds himself told me, to his good general condition and +his great strength, he fought through this, but in the mean time signs +of consumption had declared themselves, and of this he died at Davos +Platz in the following October. + +With regard to Mr. Balfour, the facts are these: He was a man of +Herculean build and strength. He played in the Oxford Rugby Union +Football team for two years, 1894 and 1895. In 1896 and in this year he +rowed in the University Eight, and last July he rowed at Henley in the +Leander Eight, and won the pair-oared race with Mr. Guy Nickalls. I can +answer for it that during all his races he was absolutely fit and well. +I saw him daily at Henley, and, though I knew him to be strong and +healthy, I was surprised not merely by his improvement in style, but by +the great vigour he displayed in rowing. On the morning after the +Regatta I saw him for the last time. He was then in splendid health and +spirits. On the 12th of August he shot grouse; on the following day, in +very cold wet weather, he went out fishing, and came home wet through, +complaining of a chill. On the following day he took to his bed in a +high fever, with both lungs congested. The illness next attacked his +kidneys, and soon after his life was despaired of. However, he rallied +in an extraordinary way until symptoms of blood-poisoning declared +themselves, when he rapidly sank, and died on August 27th. Now, this +illness was due either to an ordinary chill or to influenza, or, as I +have since heard, primarily to blood-poisoning, caused by leaky and +poisonous drains at a place where he had been staying before his +shooting excursion. A subsequent examination of these drains revealed a +very bad condition of affairs immediately underneath the room that Mr. +Balfour had occupied. In any case it does not appear--and the strong +testimony of the doctors who attended him confirms me in this--that Mr. +Balfour's death was due to his rowing. But an objector may say, "It is +true that neither in Mr. Cotton's nor in Mr. Balfour's case can death be +_directly_ attributed to rowing; their exertions, however, so exhausted +their strength, the soundness of their organs, and their powers of +resistance to disease, that when they were attacked they became easy +victims." To this I oppose (1) the report of Mr. H. P. Symonds, who +examined both these oarsmen before they rowed in their University +Eights; (2) my own observation of their health, condition, and spirits +during practice, in their races, and afterwards when the races were +over; and (3) the reports of the doctors who attended them during their +last illnesses, and who declared (I speak at second hand with regard to +Mr. Balfour, at first hand with regard to Mr. Cotton) that they were +both, when struck down, in a surprising state of strength, due to the +exercise in which they had taken part, and that in both cases their +powers of resistance were far greater than are usually found. Do I go +too far in asserting that any doctor in large practice could find in his +own experience for each of these two cases at least twenty cases in +which non-rowing and non-athletic men have been suddenly carried off by +the same sort of illness? I am not concerned to prove that rowing +confers an immunity from fatal illness: my point is that in the two +cases I have considered, and in all cases where it is pursued under +proper conditions of training and medical advice, rowing does not in any +way promote a condition favourable to disease. + +I pass from these particular cases, the discussion of which has been +painful to me, to the general question of health amongst the great mass +of those who have been, or are, active rowing men. It may be remembered +that some twenty-five years ago Dr. J. H. Morgan, of Oxford, moved to +his task by a controversy similar to that which has recently taken +place, instituted a very careful inquiry into the health of those who +had taken part in the University Boat-race from 1829 to 1869. Their +number amounted, if I remember rightly, to 294, of whom 255 were alive +at the date of the inquiry. Of these 115 were benefited by rowing, 162 +were uninjured, and only in 17 cases was any injury stated to have +resulted. And it must be remembered that this inquiry covered a period +during which far less care, as a general rule, was exercised both as to +the selection and the training of men than is the case at the present +day. I may add my own experience. Since I began to row, in 1874, I have +rowed and raced with or against hundreds of men in college races and at +regattas, and I have watched closely the rowing of very many others in +University and in Henley crews. I have kept in touch with rowing men, +both my contemporaries and my successors, and amongst them all I could +not point to one (putting aside for the moment the three special cases I +have just discussed) who has been injured by the exercise, or would +state himself to have been injured. On the contrary, I can point to +scores and scores of men who have been strengthened in limb and +health--I say nothing here of any moral effect--by their early races +and the training they had to undergo for them. I could at this moment +pick a crew composed of men all more than thirty years old who are +still, or have been till quite recently, in active rowing, and, though +some of them are married men, I would back them to render a good account +of themselves in Eight or Four or Pair against any selection of men that +could be made. Nay more, in any other contests of strength or endurance +I believe they would more than hold their own against younger athletes, +and would overwhelm any similar number of non-athletes of the same or +any other age. As contests I should select a hard day's shooting over +dogs, cross-country riding, tug-of-war, boxing, long-distance rowing, +or, in fact, any contest in which the special element of racing in light +ships has no part. For such contests I could pick, not eight, but eighty +men well over thirty years old, and if the limit were extended to +twenty-four years of age I could secure an army. Is there any one who +doubts that my rowing men would knock the non-athletes into a cocked +hat? For it must be remembered that the bulk of rowing men are not +exclusively devoted to oarsmanship. A very large proportion of those +that I have known have been good all-round sportsmen. + +[Illustration: ROWING TYPES. + +NO. 2.] + +As to the general effect of rowing on strength and health I may perhaps +be pardoned if I cite my own case, not because there is anything +specially remarkable in it, but because it bears on some of the +questions that have been raised, and I can speak about it with +certainty. In early childhood I had a serious illness which considerably +retarded my physical development. At school, however, I took my part in +all sports, played three years in the Cricket XI. and in the Football +XV., and won several prizes at the athletic sports. I went to Cambridge +in 1874, when I was three months short of nineteen, and immediately took +to rowing. I was certainly not a particularly strong boy then, though I +had a fair share of activity. I rowed persistently in Eights, Fours and +Pairs, at first with labour and distress, but gradually, as time went +on, with ease and pleasure, and I found that the oftener I rowed the +greater became my powers of endurance. I ought to add that I never rowed +in the University Race, but I have borne my share in thirty-six bumping +races, as well as in numerous other races ranging in distance from +three-quarters of a mile to three miles. I believe that the six +consecutive races of a May Term call for endurance at least as great as +the single race from Putney to Mortlake. My actual muscular strength, +too, increased very largely, and has ever since maintained itself +unimpaired. I have found that this exercise has, in fact, strengthened +and consolidated me all round; and I can think of no other exercise that +could have had upon me the same salutary effect that I am justified in +attributing mainly to rowing--an effect which has enabled me to endure +great exertion, sometimes in extremes of heat or of cold, without the +smallest ill result, and has brought me to middle age with sound organs, +a strong constitution, active limbs, and a good digestion. There are +hundreds of other men who could, I doubt not, give a similar account of +themselves. + +[Illustration: ROWING TYPES. + +NO. 3.] + +Out of this main discussion on the health of athletes there sprang a +subsidiary one, which proved of even greater interest to rowing men. It +was started by Mr. Sandow, the eminent weight-lifter and modern +representative of Hercules. Mr. Sandow, stimulated by a disinterested +love for his fellow-men in general, and for those of Cambridge +University in particular, wrote an article in the _St. James's +Gazette_ in which he put forward his own peculiar views on the proper +system for the training of athletes. He ended by declaring that if he +were allowed to train a Cambridge crew according to his system (it being +understood that rowing instruction was at the same time to be imparted +to them by a properly qualified teacher), he would guarantee to turn out +a crew the like of which had never before sat in a boat. We were to +infer, though this was at first sight not obvious, that this crew would +easily defeat an Oxford crew trained on a system which Mr. Sandow +evidently considered to be absurd and obsolete. + +According to Mr. Sandow's system, as he subsequently developed it, the +members of this crew were to have complete license in all things. They +were to eat what they liked, drink what they liked, smoke as much as +they liked, and, in fact, make their own good pleasure the supreme law +of their existence. All that Mr. Sandow stipulated was that for some two +hours a day during a period of several months these men were to put +themselves in Mr. Sandow's hands for the purpose of muscular development +all round according to the methods usually employed by him. Any spare +energy that might then remain to them might be devoted to the work of +rowing in the boat. + +Now, in the first place, there are certain elementary difficulties which +would go far to prevent the adoption of this experiment. The crew is not +selected several months before the race; and even if it were, it would +be practically impossible for the men composing it to spare the time +required by Mr. Sandow. After all, even the most brilliant of us have to +get through a certain amount of work for our degrees. There are lectures +to be attended, there is private reading, not to speak of the time which +has to be devoted to the ordinary social amenities of life at a +University. Sport has its proper place in the life of an undergraduate; +but it does not, and cannot, absorb the whole of that life. Yet if a man +is to spend two hours with Mr. Sandow, and about two hours and a half (I +calculate from the moment he leaves his rooms until he returns from the +river) on the exercise of rowing, it is not easy to see how he will have +sufficient vigour left to him to tackle the work required even for the +easiest of pass examinations. I can foresee that not only the man +himself, but his tutors and his parents might offer some rather serious +objections. + +[Illustration: ROWING TYPES. + +NO. 4.] + +But I am not going to content myself with pointing out these preliminary +difficulties. I go further, and say that the whole proposal is based +upon a fallacy. The method of training and development that may fit a +man admirably for the purpose of weight-lifting, or of excelling his +fellow-creatures in the measurement of his chest and his muscles, is +utterly unsuited for a contest that requires great quickness of +movement, highly developed lung-power, and general endurance spread over +a period of some twenty minutes. It does not follow that because a man +measures forty-two inches round the chest, and has all his muscles +developed in proportion, he will therefore be better fitted for the +propulsion of a racing-boat than a man who in all points of development +is his inferior. If I produced Mr. C. W. Kent _incognito_ before Mr. +Sandow and asked whether it would be feasible to include this gentleman +in an eight-oared crew, Mr. Sandow would probably laugh me to scorn. Mr. +Sandow could doubtless hold out Mr. Kent at arm's length with the +greatest possible ease. I am perfectly certain that Mr. Kent--if he will +pardon me for thus making free with his name--could do nothing of the +kind to Mr. Sandow. Yet I am perfectly certain, too, that, in a severely +contested race, Mr. Kent--admittedly one of the finest strokes that ever +rowed--would, to put it mildly, be more useful than Mr. Sandow. All +gymnasium work, and even the modified form of it patented by Mr. Sandow, +must tend to make men muscle-bound, and therefore slow. Skilled rowing +consists of a series of movements which have to be gone through with a +peculiar quickness, precision, and neatness. To be able to go through +Mr. Sandow's eight weight exercises, to lift weights, to carry horses on +your chest, may indicate great muscular strength, but it has absolutely +nothing to do with being able to row. If a rowing man requires some +exercise subsidiary to rowing, he would, in my opinion, be far better +advised if he devoted some of his spare time to boxing and to fencing, +exercises which necessitate immense quickness and perfect combination +between brain, hand, and eye, than if he were to spend time in building +up his body with such exercises as are included in the Sandow +curriculum. But, in the main, rowing must develop for itself the muscles +it requires. It is an exercise which, when all is said and done, can +only be learnt effectively in a boat on the water. It is thus, and thus +only, that a man can acquire the necessary movements, and perfect +himself in that sense of balance and of rhythm which is as necessary to +a rowing man as muscular strength. My experience leads me to the +conclusion that men who, though naturally well-framed and proportioned, +are not afflicted with excessive muscle, are more likely to be useful in +rowing than the pet of a gymnasium or the muscle-bound prodigies made in +the image of Mr. Sandow. I may cite as examples such men as Mr. R. P. P. +Rowe, Mr. R. O. Kerrison, Mr. W. Burton Stewart, Mr. W. E. Crum, Mr. J. +A. Ford, and Mr. C. W. Kent.[18] All these men acquired their +unquestionable excellence as oarsmen by the only possible method--that +is, by long practice of rowing in boats. Even an exercise so nearly +resembling actual rowing as the tank work practised in the winter by +American crews has very serious disadvantages. It might be supposed that +it would exercise and keep in trim the muscles required for actual +rowing; but its effect is to make men slow and heavy, faults which they +have to correct when they once more take to the river. + + [18] The photographs reproduced in this chapter are those of active + rowing men. No. 4, whose muscular development is the slightest, is one + of the most brilliant oarsmen of the day. See also photographs of Mr. + Kent and Mr. Gold in Chapter V. + +[Illustration: ROWING TYPES. + +NO. 5.] + +With regard to Mr. Sandow's revolutionary proposals about diet, smoking, +and hours, I have only this to say. We rowing men have shown time after +time that by adhering to what I do not hesitate to call our common-sense +system of rules tempered with indulgences we can bring our men to the +post in the most perfect health and condition, absolutely fit, so far as +their wind and powers of endurance are concerned, to take part in the +severest contests. What has Mr. Sandow shown that should avail, with +these results before our eyes, to make us exchange our disciplined +liberty for his unfettered license? In the mean time we shall very +properly hesitate to take the leap in the dark that he suggests. + +I trust that the President of the C.U.B.C. will, in future, conduct the +practice of his crew according to the methods that have proved their +efficacy over and over again, and that he will not listen to the voice +of Mr. Sandow, charm he never so unwisely. _Non tali auxilio_ are +boat-races to be won. + + + + +APPENDIX. + + +HENLEY ROYAL REGATTA. + +_Secretary_: J. F. COOPER. + +QUALIFICATION RULES. + + +THE GRAND CHALLENGE CUP, FOR EIGHT OARS. + +Any crew of amateurs who are members of any University or public school, +or who are officers of Her Majesty's army or navy, or any amateur club +established at least one year previous to the day of entry, shall be +qualified to contend for this prize. + + +THE STEWARDS' CHALLENGE CUP, FOR FOUR OARS. + +The same as for the Grand Challenge Cup. + + +THE LADIES' CHALLENGE PLATE, FOR EIGHT OARS. + +Any crew of amateurs who are members of any of the boat clubs of +colleges, or non-collegiate boat clubs of the Universities, or boat +clubs of any of the public schools, in the United Kingdom only, shall be +qualified to contend for this prize; but no member of any college or +non-collegiate crew shall be allowed to row for it who has exceeded four +years from the date of his first commencing residence at the +University; and each member of a public school crew shall, at the time +of entering, be _bon[^a] fide_ a member "_in statu pupillari_" of such +school. + + +THE VISITORS' CHALLENGE CUP, FOR FOUR OARS. + +The same as for the Ladies' Challenge Plate. + + +THE THAMES CHALLENGE CUP, FOR EIGHT OARS. + +The qualification for this cup shall be the same as for the Grand +Challenge Cup; but no one (coxswains excepted) may enter for this cup +who has ever rowed in a winning crew for the Grand Challenge Cup or +Stewards' Challenge Cup; and no one (substitutes as per Rule II +excepted) may enter, and no one shall row, for this cup and for the +Grand Challenge Cup, or Stewards' Challenge Cup, at the same regatta. + + +THE WYFOLD CHALLENGE CUP, FOR FOUR OARS. + +The qualification for this cup shall be the same as for the Stewards' +Challenge Cup; but no one shall enter for this cup who has ever rowed in +a winning crew for the Stewards' Challenge Cup; and no one (substitutes +as per Rule II excepted) may enter, and no one shall row, for this cap +and for the Stewards' Challenge Cup at the same regatta. + + +THE SILVER GOBLETS, FOR PAIR OARS. + +Open to all amateurs duly entered for the same according to the Rules +following. + + +THE DIAMOND CHALLENGE SCULLS, FOR SCULLS. + +Open to all amateurs duly entered for the same according to the Rules +following. + + +GENERAL RULES. + +_Revised December 1st, 1894._ + + +_Definition._ + +I.--No person shall be considered an amateur oarsman, sculler or +coxswain-- + + 1. Who has ever rowed or steered in any race for a stake, money, or + entrance-fee.[19] + + 2. Who has ever knowingly rowed or steered with or against a + professional for any prize. + + 3. Who has ever taught, pursued, or assisted in the practice of + athletic exercises of any kind for profit. + + 4. Who has ever been employed in or about boats, or in manual + labour, for money or wages. + + 5. Who is or has been by trade or employment for wages, a mechanic, + artisan, or labourer, or engaged in any menial duty. + + 6. Who is disqualified as an amateur in any other branch of sport. + + [19] This clause is not to be construed as disqualifying any otherwise + duly qualified amateur who previously to June 23, 1894, has rowed or + steered for a stake, money, or entrance-fee, in a race confined to + members of any one club, school, college, or University. + + +_Eligibility._ + +II.--No one shall be eligible to row or steer for a club unless he has +been a member of that club for at least two months preceding the +regatta, but this Rule shall not apply to colleges, schools, or crews +composed of officers of Her Majesty's army or navy. + + +_Entries._ + +III.--The entry of any amateur club, crew, or sculler, in the United +Kingdom, must be made ten clear days before the regatta, and the names +of the captain or secretary of each club or crew must accompany the +entry. A copy of the list of entries shall be forwarded by the secretary +of the regatta to the captain or secretary of each club or crew duly +entered. + +IV.--The entry of any crew or sculler, out of the United Kingdom, other +than a crew or sculler belonging to a club affiliated to the Union des +Soci['e]t['e]s Francaises de Sports Athl['e]tiques, or of the Deutscher +Ruder Verband, or of the Verbonden Nederlandsche Roeivereenigingen, must +be made on or before the 31st of March, and any such entry must be +accompanied by a declaration made before a notary public, with regard to +the profession of each person so entering, to the effect that he has +never rowed or steered in any race for a stake, money, or entrance fee; +has never knowingly rowed or steered with or against a professional for +any prize; has never taught, pursued, or assisted in the practice of +athletic exercises of any kind for profit; has never been employed in or +about boats, or in manual labour for money or wages; is not, and never +has been, by trade or employment, for wages, a mechanic, artisan, or +labourer, or engaged in any menial duty; and is not disqualified as an +amateur in any other branch of sport; and in cases of the entry of a +crew, that such crew represents a club which has been duly established +at least one year previous to the day of entry: and such declaration +must be certified by the British Consul or the mayor, or the chief +authority of the locality. + +The entry of any crew or sculler belonging to a club affiliated to the +Union des Soci['e]t['e]s Francaises de Sports Athl['e]tiques, or of the +Deutscher Ruder Verband, or of the Verbonden Nederlandsche +Roeivereenigingen, must be made on or before the 1st of June, and any +such entry must be accompanied by a declaration in writing by the +secretary of such Union, or Verband, or by the Council of the club from +time to time appointed by the Verbonden Nederlandsche +Roeivereenigingen, with regard to the profession of each person so +entering, to the effect that he has never since the institution of the +Union des Soci['e]t['e]s Francaises de Sports Athl['e]tiques, or the +Deutscher Ruder Verband, or of the Verbonden Nederlandsche +Roeivereenigingen, as the case may be, either rowed or steered in any +race for a stake, money, or entrance fee; or knowingly rowed or steered +with or against a professional for any prize; has never taught, pursued, +or assisted in the practice of athletic exercises of any kind for +profit; has never been employed in or about boats, or in manual labour +for money or wages; is not, and never has been by trade or employment, +for wages, a mechanic, artisan, or labourer, or engaged in any menial +duty; and is not disqualified as an amateur in any other branch of +sport; and in cases of the entry of a crew, that each member thereof is +and has been for two months a member of such club, and that such club +has been duly established at least one year previous to the day of +entry. + +V.--No assumed name shall be given to the secretary unless accompanied +by the real name of the competitor. + +VI.--No one shall enter twice for the same race. + +VII.--No official of the regatta shall divulge any entry, or report the +state of the entrance list, until such list be closed. + +VIII.--Entrance money for each boat shall be paid to the secretary at +the time of entering, as follows:-- + + [L] _s._ _d._ + For the Grand Challenge Cup 6 6 0 + " Ladies' Challenge Plate 5 5 0 + " Thames Challenge Cup 5 5 0 + " Stewards' " 4 4 0 + " Visitors' " 3 3 0 + " Wyfold " 3 3 0 + " Silver Goblets 2 2 0 + " Diamond Challenge Sculls 1 1 0 + +IX.--The Committee shall investigate any questionable entry, +irrespective of protest. + +X.--The Committee shall have power to refuse or return any entry up to +the time of starting, without being bound to assign a reason. + +XI.--The captain or secretary of each club or crew entered shall, seven +clear days before the regatta, deliver to the secretary of the regatta a +list containing the names of the actual crew appointed to compete, to +which list the names of not more than four other members for an +eight-oar and two for a four-oar may be added as substitutes. + +XII.--No person may be substituted for another who has already rowed or +steered in a heat. + +XIII.--The secretary of the regatta, after receiving the list of the +crews entered, and of the substitutes, shall, if required, furnish a +copy of the same, with the names, real and assumed, to the captain or +secretary of each club or crew entered, and in the case of pairs or +scullers to each competitor entered. + + +_Objections._ + +XIV.--Objections to the entry of any club or crew must be made in +writing to the secretary at least four clear days before the regatta, +when the committee shall investigate the grounds of objection, and +decide thereon without delay. + +XV.--Objections to the qualification of a competitor must be made in +writing to the secretary at the earliest moment practicable. No protest +shall be entertained unless lodged before the prizes are distributed. + + +_Course._ + +XVI.--The races shall commence below the Island, and terminate at the +upper end of Phyllis Court. Length of course, about 1 mile and 550 +yards. + +XVII.--The whole course must be completed by a competitor before he can +be held to have won a trial or final heat. + + +_Stations._ + +XVIII.--Stations shall be drawn by the Committee. + + +_Row over._ + +XIX.--In the event of there being but one boat, entered for any prize, +or if more than one enter, and all withdraw but one, the crew of the +remaining boat must row over the course to be entitled to such prize. + + +_Heats._ + +XX.--If there shall be more than two competitors, they shall row a trial +heat or heats; but no more than two boats shall contend in any heat for +any of the prizes above mentioned. + +XXI.--In the event of a dead heat taking place, the same crews shall +contend again, after such interval as the Committee may appoint, or the +crew refusing shall be adjudged to have lost the heat. + + +_Clothing._ + +XXII.--Every competitor must wear complete clothing from the shoulders +to the knees--including a sleeved jersey. + + +_Coxswains._ + +XXIII.--Every eight-oared boat shall carry a coxswain; such coxswain +must be an amateur, and shall not steer for more than one club for the +same prize. + + The minimum weight for coxswains shall be 7 stone. + + Crews averaging 10-1/2 stone and under 11 stone to carry not less + than 7-1/2 stone. + + Crews averaging 11 stone or more, to carry not less than 8 stone. + + Deficiencies must be made up by dead weight carried on the + coxswain's thwart. + + The dead weight shall be provided by the Committee, and shall be + placed in the boat and removed from it by a person appointed for + that purpose. + + Each competitor (including the coxswain) in eight and four-oared + races shall attend to be weighed (in rowing costume) at the time + and place appointed by the Committee: and his weight then + registered by the secretary shall be considered his racing weight + during the regatta. + + Any member of a crew omitting to register his weight shall be + disqualified. + + +_Flag._ + +XXIV.--Every boat shall, at starting, carry a flag showing its colour at +the bow. Boats not conforming to this Rule are liable to be disqualified +at the discretion of the umpire. + + +_Umpire._ + +XXV.--The Committee shall appoint one or more umpires to act under the +laws of boat-racing. + + +_Judge._ + +XXVI.--The Committee shall appoint one or more judges, whose decision as +to the order in which the boats pass the post shall be final. + + +_Prizes._ + +XXVII.--The prizes shall be delivered at the conclusion of the regatta +to the respective winners, who on receipt of a challenge prize shall +subscribe a document of the following effect:-- + +"I/We A (B C D, etc.) (members of the club), having been this day +declared to be the winners of the Henley Royal Regatta Challenge Cup (or +diamond sculls), and the same having been delivered to us on behalf of +the stewards of the said regatta, do (jointly and severally) agree to +return in good order and condition as now received the said cup (or +diamond sculls), to the stewards on or before June 1st next, and I/we do +also (jointly and severally) agree that if the said cup (or sculls) be +accidentally lost or destroyed, or in any way permanently defaced, I/we +will on or before the date aforesaid, or as near thereto as may be +conveniently possible, place in the hands of the said stewards a cup (or +diamond sculls) of similar design and value, and engraved with the names +of the previous winners (their officers) (and crews) as now engraved on +the present cup and base./case. In witness of which agreement I/we have +hereunto subscribed my/our (respective) name./names." + +_Committee._ + +XXVIII.--All questions of eligibility, qualification, interpretation of +the Rules, or other matters not specially provided for, shall be +referred to the Committee, whose decision shall be final. + +XXIX.--The laws of boat-racing to be observed at the regatta are as +follows:-- + + (_The same as the A.R.A. Laws._) + + + + +THE AMATEUR ROWING ASSOCIATION. + +_Hon. Sec._: R. C. LEHMANN, 30, Bury Street, St. James's, S.W. + +_Revised, April 23rd, 1894._ + + +CONSTITUTION. + +I.--This Association shall be called "The Amateur Rowing Association," +and its objects shall be-- + + 1. To maintain the standard of amateur oarsmanship as recognized by + the Universities and principal boat clubs of the United Kingdom; + + 2. To promote the interests of boat-racing generally. + +II.--The Association shall consist of clubs which adopt the following +definition of an amateur, viz.: + +No person shall be considered an amateur oarsman, sculler, or coxswain-- + + 1. Who has ever rowed or steered in any race for a stake, money or + entrance-fee.[20] + + 2. Who has ever knowingly rowed or steered with or against a + professional for any prize. + + 3. Who has ever taught, pursued, or assisted in the practice of + athletic exercises of any kind for profit. + + 4. Who has ever been employed in or about boats, or in manual + labour, for money or wages. + + 5. Who is or has been by trade or employment for wages a mechanic, + artisan, or labourer, or engaged in any menial duty. + + 6. Who is disqualified as an amateur in any other branch of sport. + + [20] N.B.--This clause is not to be construed as disqualifying any + otherwise duly qualified amateur who previously to April 23rd, 1894, has + rowed or steered for a stake, money or entrance-fee, in a race confined + to members of any one club, school, college, or University. + +III.--Any amateur club willing to bind itself to observe the rules of +the Association may become affiliated upon making application to the +Hon. Sec. of the A.R.A., and being elected by a majority of two-thirds +of the meeting of the Committee. + +Every affiliated club shall have at least one vote at General Meetings. +Any club having more than two hundred full members shall have in +addition one vote for every hundred or part of a hundred members in +excess of two hundred; but no club shall have more than six votes. + +Every affiliated club shall, when required, send to the Hon. Sec. of the +A.R.A. a list of its members and a copy of its last balance-sheet. + +The Committee shall not consider an application for affiliation from any +club previously refused, until after the expiration of twelve calendar +months from the date of such refusal. + +IV.--Each club shall pay to the expenses of the Association an annual +subscription to be fixed by the Committee; such subscription not to +exceed one guinea. + +V.--The government and management of the Association shall be vested in +a Committee of twenty-five members, who shall meet once at least in +every six months, or as often as may be required. At the first meeting +of the Committee in each year a chairman shall be elected, who shall +remain in office until the next General Meeting. At all meetings of the +committee the chairman shall preside, and in his absence a chairman +shall be elected for the occasion; seven members shall form a quorum, +and the chairman shall have a casting vote. + +VI.--For the purpose of electing the members of the Committee a General +Meeting of the representatives of the affiliated clubs shall be held +once a year at a date to be fixed by the Committee. Ten days' notice of +this meeting shall be given. + +Each club shall notify to the Secretary in writing, not less than three +days prior to the Annual General Meeting, the names of its authorized +representatives, the number of whom must not exceed the number of votes +to which such club is entitled; but should a club nominate one +representative only such representative can record the number of votes +to which his club is entitled. + +VII.--Five members of the Committee shall be elected at each Annual +General Meeting, and shall remain in office for three years. The +Committees of the Cambridge University Boat Club, the Royal Chester +Rowing Club, the Kingston Rowing Club, the Leander Club, the London +Rowing Club, the Molesey Boat Club, the Oxford University Boat Club, the +Thames Rowing Club, and the Twickenham Rowing Cub shall each nominate +annually a member of the Committee, and such nomination shall be sent to +the Secretary prior to the General Meeting. The Hon. Sec. of the A.R.A. +shall be an _ex officio_ member of the Committee of the A.R.A. In the +year 1894, in order to complete the number of twenty-five, the fifteen +members of the Committee elected and nominated as hereinbefore provided +shall meet and co-opt the remaining ten members, and the business of +that meeting shall be confined to this object alone. Five members of the +Committee shall retire annually by rotation, but shall be eligible for +re-election. Five of the co-opted members shall retire in 1895, the +remaining five in 1896. The Committee shall have power to fill up any +vacancy that may occur during the year amongst the elected members, but +any vacancy amongst the nominated members shall be filled up by the club +affected. + +VIII.--The Committee shall have power to affiliate clubs to the +Association, to appoint officers, to make or alter rules, to suspend, +disqualify, and reinstate amateurs, and generally to determine and +settle all questions and disputes relating to boat-racing which may be +referred to them for decision. And further, the Committee shall take +such other steps as they may consider necessary or expedient for +carrying into effect the objects of the Association. + +IX.--The Committee shall have power on due cause being shown to suspend +any affiliated club or to remove it from the list of affiliated clubs. + +No motion for the suspension or removal of a club shall be considered +except at a Committee Meeting specially called at not less than seven +days' notice for the purpose. Such a motion shall not be deemed carried +except by a majority of two-thirds of the Committee present. + +A resolution for the removal of a club must be confirmed at a subsequent +meeting of the Committee specially summoned at not less than seven days' +notice for the purpose. + +X.--The hon. sec. shall be elected by the Committee; he shall keep a +proper record of the proceedings of the Committee and of General +Meetings, and shall be responsible for the books, accounts, and funds of +the Association. + +XI.--No member of any club affiliated to the Association shall compete +in any regatta in England which is not held in accordance with the rules +of the Association. + +XII.--No addition to or alteration in these rules shall be made except +by the vote of a majority of two-thirds of a meeting of the Committee +specially summoned at not less than seven days' notice for the purpose. +Such notice shall state the alteration or addition proposed. + + +LIST OF AFFILIATED CLUBS. + +N.B.--The figures denote the number of votes to which each of the clubs +is entitled. + + (1) Albion Rowing Club. + (1) Anglian Boat Club. + (1) Ariel Rowing Club. + (1) Avon Rowing Club. + (1) Barry Amateur Rowing Club. + (1) Bedford Amateur Rowing Club. + (1) Bewdley Rowing Club. + (1) Birmingham Rowing Club. + (1) Bradford Amateur Rowing Club. + (1) Bridgnorth Rowing Club. + (1) Broxbourne Rowing Club. + (1) Burton Rowing Club. + (6) Cambridge University Boat Club. + (1) Cardiff Amateur Rowing Club. + (1) Cecilian Rowing Club. + (1) Cooper's Hill Boat Club. + (1) Gloucester Rowing Club. + (1) Henley Rowing Club. + (1) Irex Rowing Club. + (1) Iris Rowing Club. + (1) Ironbridge Rowing Club. + (1) Kensington Rowing Club. + (2) Kingston Rowing Club. + (6) Leander Club. + (1) Leicester Rowing Club. + (1) Liverpool Rowing Club. + (6) London Rowing Club. + (1) Marlow Rowing Club. + (1) Medway Rowing Club. + (1) Mersey Rowing Club. + (1) Molesey Boat Club. + (1) North London Boat Club. + (1) Nottingham Rowing Club. + (6) Oxford University Boat Club. + (1) Pembroke Rowing Club. + (2) Pengwern Boat Club. + (1) Reading Rowing Club. + (1) Redcliffe Rowing Club. + (2) Royal Chester Rowing Club. + (1) Royal Savoy Club. + (1) Staines Boat Club. + (1) Stourport Boat Club. + (5) Thames Rowing Club. + (1) Twickenham Rowing Club. + (1) Vesta Rowing Club. + (1) Warwick Boat Club. + (1) Worcester Rowing Club. + + +RULES FOR REGATTAS. + +I.--The laws of boat-racing adopted by the Association shall be +observed, and the Association's definition of an amateur shall govern +the qualifications of each competitor. + +II.--The Regatta Committee shall state on their programmes, and all +other official notices and advertisements, that their regatta is held in +accordance with the rules of the A.R.A. + +III.--No money or "value prize" (_i.e._ a cheque on a tradesman) shall +be offered for competition, nor shall a prize and money be offered as +alternatives. + +IV.--Entries shall close at least three clear days before the date of +the regatta. + +V.--No assumed name shall be given to the secretary of the regatta +unless accompanied by the real name of the competitor. + +VI.--No one shall enter twice for the same race. + +VII.--No official of the regatta shall divulge any entry, or report the +state of the entrance list, until such list be closed. + +VIII.--The Regatta Committee shall investigate any questionable entry +irrespective of protest, and shall have power to refuse or return any +entry up to the time of starting, without being bound to assign a +reason. + +IX.--The captain or secretary of each club or crew entered, shall, at +least three clear days before the regatta, deliver to the secretary of +the regatta a list containing the names of the actual crew appointed to +compete, to which list the names of not more than four other members for +an eight-oar, and two for a four-oar, may be added as substitutes. + +X.--No person may be substituted for another who has already rowed or +steered in a heat. + +XI.--The secretary of the regatta, after receiving the list of the crews +entered, and of the substitutes, shall, if required, furnish a copy of +the same, with the names, real and assumed, to the captain or secretary +of each club or crew entered, and, in the case of pairs or scullers, to +each competitor entered. + +XII.--Objections to the qualification of a competitor must be made in +writing to the secretary of the regatta at the earliest moment +practicable. No protest shall be entertained unless lodged before the +prizes are distributed. + +XIII.--The whole course must be completed by a competitor before he can +be held to have won a trial or final heat. + +XIV.--In the event of there being but one boat entered for any prize, or +if more than one enter and all withdraw but one, the crew of the +remaining boat must row over the course to be entitled to such prize. + +XV.--In the event of a dead heat taking place, any competitor refusing +to row again, as may be directed by the Regatta Committee, shall be +adjudged to have lost. + +XVI.--Every competitor must wear complete clothing from the shoulders to +the knees--including a sleeved jersey. + +XVII.--The Regatta Committee shall appoint one or more umpires. + +XVIII.--The Regatta Committee shall appoint one or more judges, whose +decision as to the order in which the boats pass the posts shall be +final. + +XIX.--A maiden oarsman is an oarsman (A) who has never won a race with +oars at a regatta; (B) who has never been a competitor in any +International or Inter-University Rowing Match. + +A maiden sculler is a sculler (A) who has never won a sculling race at a +regatta; (B) who has never competed for the Diamond Sculls at Henley, or +for the Amateur Championship of any country. + +XX.--A junior oarsman is an oarsman (A) who has never won a race with +oars at a regatta other than a school race; a race in which the +construction of the boats was restricted; or a race limited to members +of one club; (B) who has never been a competitor in any International or +Inter-University match. No oarsman who has won a race at a regatta in +which the construction of the boats was restricted, shall compete as a +junior in any such race after the end of the current year. + +A junior sculler is a sculler (A) who has never won a sculling race at a +regatta other than a race in which the construction of the boats was +restricted; or a race limited to members of one club; (B) who has never +competed for the Diamond Sculls at Henley, or for the Amateur +Championship of any country. + +N.B.--The qualification shall in every case relate to the day of the +regatta. + +XXI.--All questions not specially provided for shall be decided by the +Regatta Committee. + + +LAWS OF BOAT-RACING. + +I.--All boat races shall be started in the following manner:--The +starter on being satisfied that the competitors are ready, shall give +the signal to start. + +II.--A boat not at its post at the time specified, shall be liable to be +disqualified by the umpire. + +III.--The umpire may act as starter, or not, as he thinks fit; when he +does not so act, the starter shall be subject to the control of the +umpire. + +IV.--If the starter considers the start false, he shall at once recall +the boats to their stations, and any boat refusing to start again shall +be disqualified. + +V.--Each boat shall keep its own water throughout a race. A boat +departing from its own water will do so at its peril. + +VI.--A boat's own water is its due course, parallel with the course of +the other competing boat or boats, from the station assigned to it at +starting, to the finish. + +VII.--No fouling whatever shall be allowed; the boat or boats committing +a foul shall be disqualified. + +VIII.--It shall be considered a foul when, after a race has been +started, any competitor, by his oar, boat, or person, comes into contact +with the oar, boat, or person of another competitor; unless, in the +opinion of the umpire, such contact is so slight as not to influence the +race. + +IX.--A claim of foul must be made to the umpire or the judge by the +competitor himself before getting out of his boat. + +X.--In case of a foul the umpire shall have power-- + + (_a_) To place the boats not disqualified in the order in which they + come in. + + (_b_) To order the boats not disqualified to row again on the same + or another day. + + (_c_) To re-start the boats not disqualified according to his + discretion. + +XI.--The umpire shall be sole judge of a boat's own water and due course +during a race, and he may caution any competitor when in danger of +committing a foul. + +XII.--The umpire, when appealed to, shall decide all questions as to a +foul. + +XIII.--Every boat shall abide by its accidents, but if during a race a +boat shall be interfered with by any outside boat, the umpire shall have +power, if he thinks fit, to re-start the boats according to his +discretion, or to order them to row again on the same or another day. + +XIV.--No boat shall be allowed to accompany or follow any race for the +purpose of directing the course of any of the competitors. Any +competitor receiving any extraneous assistance may be disqualified, at +the discretion of the umpire. + +XV.--Boats shall be held to have completed the course when their bows +reach the winning post. + +XVI.--Any competitor refusing to abide by the decision of the umpire, or +to follow his directions, shall be disqualified. + +XVII.--The umpire, if he thinks proper, may reserve his decision, +provided that in every case such decision be given on the day of the +race. + +XVIII.--The jurisdiction of the umpire extends over a race and all +matters connected with it, from the time the race is specified to start +until its termination, and his decision in all cases shall be final and +without appeal. + + * * * * * + +A brief explanation of some points arising out of the Rules and +Regulations of the A.R.A. may be useful. + + +"PROFESSIONAL." + +Up to 1894 the A.R.A. gave a very wide interpretation to the term +"professional," which was held to include "any person not qualified as +an amateur under A.R.A. Rules." Mechanics, artisans, labourers, men +engaged in menial duty, or employed in manual labour for money or wages, +were, therefore, not merely disqualified as amateurs, but were +considered to be professionals, and competition against them for a prize +involved disqualification to the amateur so competing. In 1894, however, +the whole code of A.R.A. was submitted to the revision of a +sub-committee, and their report, subsequently adopted by the full +committee, laid it down that from this time on the word "professional" +must be interpreted "in its primary and literal sense," _i.e._ one who +makes money by rowing, sculling, or steering. An amateur rowing, or +sculling, or steering with or against a professional for a prize is +still disqualified, but the amateur status of one who rows or steers +with or against mechanics, artisans, etc. (provided, of course, the +race is not for a stake, money, or entrance fee), is not affected. At +the same time it must be remembered (Rule I of Rules for Regattas) that +at regattas held in accordance with A.R.A. rules no mechanic, artisan, +etc., can be admitted to compete, and by Clause XI. of the Constitution +no member of any club affiliated to the A.R.A. is permitted to compete +at a regatta not held in accordance with A.R.A. rules. The result would +seem to be, therefore, that whereas an amateur who is not a member of a +club affiliated to the A.R.A. can compete against mechanics, artisans, +etc., at a regatta not held in accordance with A.R.A. rules without +incurring any penalty, a member of a club affiliated to the A.R.A. can +compete against this class only in a private match. Any member of an +affiliated club transgressing Clause XI. would unquestionably render +himself liable to suspension under Clause VIII. of the Constitution. +There are now, therefore, three classes of oarsmen, viz. amateurs, +non-amateurs, and professionals. + + +NON-AMATEURS. + +The A.R.A. holds that "apprenticeship is no disqualification." Nobody, +therefore, is to be disqualified for serving an apprenticeship, even if +it involves (as in the case of engineers or nurserymen) manual labour +for a money payment. But such manual labour on the part of one who has +passed through his ordinary apprenticeship and still continues at the +work for a year or two would disqualify. + +The committee has held that disqualification attaches, for instance, +to-- + +(1) A watchmaker's assistant who works, or has worked, at the bench. + +(2) A baker's assistant who not only helps to make bread, but also +delivers it. + +(3) Engravers and etchers. + +(4) A man having an interest in a boat-letting business, _and_ taking in +or starting boats at a raft. + +But not to-- + +(5) A 3rd engineer, sea-going, who goes to sea and works for money, +where such sea-service it necessary to qualify him for passing his +examinations for the position of chief engineer. + +(6) A draughtsman in an engineering firm, though working for wages. + +Decisions 3 and 6 are not easily to be reconciled. + + +REGATTA. JUNIOR OARSMEN AND SCULLERS. + +Doubts have occasionally arisen as to what is the correct meaning of the +word "Regatta" in Clause XI. of the Constitution, and in Rules 19 and 20 +of the Rules for Regattas. The committee has held that any meeting, +whether or not called open, at which more than one club, or members of +more than one club, compete, is a regatta. This decision does not cover +a private match, but does cover a regatta where, for instance, the +competition is limited to certain clubs, specially invited by the club +or committee who arrange and manage the regatta. Thus, if a junior +competed and won, either as an oarsman or sculler, at a regatta limited, +say, to members of the London, Kingston, and Thames Rowing Clubs, he +would by so winning cease to be a junior, provided the race was neither +a school race nor one in which the construction of the boats was +restricted. + +The committee has decided that a man who rows over for a junior sculls +race, even though he receive no prize (the committee not awarding one in +any race in which there was only one starter), ceases to be a junior +sculler. + +A junior sculler may be a senior oarsman, and _vice vers[^a]_. + + + + +EXTRACTS FROM THE RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY BOAT +CLUB. + + +LAWS OF THE CLUB. + +I.--That the CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY BOAT CLUB consist of the members of +the several boat clubs in the University. + +II.--That the affairs of the club be under the management of a +president, a vice-president (who shall also be hon. secretary), a +treasurer, the captains of all boats rowing in the regular University +races, and all those who have been members of the University crew. The +president and vice-president shall be elected at the first meeting in +each term, and those only to be eligible who shall have been members of +a University crew. The treasurer shall be a resident graduate of the +University, to be elected annually at the first meeting of the Easter +Term. + +III.--That to assist the officers in case of extraordinary and pressing +business, a small committee be formed, consisting of the president, +vice-president, treasurer, and three extra committee-men, who shall be +elected at the last meeting of the C.U.B.C. in each term. That members +of the Committee shall have the right of attending meetings of the +C.U.B.C. and voting at the same. That at meetings of the committee all +except the treasurer must be present in person or by deputy. The +treasurer must attend all meetings of the committee on financial +questions. + + . . . . . . + +VIII.--That all cases of dispute be referred to the president or his +deputy, and the four first-boat captains, in residence, of the clubs in +their order on the river who are not concerned in the dispute: whose +decision shall be final. That representatives of the clubs concerned be +present at the meeting. + + . . . . . . + +XVIII.--That the secretary of each boat club do send in to the +assistant-secretary of the C.U.B.C. a balance-sheet of the receipts and +expenditure of his club for the past year, within three weeks of the +beginning of the October Term. That the penalty for neglecting this Rule +be one guinea. + +XIX.--That every club do pay to the C.U.B.C. a subscription in +proportion to its receipts for the previous year. + +XX.--That the rate per cent. of this tax be fixed by the treasurer of +the C.U.B.C., and, when confirmed by the Finance Committee, levied in +three equal instalments. + +XXI.--That all moneys, however obtained, be included in the receipts of +a College boat club, except such as are specially subscribed towards the +expenses of a crew going to Henley. + +XXII.--That any club neglecting to pay the subscriptions or arrears due +to the C.U.B.C. within six weeks of the beginning of full term be fined +one guinea; and that no captain be allowed to vote whose club is in +arrear. + +XXIII.--That medals be given by the C.U.B.C. to each member of such +University crews as shall be winners of the University match with +Oxford. Also to each member of those College crews which shall be head +of the river at the end of the Lent and Easter Term races; and to each +member of the Trial Eights. + + . . . . . . + +XXVI.--That all boats, except tub-pairs, used for coaching purposes be +obliged to carry an india-rubber ball fixed to the nose of the boat. +That the penalty for neglecting this Rule be one guinea. + + +REGULATIONS FOR BOAT-RACING. + +I.--That none but members of the C.U.B.C. be allowed to row or steer in +the C.U.B.C. races. + +II.--That there be regular eight-oared races in the Easter and Lent +Terms, and that the days on which they shall take place and the number +of races be appointed and declared at the last general meeting of the +preceding term respectively. That in these races two umpires be +appointed by the president or his deputy; that in all other C.U.B.C. +races one umpire be appointed. + +III.--That the number of boats be limited in the Easter Term to thirty, +rowing in two divisions of fifteen and sixteen respectively, including +the sandwich boat, and in the Lent Term to thirty-one, rowing in two +divisions of sixteen each, including the sandwich boat. + +IV.--(1) That in the Lent and Easter Terms the two divisions be named +respectively first and second division. That in the Lent Term both +divisions shall row in clinker-built boats not more than 57 feet long, +with not less than five streaks on a side, none of which shall exceed +4-1/2 inches (outside measurement). All such boats must be passed by the +president and secretary of the C.U.B.C. before they can be used in the +races. That in the Easter Term the first division shall row in racing +ships on sliding seats, and the second division in clinker-built boats, +as above, and sliding seats. + +(2) That every college boat club have the right to be represented by at +least one boat in the Lent races; and by at least one, and not more than +three, in the May races. + +V.--That during the races no person shall row or steer in both divisions +(the crews of the last boats in a division excepted), except under +peculiar circumstances, to be decided by the president or his deputy and +the four senior captains in residence who are not concerned, which +decision must be obtained before the crew or crews in question be +allowed to start. + +VI.--In the races in the Lent Term no one be allowed to row or steer who +rowed or steered respectively in any race of the previous Easter Term. + +VII.--That no one be allowed to row in the Lent or May races, or Fours +or Pairs, after more than four years have elapsed from the first term he +came up, unless he keep in residence three-fourths of the term in which +he desires to row. + +VIII.--That each crew be chosen from one club and college in the case of +Trinity and St. John's, and from not more than two clubs or two colleges +in the case of other colleges; and that the crew of the two colleges +joining be considered as a fresh one, and start from the bottom. + +IX.--That in order to take a boat off the river the captain must give +notice to the hon. secretary of the C.U.B.C., who shall place lists of +the boats entered for the races, arranged according to their order, in +the different University boat-houses, at least a week before the +commencement of races in each term, and on every race day during the +term. + +X.--(1) That in the Easter Term any club desirous of putting on a second +or third boat shall have the right to challenge the lowest +non-representative boat to a bumping-race, but if successful shall start +at the bottom of the river. That if there be more challenging crews than +one, they shall row a time race amongst themselves, and the winner shall +row the challenged boat. That the entrance fee for such races be five +guineas; that the date for them be fixed at the first general meeting +of the term, and that at least ten clear days' notice be given to the +secretary of the C.U.B.C. by the captains of crews desirous to compete. + +(2) That no man who has rowed in the successful challenging boat shall +row in a higher boat during the following May races, except as in +Chapter III., rule 7. + +XI.--That the boats row down to their stations in reversed order, the +last boat of each division starting first. + +XII.--That on racing days in the Lent Term a gun be fired at the Railway +Bridge, at 3 p.m., as a signal for the last boat of the second division +to row down; at 3.15 p.m. for the first boat of the division; and a +third at 4 p.m. for the first boat of the first division. That in the +Easter Term corresponding signals be fired for the second and first +division boats at 5, 5.15, and 6.15 p.m. respectively. That boats +starting late be fined one guinea. + +That at the close of each race of the second division in the Lent Term, +and of the second division in the Easter Term, a gun be fired at the +Bridge; and that until this gun be fired no boat of the other racing +division shall pass below the Ash Plantation under penalty of one +guinea. That the umpire be responsible for the punctual firing of these +guns. That any racing boat, leaving so late as to be obliged to pass the +first boat of its division below Ditton Corner, be fined one guinea by +the captain of the latter on behalf of the C.U.B.C. That the captain of +the first boat starting late, or neglecting to act as this rule directs, +be fined one guinea. + +XIII.--That the races be bumping races, and the starting posts be 175 +feet apart. That the last post be at Baitsbite-lock, and the +winning-posts at the Big Horse-grind and the first ditch above the +Railway Bridge. + +XIV.--That the first seven boats in all divisions be obliged to go up to +the further post at the Big Horse-grind, and the other boats be obliged +to stop at the nearer post at the first ditch above the Railway Bridge; +also that the eighth boats have the option of stopping at the nearer or +going on to the further post. + +XV.--That each boat start with the coxswain holding a line 36 feet in +length attached to its post (or, if he by chance lose the line, with No. +7's rowlock opposite the post); that otherwise it cannot make a bump, +but is subject to be bumped and to be fined one guinea. + +XVI.--That if a boat miss a race, the boat behind it shall row past its +post and be allowed the bump, and that the boat missing the race be +fined one guinea. + +XVII.--That the boats be started by three guns: the first gun shall be +fired when the head boat shall have arrived at its post, the order being +given by the captain of that boat; the second gun three minutes after +the first, and the last gun one minute after the second. + +XVIII.--That a boat be considered fairly bumped when it is touched by +any part of the boat behind it, before its stern is past the +winning-post; passing a boat being equivalent to a bump, providing the +passing boat draw its whole length in advance. (The word boat includes +the ship, crew, and oars, if in rowlock). That the coxswain of a boat so +bumped shall immediately acknowledge the bump by holding up his hand, +and that the crew making the bump immediately cease rowing; that any +crew neglecting this rule be fined one guinea. + +XIX.--That when one boat bumps another, both shall immediately draw +aside till the racing boats have passed; that the last boat carry a +white flag in the bows; that any boat neglecting this rule be fined one +guinea. + +XX.--That if one boat bumps another they exchange places, whatever may +have been their position before starting. That any boat making a bump +may row up after the race with its flag hoisted; as also the boat rowing +head. + +XXI.--That in order to claim a bump, the captain, on arriving at the +Goldie Boat-house, must bracket the bump, state where it took place, and +sign his name on the secretary's list; if the bump be not bracketed he +shall be fined one guinea, but that the bumps shall, on sufficient +evidence, be allowed; and that no bumps can be claimed after six o'clock +in the Lent Term, or after nine in the Easter Term, or disputed after +nine on the following morning. + +XXII.--That all cases of disputed bumps be referred to the president, or +his deputy, and the four first-boat captains, in residence, of the clubs +in their order on the river who are not concerned in the dispute, whose +decision shall be final; and who shall have the power, in all doubtful +cases, of causing the boats concerned to row the race again, starting +from their original posts; and that there be representatives at the +meeting of the clubs interested in the dispute. + + . . . . . . + +XXV.--That watermen be allowed to coach members of College boats in +tub-pairs only till within a fortnight of the first day of the races. + + . . . . . . + +XXVII.--That breaches of Regulations issued by the officers of the +C.U.B.C. be liable to a fine of one guinea. + + +LENT TERM RACES AND TIME RACES. + +I.--That all clubs wishing to put another boat on the river must enter +such boat with the secretary of the C.U.B.C. on or before a date to be +appointed by him at the beginning of the Lent Term. + +Entrance fee, three guineas, to be paid at the time of entry. + +II.--That the Rules for these races be the same as those for the +"Getting-on" races in the Easter Term, and that the races be under the +management of the C.U.B.C. or their deputies [see chapter II., rule 10 +(1)]. + +III.--That no first boat of a club be obliged to row for its place. + +IV.--That these races be rowed on days preceding the Lent races. + +V.--That no man shall row in these time races (1) who has rowed on any +night of the previous May races, or (2) who does not comply with Chapter +II., rule 7. + +VI.--That no man who has rowed in the successful boat or boats during +these trial time-races shall row in a higher boat in the following Lent +races, except under peculiar circumstances, to be decided upon by the +president, or his deputy, and the four senior captains in residence who +are not concerned. + +VII.--That when more than two boats start in a heat to race for getting +on the river, such heat be started by three guns: the first gun to be +fired when the last boat to come down shall have arrived at its post, +the order being given by the umpire; the second gun three minutes after +the first, and the last one minute after the second. That chains 36 feet +in length be provided 100 yards apart. That each boat start with the +coxswain holding the chain allotted to it (or, if he by chance lose the +chain, with No. 7's rowlock opposite the post), that otherwise it is +liable to be disqualified. + +VIII.--That in time races, under the management of the C.U.B.C., the +pistols at the winning-posts be fired by University men, who shall be +called on to do so in the following order:-- + +The president, secretary, and committee of the C.U.B.C.; then the first +captain of the boats in their order on the river, or deputies from their +own clubs; provided that no one of the same club as any of the +competitors shall fire a pistol in any race in which such competitor of +his own club is rowing; and that no one need, by reason of this rule, +refuse to umpire. And that to prevent all difficulties of a pistol +missing fire, a second person be appointed by the President or his +deputy to stand at each winning-post and hold up a white flag, which +shall be dropped the moment that the nose of the boat passes the post. + +IX.--That in time races no boat draw more than one bye. + +X.--That if in any time race any boat touch any part of, or pass on the +course, or be in any way inconvenienced by any boat in front of it, and +the boat so touching, passing, or being inconvenienced, shall not come +to its post first in order, such boat shall be allowed to start in the +following day's race, whether the same would otherwise have been a final +or a trial heat, and shall start on the same footing as regards drawing +for stations, etc., as the other boats left in. + +Or the boat so impeded shall row again with the boat coming in first. + + +RULES FOR THE UNIVERSITY CLINKER FOURS. + +I.--That the University Clinker-built Fours be rowed as time races over +the Colquhoun course. + +II.--That the race be open to crews from any club, such crews to be +composed solely of men who did not row in the first division of the +previous May races. + +III.--That no "Blue" be allowed to compete. + +IV.--That the coxswains must be members of the clubs they steer, and +must weigh not less than 7st. 7lbs. + +V.--The definition of a clinker boat is as follows:--That no boat have +less than five streaks on a side, none of which shall exceed 4-1/2 +inches (outside measurement). All such boats must be passed by the +president and secretary of the C.U.B.C. at least one week before the +commencement of the races. + +VI.--That the entrance money for each boat be one guinea. + + +LAWS OF THE MAGDALENE SILVER PAIR-OARS AND UNIVERSITY PRESENTATION CUPS. + +I.--That watermen be allowed to coach and steer for these races. + + . . . . . . + +IV.--That any member qualified to pull in the C.U.B.C. races be +qualified to start for these oars. + +V.--That the crews need not consist of members of one club. + +VI.--That no winning pair be allowed to enter together a second time. + + +REGULATIONS OF THE "COLQUHOUN SILVER SCULLS." + +III. That only those members of the C.U.B.C. who have not exceeded five +years from the date of their first commencing residence be allowed to +start, on complying with the terms herein specified. + + +EXTRACTS FROM THE RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY BOAT +CLUB. + + +GENERAL RULES. + +I.--That the club be open to all members of the University on the +following conditions:-- + +II.--That any graduate of the University by paying two pounds, or any +undergraduate by paying three pounds ten shillings, may become a life +member. + +III.--That any member of the University by paying one pound may become a +member for one term, not being thereby qualified to row or steer in any +of the University races unless he has paid four such terminal +subscriptions. + +IV.--That the subscription must be paid before the admission to the +club. + +V.--That this club is affiliated to the Amateur Rowing Association, and +that members are therefore bound to observe the A.R.A. rules. + + . . . . . . + +VII.--That the officers of the club consist of president, secretary, and +treasurer; who, with two other members of the club, shall form a +committee. + +VIII.--That no member who is not strictly residing be on the committee. + +IX.--That the president, secretary, treasurer, and committee be elected +by the captains of College boat clubs, or their representatives. + +X.--That the election of the president and secretary take place at the +first captains' meeting in the Summer Term, that of the treasurer and +the other members of the committee at the first meeting in the October +Term. + +XI.--That the president have the entire supervision of the property of +the club; that he preside over all captains' meetings; have the sole +selection and management of all University crews, and that he have +absolute authority and entire responsibility in all matters immediately +concerning the University boat; that he have charge of the president's +book, and make such records in it as shall be interesting and useful to +the future of the club; and that he keep the official records of all +University races. + + . . . . . . + +XXV.--That if Henley Regatta do not take place at such a date in +relation to Commemoration Day as is convenient to the O.U.B.C., the club +reserves to itself the right of withdrawing its subscription. + +XXVI.--That the racing boat last purchased be not let or sold under any +circumstances whatever. + + +RULES FOR RACES. + +I.--That all future members of the O.U.B.C. shall show a certificate of +having passed a satisfactory swimming test before being allowed to row +in University races. + +II.--That such certificate be either (1) that of some public school +approved by the committee, or (2) a certificate from Dolley's Baths, +signed by the bathman, and countersigned by the captain of the College +boat club. + +III.--That any College boat club rowing a member who has obtained a +certificate unfairly shall be fined five pounds, and lose one place on +the river for each night on which he has rowed. + +IV.--That each college shall have its own punt and waterman during the +races. + +V.--That the captain of each boat club shall, so far as possible, fix +upon the maximum number which his punt is able to carry, and that this +number shall in no case exceed twelve, and that the fine for +overcrowding be five shillings. + +VI.--That each barge shall be furnished with two lifebuoys. + +VII.--That the bows of all racing Eights and Fours, both keel-less and +clinker-built, and of all racing pair-oars and sculling boats be +protected by an india-rubber ball, and the penalty for violation of this +rule be, in the case of Eights and Fours, one pound; in the case of all +other boats, ten shillings. + +VIII.--That all Challenge Cups which are the property of the O.U.B.C. +shall either be taken home by the captain of the boat club which holds +them, or be deposited at Rowell and Harris's during the vacation. + + +THE EIGHTS AND TORPIDS. + +I.--That all gentlemen rowing or steering in the races must be life +members of the O.U.B.C. + +II.--That no boat be allowed to start in the races with more or less +than eight oars. + +III.--That all boats starting in the races carry a coxswain over the +whole course. + +IV.--That the names of the crews be sent to the treasurer at least one +day before the races begin, and that afterwards no change can be made, +unless notice is given to the president at least one hour before the +races begin, under a penalty of one pound. + +V.--That every club neglecting to send in the names of its crew to the +treasurer, and pay the entrance money, five pounds, into the Old Bank, +on or before the day previous to the first race in which they intend to +row, shall forfeit five shillings; and that every club entering a boat +after the races have begun shall pay one pound for every night of the +races on which it has not had a boat on. + +VI.--That no club start a boat in the races till all its arrears are +paid, whether of fines, entrance money, or annual subscription. + +VII.--That no crew be allowed to start in the races which shall have +employed any waterman in capacity of coach or trainer within three weeks +of the first race. + +VIII.--That no college be allowed to enter more than one boat for the +Eights, unless it has had on a Torpid in the same year. + +IX.--That each boat start from a rope held by the steerer, and fastened +to a post on the Berkshire shore; the rope to be 50 feet in length. + +X.--That the last boat be stationed above Iffley Lasher; and that 130 +feet be the distance between the posts. + +XI.--That the boats entered for the races be divided as equally as +possible, and row in two divisions; that the second division row first, +and never contain fewer boats than the first division; that the head +boat of the second division may row again with first division; and that +the last boat of the first division start head of the second division on +the following day. + +XII.--That the president provide a starter, who shall fire a signal gun +for the boats to take their places; after four minutes another gun; and +after the interval of one minute another gun for the start; after the +third gun the race be always held to have begun. + +XIII.--That any boat starting before the gun goes off do lose a place +forthwith. + +XIV.--That when a boat touches the boat or any part of the boat before +it, or its oars or rudder, it be considered a bump; and also if a boat +rows clean by another it be equivalent to a bump. + +XV.--That both the boat which bumps and the boat which is bumped +immediately row out of the course of the other racing boats; and in case +any obstruction be caused by culpable neglect of this, the offending +boat be fined five pounds. + +XVI.--That after every bump the boat bumping change places with the boat +bumped, whatever be their orders before starting; also in a bumping race +no boat can make more than one bump, but of four boats, A, B, C, D, +should B bump C, then A may bump D, and the next race A and D change +places with each other. + +XVII.--That in the case of any boat not starting, the boat immediately +behind them do row past their starting-post and be considered to have +bumped the other boat. + +XVIII.--That all boats stand by their accidents; and that, in case of +dispute, boats must take the place assigned them by the committee. + +XIX.--That an umpire be appointed by the first six colleges of each +division in rotation, who shall sit and vote on the committee to decide +disputes on the day on which he is in authority. + +XX.--That the races finish at the lower of the white posts to which +Salter's barge is moored, on which a flag is to be hoisted, and that a +boat is liable to be bumped till every part of it has passed that post, +and that a judge be appointed by the president. + +XXI.--That if any boat after passing the post impedes another which has +not passed the post, it be fined five pounds. + + . . . . . . + +XXVI.--That all disputes concerning bumps, etc., arising out of the +races, be referred to the committee on the day of the race, who shall +decide the point before the next race. + + . . . . . . + +XXVIII.--That the College races take place in Easter or Act Term, and be +six in number. + +XXIX.--That no non-resident member of the University may either row or +steer in the races, unless he has resided in Oxford at least ten +consecutive days before the races commence. That this rule apply to all +University races, viz. Eights, Torpids, Fours, Pairs, and Sculls. + +XXX.--That no one may be allowed to row or steer in the races for a +college or hall of which he is not a _bon[^a] fide_ member. + +XXXI.--That a man may be held to have rowed or steered in the Eights or +Torpids when he has so officiated for three days. + + +TORPID RACES--SPECIAL RULES. + +That the Torpid races be regulated by the above rules as far as they are +applicable: but + +(1) That the races take place in the Lent Term, and be six in number. + +(2) That no one who has rowed or steered in the Eights may officiate in +the same capacity in the next Torpid races. + +(3) That no one be allowed to row in his Torpid who has exceeded sixteen +terms from his Matriculation. + +(4) That unless a college has had an Eight on the river more than three +nights during the previous year, it be not permitted to start a Torpid, +unless it engage to put on a distinct Eight in the ensuing Eights. + +That in this case the distinct Eight + + (_a_) do contain five men, at least, who have not rowed in the + Torpids. + + (_b_) be compelled to row more than three nights, under penalty of + [L]10. + +(5) That the committee have power to relax this rule at their discretion +in the case of boats in the second division. + +(6) That these races be rowed in gig boats, of the specified mould, +measuring inside at the gunwale not less than 2ft. 2in., clinker-built +of not less than 5 streaks. + +(7) That the distance between the starting-posts be 160 feet. + +(8) That no Torpid be allowed to use sliding seats. + +(9) That if more than twenty-five Torpids enter, the races shall be in +three divisions; the boats to be divided as equally as possible, so that +a higher division shall not contain more boats than a lower one. + + +FOUR-OAR CHALLENGE CUP. + +I.--That the Cup be open for competition to members of any one college +or hall who have not exceeded eighteen terms from their Matriculation. + +II.--That the race take place annually, in the Michaelmas Term. + + . . . . . . + +VII.--That no crew be allowed to start which has had any waterman in the +capacity of "coach" or trainer within three weeks of the first race. + + +CLINKER FOURS RACE. + +I.--That the race be called the "Clinker Fours" race. + +II.--That the race take place annually in the Lent Term. + +III.--That it should be open for competition to members of any college +or hall who have not exceeded eighteen terms from their Matriculation, +and who have not rowed either in the University Race at Putney, or the +Trials, or rowed in a College Eight which finished in the upper division +of the summer races in the previous year, sandwich boat reckoning as +Second Division. + +IV.--That the race shall be rowed in keeled clinker-built boats with +slides of not more than 12 inches, having not less than 5 streaks in +each side, exclusive of saxe-board. The streaks shall not be more than +4-1/4 inches in breadth. The maximum inside width of each boat shall not +be less than 24 inches, measured on the top of the gunwale. No +batswings, false outriggers, splayed-boards, or other device will be +allowed to take the place of saxe-boards, and the committee of the +O.U.B.C. reserve the right of determining in each instance whether these +conditions have been fairly carried out or not. + +V.--That no boat be allowed to start with more or less than four oars +and a coxswain. + +VI.--That no crew be allowed to start which has had any waterman in the +capacity of "coach" or trainer. + + +RULES FOR THE UNIVERSITY TRIAL EIGHT RACE. + +I.--That the race be called the "University Trial Eight Race." + +II.--That the race take place in Michaelmas Term, and subsequent to that +for the Four-Oared Challenge Cup. + +III.--That the crews be selected by the president. + +IV.--That the crews be in practice not less than twelve days. + +V.--That each member of the two crews pay ten shillings entrance money. + +VI.--That a silver medal be presented to each of the winning crew. + +VII.--That any member of the two crews who refuses to row in the +University Eight if called upon to do so, be suspended by the committee +from rowing in any University race till the end of the Summer Term, +unless he shows reasonable grounds for refusal. + + +PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES. + + * * * * * + + + + _November, 1897._ + + NEW & RECENT + BOOKS PUBLISHED + BY + A. 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COLERIDGE and HELEN SHIPTON. + +Ravenstone. + + Crown 8vo, cloth, 6_s._ + +"The love interest of 'Ravenstone' is twofold, and is admirably +sustained throughout this bright, vigorous, and refreshing +story."--_Daily Telegraph._ + + + By X. L., Author of "Aut Diabolus aut Nihil." + +The Limb. + + Crown 8vo, cloth, 6_s._ + +MR. GLADSTONE writes: "Pray accept my thanks.... I was so imprudent as +to read it at once, and since that act have found great difficulty in +laying it down." + +"'The Limb' is unquestionably one of the most fascinating books of the +season."--_Birmingham Daily Gazette._ + + By ROMA WHITE. + +A Stolen Mask. + + Crown 8vo, cloth, 6_s._ + +"A capital story, and Mrs. Roma White tells it with a delicate humour +and a spontaneous brilliancy as rare as they are delightful. 'A Stolen +Mask' is a novel that stands high above the average, and can be strongly +recommended. It is a long time since we have come across anything so +thoroughly fresh and bright."--_Pall Mall Gazette._ + + + By FRANCIS GRIBBLE. + +The Things that Matter. + + Crown 8vo, cloth, 6_s._ + +"Is an extremely psychological study."--_Times._ + +"It is a very amusing novel, full of bright satire directed against the +new woman and similar objects."--_Speaker._ + + + By G. B. BURGIN. + +The Judge of the Four Corners. + + Crown 8vo, cloth, 6_s._ + +"A delightfully humorous sketch, full of the purest fun, and +irresistibly laughable."--_Saturday Review._ + + + By EDEN PHILLPOTTS. + +My Laughing Philosopher. + + Illustrated by GEORGE HUTCHINSON. Crown 8vo, cloth, 6_s._ + +"We commend to the notice of any one wanting a good laugh 'My Laughing +Philosopher,' whose varied character-sketches amply prove Mr. Eden +Phillpotts to be endowed with those two excellent gifts of humour and +imagination."--_Spectator._ + +"The book will be welcome to every one who likes a book from which a man +can get a good laugh."--_Scotsman._ + + + By LESLIE KEITH, Author of "The Chilcotes," "'Lisbeth," etc. + +For Love of Prue. + + Crown 8vo, cloth, 6_s._ + +"Plot and incident in this present story are alike remarkable ... +altogether we heartily commend 'For Love of Prue' as a sensible, +humorous, and thoroughly wholesome book."--_Speaker._ + + + By DOROTHEA GERARD. + +Lot 13. + + Crown 8vo, cloth, 6_s._ + +"A bright, buoyant, and bustling story, with plenty of local colour +derived from the scenery and the society, black and white, of a West +Indian plantation."--_Times._ + + + By the late Mrs. J. K. SPENDER, Author of "Thirteen Doctors," etc. + +The Wooing of Doris. + + Crown 8vo, cloth, 6_s._ + +"Has much to commend it to novel-readers. A clever plot: well-drawn +characters--such are the leading features of a novel by which the +reputation of its much-regretted writer is fully sustained to the +last."--_World._ + + + By J. C. SNAITH. + +Mistress Dorothy Marvin. + + A Romance of the Glorious Revolution. + + Illustrated by S. COWELL. Crown 8vo, cloth, 6_s._ + +"The author has succeeded in making his story intensely interesting.... +One of the very best adventure stories we have had for a long time +past."--_Speaker._ + +"'Mistress Dorothy Marvin,' most delightful and winsome of women, and +one of the freshest and most unhackneyed heroines whose acquaintance we +have had the pleasure of making for a very considerable period.... Mr. +Snaith has a great gift of observation, and his book is a remarkable +picture of the age it is intended to depict."--_World._ + + + By STANLEY WEYMAN. + +My Lady Rotha. + + A Romance of the Thirty Years' War. + + Illustrated by JOHN WILLIAMSON. Crown 8vo, cloth, 6_s._ + +"No one who begins it will lay it down before the end, it is so +extremely well carried on from adventure to adventure."--_Saturday +Review._ + + + By FRANK BARRETT, Author of "The Admirable Lady Biddy Fane." + +A Set of Rogues. + + A Romance of the Seventeenth Century. + + Illustrated by S. COWELL. Crown 8vo, cloth, 6_s._ + +"He has related the adventures of a set of rogues ... with so pleasant a +tongue and in such attractive fashion that it impossible for mere flesh +and blood to resist them. His set of rogues have won our entire +sympathy, and his narrative our hearty approval."--_Pall Mall Gazette._ + +"Another capital story.... Strongly recommended. Stirring tale this, +without a dull chapter in it, and just enough human sentiment in it to +soften down the roguery.... Let the honest reader procure the +book."--_Punch._ + + * * * * * + + SCARLET NOVELS. + A SERIES OF POPULAR NOVELS BY WELL-KNOWN AUTHORS. + _Crown 8vo, uniform scarlet cloth, 3s. 6d. each Volume._ + + +ANTHONY HOPE'S SOCIETY NOVELS. + +Comedies of Courtship. + +"He is undeniably gay in the best sense of the word, now and then almost +rollicking. An admirable example of what we mean by gaiety in fictional +literature."--_Daily Telegraph._ + + +Half a Hero. + +"The book is delightful to read, and an excellent piece of +work."--_Standard._ + + +Mr. Witt's Widow. + +"A brilliant little tale.... Exhibits unborrowed ingenuity, +plausibility, and fertility in surprises."--_Times._ + + * * * * * + + By MAX PEMBERTON. + +A Gentleman's Gentleman. + +"This is very much the best book that Mr. Max Pemberton has so far given +us."--_Daily Chronicle._ + + + By RICHARD PRYCE. + +The Burden of a Woman. + +"The conception and execution of this interesting story are excellent. A +book to read and remember with pleasure."--_Lady's Pictorial._ + + + By C. R. COLERIDGE. + +Amethyst. + +"Extremely amusing, interesting, and brightly written."--_Guardian._ + + + By F. FRANKFORT MOORE. + +Two in the Bush and Others Elsewhere. + +"Carry the reader on from page to page till criticism is forgotten in +enjoyment."--_Daily Graphic._ + + + By ROMA WHITE. + +Punchinello's Romance. + +"We give Roma White the warmest of welcomes into the world of +fiction.... Admirably and irresistibly comic, without anything in the +nature of force or even of apparent exaggeration, ready at the least +moment to run into equally true pathos."--_Graphic._ + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's Notes + +There is some text missing between Page 64 and Page 65: the beginning of +paragraph (4) with an opening quotation mark is missing, as shown by +'[(4) "...]'. ([(4) "...] Watch the bodies in front of you as they move, +and mould yourself on their movement.") + + +Factual errors were noted as follows: + +Page 273: Reference to "Minneapolis" instead of "Annapolis" (The United +States Naval Academy at Minneapolis ...) + + +Changes to the text are as follows: + +Title page: added comma after "C. M. PITMAN" ( ... C. M. PITMAN, W. E. +CRUM, AND E. G. BLACKMORE) + +Page xii: added missing line in the List of Illustrations (LENT RACES IN +THE PLOUGH REACH 200) + +Plate "Henley Regatta" originally facing page 157: changed "Heart fo" to +"Heat for" (A Heat for the Diamonds.) + +Page 258: changed "Warnambool" to "Warrnambool" (Important meetings are +also held at Ballarat, Geelong, Warrnambool, Bairnsdale, ...) + +Page 339: changed "captain's" to "captains'" ( ... at the first +captains' meeting ...) + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Rowing, by Rudolf Chambers Lehmann + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROWING *** + +***** This file should be named 34950.txt or 34950.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/9/5/34950/ + +Produced by Simon Gardner, Chris Curnow and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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