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.