Rowing club

“ 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 [Pg 113] molly-coddling, than to run the risk of losing a valuable oar out of the crew through one's own quackery. ”

“ Nor do the leading amateur tideway clubs allow their juniors to race on them in club matches. If we are to educate a new generation of professional talent, we must do so on the same general principle that we teach our junior amateurs in rowing clubs.
Since the date of Hanlan’s invasion of Britain, British scullers have not been in the hunt for champion competitions. Such champion racing as has taken place has been confined to Canadians, Americans, or Australians. ”

“ It is the custom for the Oxford crew to use the London Rowing Club boat-house, while the Cambridge men are accommodated at the Leander Club next door, and there is accordingly a good crowd in front of each at practice times, eager to see the men on whose prowess their own modest half-crowns are staked. ”

“ The modern strong and first class clubs turn out one junior crew after another in the season; so that batch after batch of juniors are thus taken in hand, and competently coached during the season. Besides regatta rowing, there are club contests, and these are to be found in even greater abundance and variety under the management of the leading clubs, and afford more scope for rising oarsmen, than ever was the case in the expiring and expired minor clubs. ”

“ In the previous year, after their victory in London, the Oxford boat had gone to Henley, but had withdrawn, in consequence of a decision of the stewards, allowing a man to row in the Cambridge crew who had already rowed in a previous heat, in another boat. So the cup remained in the possession of the Cambridge Rooms, a London rowing club, composed of men who had left college, and of the best oarsmen still at the University. If the Cambridge Rooms could hold the challenge cup this year also, it would become [69] their property. ”

“ 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. 61⁄2 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. [Pg 71]
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. ”

“ Their one ambition is to race, and to run before they can decently walk. Hence they do not go through the school of fixed-seat rowing before they graduate on sliders, and they have no instructors, nor will they listen to advice.
Amateurs, on the other hand, belong as a rule to clubs; and all clubs of any prestige coach their juniors carefully, and lay down rules for their improvement. Two very usual club rules are, that juniors shall not begin by racing in keelless crank boats, but in steady ‘tub’-built craft. No such control exists over junior professionals ”

“ 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; [Pg 336] and that no one need, by reason of this rule, refuse to umpire. ”

“ 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 [Pg 278] 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ We are rather short of instructors in the art of rowing, but we shall do as well as we can. I will take the port quarter-boat, and Dory will go in the starboard.”
“The Goldwing Club know how to row,” suggested Dory. “They can do all that I can, though that isn’t much.”
The captain admitted that they could row very well, for he had seen them do it; and he appointed the other four members of the club as coxswains of the remaining boats. ”

“ In 1839 the University Boat Club was started, and the great Oxford school of rowing shot up to overshadow the older faculties. Before this time college racing had begun on the admirable bumping system, that not only makes the race a prolonged spectacle for those who stand still to see, but allows of so much spirit of body in those who run by their college boat. At first the boats started out of Iffley Lock. The stroke of each boat, as its turn came, ran down the thwarts pushing out, and the next boat followed as soon as he cleared the lock. ”

“ 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. ”

“ When once the “gentleman amateur,” as he was called, appeared, his evolution, from the sportsman who occasionally rowed a match against a friend, or against time, for a wager, to the amateur oarsman of the present day, was not slow. The amateur rowing which began about the year 1800 on the Thames at Westminster has flourished as a branch of athletic sport, and has spread to every quarter of the globe.
Rowing in the United Kingdom.—The earliest rowing clubs in England were small groups of oarsmen who combined to purchase a six-oared or eight-oared boat for the purpose of racing. ”

“ Henley. Still the honours of winning eights, fours, pairs, or sculls at it rank, in amateur estimation, second only to Henley. Barnes Regatta is of very old standing. The tideway is always a drawback to scenery, but Barnes always used to produce good audiences and good competitors. Its chief patrons were tideway clubs and the Kingston Rowing Club.
GONDOLA.
Walton-on-Thames flourished in the ‘sixties.’ It has now died out. ”

“ In 1901 Pennsylvania was just beaten by Leander Club in the race for the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley.
The history of amateur rowing in the United States, other than that of the colleges and universities, is a narrative of continual struggles on the part of the authorities to distinguish between the amateur and the non-amateur. The National Association of Amateur Oarsmen was established in 1872. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Nor were they alone in this love of the open, for many an evening each canoe had its complement of fair ones, whose sweet voices blended with those of the four outdoor chums as they paddled in the moonlight over the rippling water.
College was ahead of them, but as they expected to keep together still, the Outdoor Club was not to be disbanded by any means. Often in future days they expected to once more sit around a campfire in company, enjoying the delights of an outing, and recalling many of the wonderful experiences that came their way in days that were past. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Instituted at a time when small-yacht sailing and amateur seamanship had little or no patronage from the big clubs, and when no ruling spirit appeared willing to come forward to help them on to any great degree, when the annual local regattas of the Itchen Ferry, Ryde, and Cowes Town, Southampton, and a few other seaside resorts, were the only opportunities afforded for sport and racing among the small fry, perhaps no club deserves more notice among those south of London than the one in question. ”

“ Many a member can look back to his first Corinthian race as the beginning of his practical (p. 83) experience in yacht racing. The races at these regattas have been mostly handicaps, and two or three are always open to yachts in cruising trim. The only conditions of the regatta are that 'Yachts may carry their ordinary paid hands, but no extra paid hands, and must be steered by members of a yacht club.'
It is always pleasant to meet with names which are as well known as the club to which they belong, to whom their club owes much, and whose pride and interests are centred in its prosperity. ”

“ 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. ”

“ A few days after, the boys discovered the club boat, the light and graceful Zephyr, resting like a fairy shell upon the lake, and in its use the argument of Charles was effectually refuted. A club was formed of the boys in the neighborhood, and under the instruction of Uncle Ben, an old sailor who lived with Captain Sedley, soon became very expert in the management of the boat. A building was erected for the use of the association, in which, besides the boat-house, was a club room containing a library, and furnished with conveniences for holding meetings for mutual instruction and recreation. ”

“ The rowers are stalwart fellows whose basalt backs shine in the sun as they bend to the oar; in rowing they walk towards the cabin and pull the heavy oars as they step backwards, and every sweep is accompanied by the burst of a refrain in chorus, a wild response to a line that has been chanted by the leader as they stepped forwards. The passengers sit immoveable in the sun and regard us with a calmness and gravity which are only attainable near the equatorial regions, where things approach an equilibrium. ”

“ Thanks to Mr Blunt, our crew had learned to master that steady, strong sweep of the oars which is universally admitted to be the perfection of rowing style and the most serviceable of all strokes. Rowed well through from first to last, gripping the water the instant the oar is back and the body and arms forward, and dragged clean through without jerk or plunge, the swing of the bodies regular as clockwork, the feather clear and rapid—this essentially is the kind of rowing which not only puts most pace into the boat, but is capable of being sustained far longer than any other. ”

“ Hall, stout oarsman of thirty years ago, now a much stouter citizen. The captain of the crew was at his right, and at his left hand the beaming Head Coach, burned as black as any Indian. In another group were the younger coaches, most of them old strokes and captains, and mighty men at Yale in their time. Other oarsmen of other days were welcomed, regardless of the formality of invitation. Perhaps forty men around the board had known the test of the four-mile course, brothers of the oar through nearly two generations of rowing history. ”