SYNCOPATED ROWING

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 76, 31 March 1934, Page 18

SYNCOPATED ROWING

Syncopated rowing first appeared'' at -Putncy-ou;Thames ' three /■ 'y.oai-3 ago, when the''London Bowing* Club tried out an idea based on a scientific theory. It was argued that the principle on which the internal: combustion engine ii fired' could bo improvingly applied*, to boat propulsion. ; Eiieh' -pair of the stroke and bow side should strike in succession, not. ,togother. 'What' the. motor shaft gains in torguc the boat gains in steady running; in other words,-.the boat does not "lose waybetween the strokes. An ordinary eightoared boat was used, but No. 3 and No. 6 seats,were.discarded to'.providethe necessary oar space.-- Those who tested it :were of the"'opinion < that it would eventually prove. the ■ fastest mothod of rowing, but: necessarily one must first become accustomed to it. It was-an interesting: experiment, and many good judges, were open-minded, while'others, like J. Beresford, classed it as "ntter rot;" 'Last'year Mr. A. T. Sambell, who formerly. rowed with Melbourne Grammar School, and other PembrokQ College ■ oarsmen, experimented with another style,- and'now wo hear of a new version being -tried last •week and proving, mpre revolutionary. In this instance the coxswain is placed in the middle of the boat. .Tho strokeend four strike the water 'simultaneously, and then the four bow-end bars follow. This idea was also "hatched." at Pembroke College, Cambridge, where the test showed that over a normal seven-minute course; syncopated rowing achieved a. reduction of but three-, fifths of a second.: Critics who saw tho trial aro asking whether this trifling gain is worth the 'loss,-of:'all, that rhythm and combination which, when attained, make perfect rowing. Of experiments in rowing there is no end, ■ and this latest development will possibly prove another subject for controversy for a few' weeks .and be forgptten,