ROWING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20722, 15 November 1930, Page 8

ROWING.

GOOD AMATEUR SPORT. EARLY ENGLISH HISTORY. // THE FIRST RACE. INFLUENCE OF SCHOOLS. at the present moment it can Scarcely lie said that rowing, that is skilled rowing in racing boats, is a popular sport in the same sense that football, cricket and golf are popular. One outstanding reason for this is the fnrt that only a few schools have in their neighbourhood rivers or lakes on which rowing is possible, whereas every schoolboy has an opportunity to play football or cricket. The science of oarsmanship is also a highly technical business, and it is generally recognised as a " hard school." It must be performed not only with accuracy, but also a complete synchronisation has to be kept by the crew, and a, boat that is without harmony and rhythm will never be able to maintain a high average speed in a race. Rowing is no sport for the individualist, the oarsman who does his work in a crew must be content to subordinate his individuality, to loso his name and oven be converted into a number, and achieve his praise through the reflected glory that comes to him as a member of a highly successful crew. Perhaps the greatest advantage rowing derives from not being •one of the " popular " sports lies in the fact that it has the strongest amateur status of all. The Doggett Sculls. Th'o first rowing race that was over held is recorded in 1716, when the Thames waterrjnen sculled for a livery and badge given by Mr. Thomas Doggett, who is described as a famous comedian. The race for Doggett's prize is still an annual event, and from 1716 onwards tho names of the winners are on record. The next indication of any club in London comes from tho records of the amateur rowing club, u Tho Shark " which existed sometime before the year 1815. Other clubs must have been in existence then, since " The Shark" was described as a "prominent" one.

The mainstay of rowing in England has allvays been the two universities, Oxford and Cambridge. A book on " Oxford Rowing " states that long before races were thought of there was quite an amount "of boating at Oxford. Hie earliest? record goes back to 1815, at which . time college rowing was in operation on the Isis. Ten years later, charts of the bumping races and a list of the head-of-the-river boats were kept; but the first official record of the Exeter College Boat Club did not make its appearance until ,1831. The Oxford University Boat Club was formed in 1839, although an Oxford crew had raced and beaten a crew from Cambridge a decade before at Henley on Thames. Appearance at Cambridge. Mr. R. C. Lehmann, from whose book " The Complete Oarsman," an excellent precis //of the early history can be obtained, indicates that rowing made its official appearance at Cambridge iu 1826, when " they started with but two eights, Lady Margaret and Trinity." The earliest chart of bumping races dates from two years later," ancil bears the names of ten boats'including one ten-oar and two sixes. By that year college boat clubs had grown sufficiently to warrant the establishment of a University Boat Club—this was then the means by which their races with one another I were effectively controlled and enabled a crew to be selected to represent Cambridge against Oxford. It was at a general meeting of the University Boat Club on March 12th, 1829, that the terms of a challenge to be sent to Oxford were decided upon. On June, lOthj the first Boat Race took place, and it is worth while recording here that the Anniversary Race held last year, which was won by Cambridge, brought the number of wins for each university to 40. Some further details of the Boat Race are interesting. The first race rowed in outriggers took place in 1846. The present stylo of eights without keel and also round oars were adopted in 1875 " 7 , Sliding seats were used for the first time in 1873.

Cambridge won tho race in 1887 owing to the fact that No. 7 in the Oxford Boat broke his oar. It was at Eton that eightoared rowing had a very early start, for in 1811 the school possessed a ten-oared boat, three eights, and two six-oars. Whether they were used for casual exercise or actual racing can only be surmised, but it is said that from Eton the eights first found their way to Oxford. Westminister School records show that in 1816 the in their six-oar " beat the Temple six-oaped boat in a race from Johnson's Dock to Westminister Bridge by half a boat."

" Fouling" Not Prohibited. Although rowing is now practically freo from all' taint of professionalism, yet if it were not for the very severe measures taken in its early days there would be equally as much money changing hands over that sport to-day as there is over football in England. The Leander Club, Henley, used to be steered by one James Parish/'a London waterman who filled the position of coxswain there for 17 years. No doubt they benefited considerably during training by his professional advice. Thames watermen influenced rowing largely in its initial stages, and since it was then the custom on the London water to allow " fouling," the office of the coxswain was a much more important position than it is now. About 1840, the universities began to take definite steps to shut out all professionals from participating in their races; and a newly elected regatta cominitteo at Henley, brought in the clause " every boat shall be steer-;'' by an amateur member of tho club or clubs entering for the cup," and " that, no fouling be permitted." Cambridge suffered a lapse for a time after the anti-professional resolution, and resorted once more to employing watermen to train and steer the university crew. This caused a breach with T. S. Egun,' a member of no common skill arid experience, who had put all his efforts into the advancement of rowing at that university. He offered his services to tho dark' Blues, and the Oxford crew nf 1852 turned out to bo one of the finest ever piit on the water, winning the race that year by six lengths. Two years later, a reconciliation was effected, and since that time there has been no professional control or coaching of the eights. The Oxford rule of 1841 states, " That ,no crew he allowed to start in the races which shall have employed any waterman in the capacity of coach or trainer within three weeks of the race." Outside the universities, professional coaching continued sporadically, but it has now almost died out completely. The greatest factor about rowing is that it is a recreation and • not a business, and therefore those who control it should be Those who pursue it for pleasuro and not from tho money-making point of view. There is nothing to equal tho spirit of those who play the game for the game's Siike—without an eye open for public applause. [Next Saturday an article will nppeftr on the atylefe, at. present in use.]