Boating Part 19

1. That this Club be called 'The Amateur Rowing a.s.sociation.'

2. That the object of the a.s.sociation be to a.s.sociate members of existing amateur rowing clubs for the purpose of forming representative British crews to compete against Foreign and Colonial representative crews, in the event of such entering at any regattas in the United Kingdom, or challenging this country.

3. That the government and management of the a.s.sociation be vested in a committee of fifteen members (of whom five shall be a quorum), with power to add to their number, who, except the _ex-officio_ members, shall retire annually, and be eligible for re-election.

4. That the Presidents of the Oxford University Boat Club and Cambridge University Boat Club, the Captains of the Dublin University Boat Club, Dublin University Rowing Club, Leander Boat Club, London Rowing Club, Kingston Rowing Club, and Thames Rowing Club, for the time being be _ex-officio_ members of the committee.

5. That no one be eligible as a member of the a.s.sociation unless he be a member of a recognised Amateur Rowing Club.

6. That candidates for election must be proposed and seconded by two members of the committee, and unanimously elected by the committee.

7. That, when members of different clubs are selected to form a crew, they must, for the time being, place themselves exclusively at the disposal of the a.s.sociation.

8. That general meetings of the members be summoned by the Honorary Secretary at such times as not less than five of the committee think fit, and that committee meetings be held once, at least, in every three months, and as much oftener as a quorum shall, from time to time, decide.

This Amateur Rowing a.s.sociation began modestly, and without any a.s.sumption, to dictate to the rowing world. It was content to take the patriotic part of guarding national amateur prestige in aquatics. But all leading clubs so fully recognised the value of the new a.s.sociation, that pressure was often put upon it to make a _coup d'etat_, and to take the sceptre of amateur rowing and the control of amateur regattas, a position a.n.a.logous to that held respectively by the 'Jockey Club' on the turf, the 'Grand National Hunt Committee' in steeple-chasing, and the 'Amateur Athletic a.s.sociation' on the running path. To some extent the a.s.sociation have followed the course urged upon them, and last season (1886) they propounded a code of regatta rules, which will doubtless be adopted by all regattas that desire to entice first-cla.s.s amateur compet.i.tions on their waters. These rules read thus:--

AMATEUR ROWING a.s.sOCIATION.

_Established 1879._

(Hon. Sec, S. LE BLANC SMITH, Esq., Coombeside, Sydenham, S.E.)

Cambridge University Boat Club--Cambridge.

Kingston Rowing Club--Surbiton.

Leander Club--Putney.

London Rowing Club--Putney.

Oxford University Boat Club--Oxford.

Reading Rowing Club--Reading.

Royal Chester Rowing Club--Chester.

Thames Rowing Club--Putney.

Twickenham Rowing Club--Twickenham.

West London Rowing Club--Putney.

Marlow Boat Club--Marlow.

Henley Rowing Club--Henley.

_Rules for Amateur Regattas._

1. The committee shall state on their programmes, and all other official notices and advertis.e.m.e.nts, that their regatta is held under the Rules of the A.R.A.

2. No 'value' prize (_i.e._ a cheque on a tradesman) shall be offered for compet.i.tion, nor shall a prize and money be offered as alternatives.

3. Entries shall close at least three clear days before the date of the regatta.

4. No a.s.sumed name shall be given to the secretary unless accompanied by the real name of the compet.i.tor.

5. No one shall be allowed to enter twice for the same race.

6. The secretary of the regatta shall not be permitted to divulge any entry, nor to report the state of the entrance list, until such list be closed.

7. The committee shall investigate any questionable entry irrespective of protest.

8. The committee shall have absolute power to refuse or return any entry up to the time of starting, without being bound to a.s.sign a reason.

9. The captain or secretary of each club or crew entered shall, at least three clear days before the day of 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 subst.i.tutes; provided that no person may be subst.i.tuted for another who has already rowed a heat.

10. The secretary of the regatta, after receiving the list of the crews entered, and of the subst.i.tutes, shall, if required, furnish a copy of the same with the names, real and a.s.sumed, to the captain or secretary of each club, or in the case of pairs or scullers to each compet.i.tor entered.

11. The committee shall appoint one or more umpires, to act under the Laws of Boat Racing.

12. The committee shall appoint one or more judges, whose decision as to the order in which the boats pa.s.s the post shall be final.

13. Objections to the qualification of a compet.i.tor should 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.

14. Every compet.i.tor must wear complete clothing from the shoulders to the knees--including a sleeved jersey.

15. In the event of there being but one crew or compet.i.tor entered for any prize, or if more than one enter and all withdraw but one, the sole compet.i.tor must row over the course to become ent.i.tled to such prize.

16. Boats shall be held to have completed the course when their bows reach the winning post.

17. The whole course must be completed by a compet.i.tor before he can be held to have won a trial or final heat.

18. In the event of a dead heat any compet.i.tor refusing to row again, as may be directed by the committee, shall be adjudged to have lost.

19. A junior oarsman is one (A) who has never won any race at a regatta other than a school race, a race in which the construction of the boats was restricted, or a race limited to numbers of one club; (B) who has never been a compet.i.tor in any International or Inter-University match.

A junior sculler is one (A) who has never won any 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.

20. All questions not specially provided for shall be decided by the committee.

With these safeguards, and with the guidance of this leading a.s.sociation, it is to be hoped that the status of amateurs in England will be preserved at that high standard which alone can properly demarcate the amateur from the professional.

Foreign crews which seek to compete at our regattas are often of a very dubious character as regards amateurship. The imposture of Lee, the Yankee professional, at Henley regatta in 1878, was not discovered until too late; and his case has been by no means an isolated one. The Henley executive now impose certain conditions upon foreign countries, which enable our own authorities to make timely inquiries as to the real status of proposed visitors. These conditions will be found under No. 4 of the 'General Rules' of Henley (p. 49).

[Ill.u.s.tration: WINDSOR.]

CHAPTER XV.

ROWING AT ETON COLLEGE.

The River Thames flows so near the College of Eton that it necessarily affords an attraction to the boys at least equal to the playing fields, and has always been frequented for bathing and rowing as well as other aquatic pursuits. All such amus.e.m.e.nts have been styled from time immemorial 'Wet bobbing,' as distinguished from cricket, which is 'Dry bobbing:' the boys who boat are called 'Wet bobs' and the cricketers 'Dry bobs.' In the good old times, by which we mean the times told of by old men of our early acquaintance, extending to the end of the last and beginning of this century, the river was used by the boys for some other delightful though unlawful sports. Fishing was in those times more attractive to them than it has been in recent years, and many boys who did not join the boats would go out gudgeon, pike, or trout fishing with persistent zeal. Old gentlemen have told us of getting up in the early morning in the summer half, breaking out through the windows of their dame's or tutor's houses, and getting on the river to fish before the early school. Shooting was also practised on the river both at such times and during the legitimate play hours. The watermen took care of guns for sporting boys, and went with them in pursuit of water-hens, kingfishers, swallows, or any bird that might be found about the eyots, in the willow beds, or up the backwaters of Clewer or Cuckoo Weir. Of course these sports were interdicted; but the use of the river for any purpose whatever was so far forbidden that masters must be shirked in going to or coming from it, and the river itself was out of bounds. The sixth form also had to be shirked in old times, and could have any lower boy punished for being out of bounds; but it must have been a sixth-form boy of no sporting propensities himself who could have given 100 lines to a lower boy caught shooting in the Clewer stream. Was it more or was it less praiseworthy of one of the tutors who caught the same lad with his gun, and only remonstrated with him because it might be dangerous, and not because he was breaking the rules of the school?