Rowing Part 15

A description of best how to use your strength would be out of place here, for it will be found set forth in another part of this volume. Let me, therefore, pa.s.s on to a subject which lately has caused considerable discussion--the subject of the length of the course for the Junior and School races. All these races are held over a course of about three miles in length, and take some twenty minutes to row. They start opposite the Brocas, and continue up-stream round "Rushes," and then down-stream to Windsor Bridge. The contention of many is that the length of these races is too great, and that the trial put on boys of perhaps fifteen years of age is too severe. From this view of the matter I differ, for to any one who has rowed over both the Henley and Putney course it will be evident that the forty strokes per minute for a mile and a half would be more trying to a young boy than the thirty-four per minute for four miles.

A short note on the proceedings of the wetbobs on the 4th of June, the great day of celebration at Eton, may have some interest.

As I have said, a procession of all the boats takes place on this day.

About five o'clock they start in order from the Brocas, and row to Surley Hall, where, in tents on the gra.s.s, a supper is prepared. After supping, they return to the rafts in time for a display of fireworks, the crews standing up in their boats and tossing their oars, whereby a very pretty effect is obtained. The dresses worn by the crews are quaint and old-fashioned on this great day. All are dressed in white ducks, a shirt of the colours of their boat, a dark-blue Eton jacket trimmed with gold or silver braid, and a straw hat covered with various emblems of their boat. The c.o.xswains of the Upper Boats wear naval captain's clothes, while the Lower Boat c.o.xswains represent midshipmen.

So much for Eton rowing; and, in finishing, I must pay a slight tribute to three old Etonians, to whom the success of Eton rowing is mainly due. They are Dr. Warre, the Rev. S. A. Donaldson, and Mr. de Havilland; and I feel sure that out of these three, who have all done yeomen service for their school, I may single out Dr. Warre, and yet give no offence to his two successors. Before Dr. Warre came to Eton as a master, in the early sixties, the masters had taken little interest in the proceedings on the river; consequently the traditions of rowing, learnt mainly from the riverside watermen, were not of a very high standard. Eton had never rowed in any races, except against Westminster, and it was due to Dr. Warre's efforts that compet.i.tion for the Ladies'

Plate was first allowed. From this date till the middle of the eighties, Dr. Warre was always ready to coach when asked, but never till asked, for he believed, and still believes strongly, in allowing the boys to manage their own games as far as possible.

How well he kept his principles of rowing up to date is shown in his pamphlets on rowing and coaching, for probably no one but he could have written so clear and concise a description as he has given.

Besides being an eminent coach, he understands thoroughly the theories of boat-building, his ideas being well exemplified of late by the boats which won for Eton in '93, '94, '96, and '97.

When the duties of head-master became too engrossing to allow him to devote as much time to the Eight as formerly, his place was taken, and well filled, by Mr. Donaldson. Mr. Donaldson was always a most keen and patient coach, and followed closely on the head-master's lines; and his cheery voice at Henley--clear above all the din of the race--once heard, could never be forgotten. He was very successful with his crews, and helped them to win the Ladies' Plate several times.

In 1893 Mr. de Havilland first coached the Eight, and, since this date, has had an unbroken series of wins. In the first year of his coaching, fifteen-inch slides, instead of ten-inch, were used, and this, aided by his excellent advice, helped to produce one of the fastest Eights that Eton has ever sent to represent the school. Mr. de Havilland has that wonderful knack, possessed by some good coaches, of training his crew to the hour, and it is surprising with what speed his crews always improve in the last week or so of practice.

I can only hope, in conclusion, that I have to some extent succeeded in explaining to the uninitiated the mysteries of the career of an Eton wetbob during the five or six happiest years of his life spent at the best of schools.

CHAPTER XV.

AUSTRALIAN ROWING.

_By E. G. Blackmore._

A country which has produced such scullers as Beach and Searle, not to mention Trickett, Layc.o.c.k, Kemp, Nielson, Stanbury, and many others of less calibre, may well claim a place in a work treating of the science and art of rowing. In the limits of a chapter it is scarcely possible to give an exhaustive account of Australian oarsmen and oarsmanship, and as the performances of the leading Colonial scullers are sufficiently well known, from their having competed on English waters, this record will be almost entirely confined to amateur rowing, as practised in Australia.

That large continent, with the island of Tasmania, consists of six colonies, in all of which the art is cultivated, with more or less enthusiasm.

The first record we can find of anything like boat-racing occurs in 1818, when ships' gig races were rowed in the Sydney Harbour, while the first regatta was held in the same place in 1827. In 1832 an Australian-born crew, in a locally built whale-boat, beat several crews of whaling ships. Pa.s.sing over a series of years, in which nothing of more than local and momentary interest occurred, we find that in 1858, in the first race rowed on the present Champion course, the Parramatta River, Green beat an English sculler, Candlish, in a match for 400. I am inclined to regard this as the real foundation of New South Wales professional sculling, which afterwards culminated in the performances of Beach and Searle. The mother colony is the only one of the group which has produced a professional sculler of any cla.s.s. Amongst amateurs none has yet appeared who could be placed in the first rank.

In all the Colonies there are rowing a.s.sociations which regulate and control amateur rowing. Of these, New South Wales alone has attempted to maintain the amateur status on English lines. The other a.s.sociations recognize men who would not pa.s.s muster at any regatta in the United Kingdom where the regulation definition obtains. To the New South Wales a.s.sociation about ten clubs are affiliated. Under its auspices regattas are held in the harbour of Sydney, and one on the Parramatta River. The former water is utterly unfit for first-cla.s.s racing, as it is exceedingly rough, exposed to sudden winds, and hampered with steam traffic of all sorts. In September--regarded as the commencement of the rowing season--there is an eight-oar race, the winners of which rank as champions for the ensuing year, and fly the "Premiership Pennant." On January 26 is held the Anniversary Regatta, which, founded in 1834, has been an annual event since 1837.

The Parramatta River course, on which champion events are decided, and which Hanlan, Beach, and Searle have made cla.s.sic ground, is 3 miles 330 yards. It is practically straight, with a strong tide, the set of which is very difficult to learn. At times it is so affected by wind, as to render rowing impossible. The most perfect water is that of the Nepean River. Here a straight 3 miles course can be found, perfectly calm, and with no current. It was on this river that Beach beat Hanlan in 1887.

The Victorian Rowing a.s.sociation holds three Championship events in the year--sculls, fours, and eights rowed in best boats on the Lower Yarra, and an annual regatta on the Albert Park Lake, though in former years it has taken place on the Upper and the Lower river. Important meetings are also held at Ballarat, Geelong, Warrnambool, Bairnsdale, Colac, Nagambie, and Lake Moodemere. The length for Intercolonial and Championship races is 3 miles 110 yards, with the tide, which may be set at three miles an hour.

The South Australian a.s.sociation holds an annual regatta on the river Torrens, and has champion races for eights, fours, and sculls, on the Port River. The city course is one mile, that for the champion races, three miles. The Torrens is at the best an inferior river for rowing, while the Port Water is a broad tidal stream, exposed to south-west winds, and at times exceedingly rough.

Queensland, Tasmania, and Western Australia, like their sister Colonies, have a.s.sociations, and hold regattas.

The great event of the year is the Intercolonial eight-oar race, rowed alternately in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. Western Australia is now (1897) entering the field, but her crew is composed almost entirely of former Victorian oarsmen. In the past the rowing of Victorian crews has been generally far superior to that of the other Colonies, and in 1894 the Victorian combination was the nearest approach to English form that has yet been attained. South Australia has not so far been represented. Speaking generally, none of the picked eights of the Colonies have ever shown form or pace within measurable distance of the best college crews at Oxford and Cambridge, or the eights which may be seen at Henley. There is no approach to that systematic rudimentary teaching, coaching, and training, which proves so successful on English waters, and without which no crew can ever become that perfect human machine which a finished eight should be.

_Public School Rowing._

_Sydney._

The princ.i.p.al rowing schools in New South Wales are the Church of England Grammar School, North Sh.o.r.e, the Sydney Grammar School, and St.

Ignatius College. Under the "Athletic a.s.sociation of the Great Public Schools" an annual regatta is held on the Parramatta River in May. The events are--"Schools Championship," Maiden Fours, Junior Eights, and a June Handicap Sculling Race. The a.s.sociation has fixed the distance at 1 miles. The races are rowed in string test gigs; and 8 mins. 15 secs. is considered good time for school crews, whose age, it must be remembered, does not equal that of English schoolboys. The boathouses of the two grammar schools are at Berry's and Woolloomooloo Bays, in the harbour; and they are at a disadvantage compared with St. Ignatius College, which, at Lane Cove River, has a splendid course and smooth water. The ten days of the Easter vacation are spent by the two former schools in "Rowing Camp," _i.e._ they migrate to the Parramatta River, where there are better opportunities of systematic work and coaching.

Each club, notably St. Ignatius, has a good set of boats, those of the North Sh.o.r.e School being fitted with convertible fixed or sliding seats, carried on frames. The form of the two grammar schools is decidedly good, and conforms to the English standard much more nearly than that of most of the clubs.

_Victoria._

There are five schools approaching, as nearly as circ.u.mstances allow, the great public schools of England, viz. in the capital, the Church of England Grammar School, the Scotch College, Wesley College, St Patrick's College, and the Church of England Grammar School at Geelong.

Two races are rowed annually, for first and second crews, each school in turn having the choice of course, which is either on the Upper or Lower Yarra, the Albert Park Lagoon, or the Barwon at Geelong. For first crews the distance is 1 miles, for second a mile, the boats being string test gigs, fixed seats. Of all the schools none has a record equal to that of Geelong, where rowing, in comparison with other sports, occupies the same position as at Eton. To the Cambridge Eight it has contributed four oars, including the well-known heavyweight S. Fairbairn; while in the memorable race of '86, when Pitman made his victorious rush on the post, the school had an "old boy" in each boat--Fairbairn rowing for the Light Blues, and Robertson, whose father had been in h.o.a.re's famous '61 crew, for Oxford. In the Cambridge Trial Eights seven "old Geelongs"

have rowed; in the Oxford Trials only one; while the school has also been represented in the Grand Challenge and other races at Henley.

The Public Schools' Race for first crews was established in 1868, and for second in 1878. Geelong first rowed for the former in 1875, since when it has twelve wins to its credit, and the same number in the minor event.

The Boat Club was established in 1874, and at the present date has a roll of fifty-six members, an excellent boathouse, and nineteen boats.

It holds an annual school regatta in June.

Rowing at the other schools is very spasmodic, mostly confined to a few weeks' training for the above races.

_South Australia._

There are only two schools in South Australia which merit the designation of public schools in the English sense, viz. St. Peter's Collegiate School and Prince Alfred College, both in the immediate neighbourhood of the city.

Adelaide is bisected by the river Torrens, where, by reason of a dam, a mile and a half of water is available for rowing. But the course is so tortuous that racing is limited to a mile. The acc.u.mulation of silt is so great, and the growth of weeds and rushes so rapid, that for some five months in the year the river is kept empty for necessary operations; and at the best of times the water is slow and sluggish. At the annual regatta, under the Rowing a.s.sociation, the rivals have often competed in a special race; but they ran the chance of being drawn to row private schools. In order to make rowing as important a part of school athletics as cricket and football, the present writer, who was then chairman of the Rowing a.s.sociation, inst.i.tuted in 1893 an annual race between these schools for a challenge shield, to be rowed on the tidal river at the Port, over a straight mile course. The boats used are half-outrigged, clinker, keelless fours, fixed seats, with a twenty-six-inch beam. The crews practise on the home water, and finish their preparation on the scene of the contest. So far, St. Peter's College has won each event in the easiest style. A race has also been established with the Geelong school. Of three, each of which has been of the closest, Geelong has won once, St. Peter's twice. The boats used are full outrigged clinkers, with sliding seats.

In spite of the inferior water, rowing at St. Peter's is becoming almost as popular with the boys as cricket and football. To this state of things their success against Prince Alfred and Geelong crews has materially contributed, as well as the inst.i.tution of school regattas.

The club has a good boathouse, with the right cla.s.s of boats for teaching and coaching, viz. steady, roomy, half-outrigged, clinker fours, with keels, convertible as fixed or sliders.

_University Rowing._

There are three Universities of Australia--those of Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide. Racing was first inst.i.tuted when Sydney and Melbourne met on the water of the latter in string test gig fours over a three and a half miles course. In the following year they met on the Parramatta.

Melbourne won on both occasions. The race was then discontinued, but in 1885 the Sydney University Boat Club was founded, and in 1888 the three Universities mutually agreed to establish the race as an annual event in eights, to be rowed in turn on the Parramatta, the Yarra, and the Port Adelaide rivers, over a three mile course. Of nine races rowed--in two of which Adelaide, and in one of which Sydney, did not compete--Sydney has won four times, Melbourne thrice, and Adelaide on two occasions. The presentation by Old Blues of Oxford and Cambridge of a magnificent cup, to be held by the winners, has given a great stimulus to the race, and invested it with an importance which otherwise would not have attached to it. It has served to establish the continuity of the contest, and to connect the local Universities with their more famous elder sisters of England.

The Sydney U.B.C. undoubtedly takes the lead in prosecuting rowing. It promotes annual races for Freshmen, and intercollegiate fours between the three colleges of St. John's, St. Andrew's, and St. Paul's. Since their inauguration, in 1892, St. Paul's has won on every occasion except in 1894. In 1895 and 1896 the U.B.C. won the Rowing a.s.sociation Eight-oar Championship.

There is an annual race in eights between Ormond and Trinity Colleges of the Melbourne University, besides a few other less important events, but the rowing spirit is not in such evidence as in Sydney and Adelaide. The latter is simply a teaching and examining University, with members so few that it is rather a matter of finding eight men to put in a boat than of picking or selecting a crew from a number of aspirants. Its success and enterprise are the more remarkable.

Speaking generally of University form in Australia, it is far inferior to that of a good college eight. Nor is the reason far to seek. There is no such recruiting ground as, for instance, Eton or Radley, not to mention other rowing schools, nor are there the opportunities for making oars such as the college clubs at the two great Universities present, with the successive stages of the Torpids and Lent races, the May and Summer Eights, Henley, and the Trial Eights. Coaching, as in England, from the tow path or a fast steam-launch, is practically impossible, and the number of those who have a scientific knowledge of oarsmanship, and, what is rarer still, the gift of imparting it to a crew, individually and collectively, is small indeed. Coaching in Australia is done from the stern, or from another boat, or by an occasional view from the bank, sometimes from a launch seldom fast enough to keep up, or range abeam.

Pair-oar tubbing is of course utilized. Sydney University rowing is, however, far superior to non-University oarsmanship. The men sit up, use their backs and legs well, understand the knee work at the end of the slide, and do not rush their recovery. They are somewhat deficient in fore and aft swing, have a tendency to sky the feather, and rarely catch their water at the first. Melbourne rowing is wanting in body work, and conspicuous for absence of length. The men apparently are taught to discard on slides every approach to fixed-seat form, instead of to retain as much as possible. Thanks to a strong Oxford inspiration in Adelaide, and a belief in fixed-seat form as the foundation of good rowing on slides, an Adelaide school or University crew is conspicuous for length, reach, and swing. The pace of the eights is far behind English standard.

_Boatbuilding in Australia._

It was the opinion of Hanlan that in the matter of boats and sculls he had never been so well served as by Donnelly and Sullivan of Sydney, a judgment as regards sculls endorsed by Beach and Searle. Chris. Nielsen, the sculler, has brought out a boat which he claims to be faster than the ordinary wager boat, with, against, or without tide, in rough water or smooth. The dimensions for an 11 stone man are--length, 23 ft.; beam, 16 ins.; depth, 7 ins.; for'ard, 6 ins.; aft, 5 ins.; full lines throughout; height of seat from heel plates, 7 ins.; height of work from seat, 5 ins.; needs no fin, steers well, very light off hand; weight without fittings, 14 lbs. Riggers are bicycle tubing fittings, ordinary Davis gate; Colonial cedar, pine, and hickory timbers. The Australian-built boats are probably, so far as lines, general design, and workmanship, quite equal to the best English craft.

For pairs, fours, and eights the Melbourne builders, Fuller, Edwards, and Greenland, are of the first cla.s.s. They use a skeleton frame for the slides, built with angle pieces. This has all the rigidity of Clasper's more solid style, is lighter and stronger, and when the boat is being emptied allows the free escape of water. A Colonial eight is certainly lighter than those sent to Australia by Clasper or Rough. Probably the English builders have overestimated the weight of Australian eight-oar crews, which do not scale anything approaching a 'Varsity eight. Seating down the middle is generally preferred, which the present writer thinks has everything in its favour. The great drawback from which local builders suffer is the want of seasoned cedar. From this cause their boats do not last as long as English ones.