The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-06-29
THE YALE-HARVARD RACE.
Relative Merits Of the Crews VIII the
strongest Men Winf

The interest in the race next Friday. he
tween the Yale and Harvard eight, grows AS the
day TOT II approaches. the race Will be more Of
areviv OF the old fivslry between the colleges
than there WIS reason at first TO suppose aud
seems now more certain than ever to bc the pre-
cursor OF series Of similar contests annually
In the future.
hut when Will winf Looking at the men in
their boat houses, stripped to the waist. ready
for pull II Ia very plain that So far physique
eoe. the blue ought to win. Beyond dispute.
the Yale boat contains very much the more gen
uine power and endurance. The difference in
weight, size. muscle, and maturity Ia unmistak.
nhly IN their favor Certainly no such set or
men have represented the blue since the days
Of Wilbur Bacon's famous crew Of 1863.
In point OF uarsn anship-of scientific rowing
both crews are above the average, but good
deal short OF perfect. The work OF the Harvard
crew is mucn more uniform. the eight men III ov-
ing more a. one man. the result, plainly enough,
OF the constant coaching which they have re
ceved as crew these few weeks past from Mr..
LorDg Yet they foil to get the " cat h." that
most important element In the stroke. as well rs
their rivals. None In the Yale boat get IL per-
fectly. but HaryHrd Is Enthusiastically at fault as =
crew in this particular jy the catch Is meant
the getting hold the water with the oar SOU rely
nj the b. ginning OF the stroke. To get IT. the
oar blade must be 10 the water. not going In:
but wholly covered the instant the extreme Of
the reach forward In recovering Ia attained. and
at the same instant the pull must begin. III
there Is the fan'est perceptlbl- hang, or the
oarsman begins to pull before his oar blade Is
fully covered Ia water. he falls to Get the &c tch,
and either pulls part Of the stroke before he
really begins to pull or he pulls part Of 1t In the
air.
Both crews strive, OF course. to get the
catch" to pull the stroke clean through to
the end, aud so finish It,. Sometimes they come
tolerably near to II, ana the nearer they att in
TO II the nearer alike they pull But here the
likeness of the rowing OF the two crews ends.
In the recovery-the getting the oar back
through the air and the body forward for a
fresh stroke-the two crews are as different as
lowing more the stroke Loring learned before
the sliding seat WIS brought out, endeavor to
ed by the straight-bhck quick spring forward
from the hips, the hips, not the small Of the
back. serving as the pivot-a style OF recovery
undoubtedly the best AS well as the easiest,
when Towed on the old st tiOnarv seat, and
adding several strokes to the minute, without
loss Of wind, but exceedingly difficult, II not
Impossible, IN connection with the slioing Sc At
and the consequent sharp bending Of the legs
without a considerable shortening Of the
stroke. II IL this straight-back, quick re-
cover from the hiqs which has ever constituted
what Of" dasn the Harvard crews have had,
most notable In Loring's and Dlakie's time Tue
nbility to get 1t depends somewhat upon the
build OF the oarsman, us ell as upon the use OF
p stationary or sliding seat. The recover Of the
Yale crew Is much slower. although b ised upon
very nearly the same principles, requiring, first,
the shooting forward Of the arms, then the
benning forward OF the body and bending of
the legs. The only other real difference in the
stroke which the two crews aim at Is It's length,
the Yale crew reaching Il little further forward,
aud eating little longer stroke in the
wafer, ana their longer stroke and slower re-
cover accounts for their pulling a less number
Of times per minute. Rowing the length of
stroke the Yale crew do and recovering as they
do, they should average FROM 80 to 81 or % per
four miles. With the Harvard recover and
slightly shorter stroke, Toe rate would be A 10
III per minute, II TOwtd on u station ~ seat, aud
su n II used 10 be, ana should average 80 or 40 a
III mute with the slide. and 10 say they are pull
lng "a rand stroke at ~ Is IA piece OF stupidity
The ot Ject OF the slower recover, Of course, Is
To- gain more time for breathing The quick re-
cover TO get in more strokes Der minute. Wne-
Their he Harvard crew won't CO to pieces before
the four miles Is over unler the severe pump
Ing or be forced to sun further shorten the
stroke III order to ease themselves, remains to