El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1896-12-11
Eastern College Aquatics.

The Euglleh stroke pure aud simple
| viii be rOwed by the Harvard crew OF
! mex. season, under The direction OF Mr.
| Lehman, coach of Oxford University
and of the leader eight, which defeated
Ya:e IN July. This stroke, as taught
| by a crack English coach, has not been
| in this country since the visit of the
London Rowing club crew to the Cen
tenuial Regatta of 1876. 1t will be
tested against Cornell, Pennsylvania
aud Columbia on the Hudson at POugh-
keepsie in June of the coming year.
If Mr.. Lehman in one year IS able to
eSta bliSh new rowing system at Har-
ward which will prove superior to the
theories of Coach Courtney of Cornell,
he will have done much to viudicate
the principles which stand for the
rowing style of all English oarsme~.
Mr. Lehman and Bob Cook, the
crack Yale coach. strange as it may
seem, are working on the same general
lines.
The start Of the recovery is one of
the most important differences in the
two strokes, aud in this Yale has the
better Of it. Even the English coaches
at Henley said that for smartness OF
recovery and the quick shoot of the
hands away from the body the Yale
crew could give English oarsmen "a
lesson. At Yale the principle is this:
To save every instant of time on the
beginning of the recover in order to
give all the time possible for the slides
to come slowly down to the catch in
order not to jar the run of the boat
between strokes: to give q chance to
gather ones self for the catch and to
give resting and breathing space
before the next mighty heave and
swing In order to do all this the body
is kept erect on the finish, the hands
come in firmly to the chest without
any yank and then are shot forward
like lightning. the shoulders swinging
over after them smoothly and easily.
In both systems great Importance is
laid upon the catch-in coming down
to the water slowly without pause or
"hang," gripping it squarely and start
ing it with the shoulder heave so
quickly when it is once buried that
there is no back water" the oar
Unjust get around behind the water
and keep up with the speed of the
boat" After the blade has been car
ried through squarely to the finish, it
is lifted quickly out by drop of the
hands and roll of the wrist and carried
back close to the water on the feather
until it rolls over ready for the catch
Cook and Lehman and Courtney are
as one man on this part of the stroke.
Yale and Oxford, too, teach their
oarsmen to heave up with their shout
ders before the slide is started and
then to carry the swing through in one
piece with the back and the hard leg
drive. Mr.. Lehman has fitted the
Harvard boats with oars made on the
English pattern-that Is, with blades
an inch narrower than the American
oars, and four inches longer. Yale's
defeat at Henley was due to the use of
broad blades more than to any other
one cause, and Bob" Cook is now
using the narrow blades in practice at
New Haven. 1t was proved beyond
doubt that for a short course and a
high stroke 10 set of men is strong
enough to pull Il seven-inch blade at
tip speed without weakening before
the end. The power cannot be dis
tri buted along the distance. The re-
sistauce is too great to be continued.
With narrower blades . lot ger oar can
be used, and the leverage increased.