The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-06-25
Most Important College Race Ever
RoWed in America Is SChed=
uled for Today.
THE CRIMSON OF HARVARD
PICKED AS THE FAVORITE.
The Last Work Done by All of the Crews, and Each
Ready to Row to Wn-Yae Generally
Preferred Before Cornell.

was in very good spirits, but refused
to express an opinion about his crew.
Capt Spillman however, said: Our
men are all in good condition and the
crew that beats us will know that they
have been in a race
CREWS COMPARED.
A we'll known authority on rowing,
summing up the chances of the three
crews says:
There is no doubt that all three
eights are fast. faster perhaps than
any three college crews that ever have
been produced in a single season in
this country. 1t is a fact that Yale
has broken all her records for practice
spins a New London. Harvard has
roWed the course here on the Hudson
well under record time. Cornell men
say their eight is faster than that of
last season. The three vital points for
comparison are the strength of the
stroke, workmanship and endurance
1t has been satisfactorily demon
Strated that for four-mile course
the longer stroke is the most effective
when well roWed. Cornell's stroke is
shorter than either Yale's Or Har-
wards. 1t can best be compared to the
stroke that Yale roWed until last year,
when she shortened up her stroke in
at Henley. Cornell, however, is not
rowing this style of a stroke as we'll as
Yale'S best crews rOWed it. Courtney 5
pupils clip the old Yale stroke on the
catch and pull it out short on the
finish. They also lack that beautiful
machine-like movement within the
boat that characterized Yales fast
eights Their faults are in a word the
faults of Harvard's strongest eights
that went down before Yale in 1889,
1890 and 1892.
Cornell has failed to get her oars
close down to the stream on the catch
as Yale did when she used this stroke,
but the Ithacans do get the same les
drive that Yale used so we'll
Harvard's rowing this year cannot
be compared to that of any other
American eight, past or present The
form of Mr.. Lehmann's pupils appears
to me more like that of the New col
lege eight that roWed at Henley last
July and was defeated by Leander in a
splendid race than Of any other crew
which l saw at Henley last year. This
eight from New college, it might we'll
be added here, was considered of the
best that England has produced. The
critics all agreed that the course gave
Leander the race. There is one point,
however, in which Harvard seems to
me to be inferior to New college. The
as that of the typical English eight
This is an all-important point in Eng
lish boating, and I do not believe that
Mr.. Lehman has succeeded in bringing
Harvard up to the idea of his style
in it. Harvard does not reach quite so
far for the water on the catch nor
"bite it' so hard as New college cid
AS an eight the Crimson is certainly
not up to New of last season.
YALE'S FORM.
"Yale's form presents still another
type Of rowing. 1t is more like that
of Harvard than of Cornell, but still
more like that of the Leander eight
that defeated Yale at Henly year ago.
Yale drops over more on the catch and
reaches out further for the water Yale
also goes further back on the finish
than Harvard Yale's general form in
this respect is very much like that OF
such English oars as Guy Nickalls.
| who drops far over on the catch and
goes far back on the finish. He is an
extreme type Of this style of form, but
| admittedly the best oar in England.
| Yale does not go back or reach the eX-
| tremeS that Nickalls attains and es-
pecially is this true of Yale's finish.
''The great difference between the
| form Of Yale and Harvard. as COM
pared to that Of Cornell, is in the BODY
think COrnelrs body swing is at least
! ten degrees less on the catch and twelve
to fifteen degrees shorter on the finish
| than Yale's. CornelIs slides are longer
! by several inches than those of both
Yale and Harvard. The Ithacans also
| have shorter oars and less leverage on
| their oars inboard of the outrigger
They endeavor to have their bodies
swing in a straight line as Yale for
| merly did, while Yale and Harvard
now swing in fours to port and star
board, which gives the bodies a scissor
| like movement when the boat is viewed
! from fore or aft.
styles of the strokes. The power of the
stroke Of an eight can only be judged
of by the length of the stroke and the
| grip that the oars get on the water
! Cornelfs men are inclined to slip their
catch. Their oars are too high of
! the water on the CATCH and there is
a loss of power on the reach before
| the oars get hold of the stream. Har-
ward gets the firmest catch Of the three
| eightS, but Yale has been making rapid
| improvement in this point during the
last week and is not far behind the
| Crimson in this very important feature
of her rowing. Cornell is certainly
the weakest, although when her oars
| do strike the stream the Ithacans rir
|
complish less than either Yale or Har-
ward after the oar blade has passed
the perpendicular to the shell, for most
of the strength of their body swing
is spent by this time, and the finish
depends upon the leg drive, which is
not SO effective as the heavier body
swing and leg drive combined.
For these reasons it is not believed
| CornelPs stroke is as powerful as either
that of Harvard or Of Yale. Cornell
will row a stroke averaging from two
to three points more per minute thar
| Yale and Harvard, both of whom viii
probably not average above thirty
three strokes per minute in the race
Cornells higher stroke will certainly
be equally as trying upon her men az
the greater body swing of Yale and o.
Harvard. 1t does not seem as though
it could be as powerful in a four-mil.
| race.
when one compares the waterman
ship Of the three eights, Harvard
superiority begins to become manifest
Harvard's time is better than Yale's
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