The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-06-13

of lengthening out this body swing
The idea embodied in Yale's rowing UP
to the present year was to distribute
the power used in the stroke as nearly
equally as possible upon the arms and
legs, the rest of the body acting as
sort of connecting rod.
Still another change that Mr.. Cook
has made has been to raise the angle
of the stretchers so as to give the
oarsman a better chance to kick out
from the toes rather than from the
heel. The result of these changes has
made Yale's stroke considerably long
er, both fore and aft Of the outrigger,
and especially fore Of the perpendicu-
ar through the Outrigger. The body
swing used to gain this point is,
roughly speaking, perhaps 80 degrees
fore of the Outrigger, as compared to
fifteen formerly, and twenty aft Of the
Outrigger, as compared to ten which
Yale used to use for the finish. This
great body swing necessitates a differ
ent grip on the oar, AID different
manipulation of the oar on the finish.
The grip on the oar is more like that
of the grip Of man hanging on a
horizontal bar, and less like that of
man gripping a wrist machine in an
effort to turn it toward his body. The
idea is that the fingers should be got
ten over the handle barely far enough
and the arm should be kept as near
straight as possible, and the shoulders
held firmly in to the body, SO as to get
the firmest possible grip on the water
on the catch. Having got this grip,
the minute the oar touches the water
the heavy body swing is made to tell
! to it's utmost on the very first part
of the stroke.
This is the English idea Of the hard
catch. The English coachers shout at
their crews constantly to bite it." and
this describes in a word the terrific
catch which the Englishmen get on the
stream. Their oars hit the water with
thud which is perceptible, and usual
! ly send UP a spray from every oar
blade. They get their strength in the
! instant their oars touch the water, and
they hold this grip right through the
stroke. This is the distinctive point OF
English rowing. and is the all power
full point in any successful method CT
! boating. The long stroke without this
catch may be to a certain extent vast
ed energy and prove more firing upon
the men than somewhat shorter
stroke, that gets a better grip upon
the water on the catch.
AS | have said, Yale has succeeded
in frightening out her stroke this year
and in getting the other general ideas
Of English boating. 1t is an open ques-
ton, however, whether Yale has sue
ceeded in getting this grip on the
water, which 1 have attempted to de-
! scribe. 1t has been no easy matter to
| bring about the present revolution in
Yale's system Of boating that Mr.. Cook
has accomplished this year. He has
| endeavored to get this firm, fierce
| catch, but it seems to me very doubt
! full whether Yale has laid enough en-
phasis upon this point. Her race with
Wisconsin at Lake Saltonstall a week
ago showed that the crew is still weak
on the catch, and also in waterman
ship. The time in the Wisconsin race
was the worst have ever known in a
! Yale varsity crew at this late stage
of their development There was a
break in the very center of the boat
that must inevitably have told serious
ly in longer race against a stronger
opponent.
How much improv ement at this point
MI. Cook will be able to make it is, of
course, impossible to say. His greatest
ability as q coach in past years has
been to smooth off the rough points
in crew in the last few days Of train
/ ing. He has often won races for Yale
| by three or four days coaching, just
before the eight went into their race.
| No one can tell what he will be able
to do with the present crew.
l have pointed out upward of a dozen
| changes that Yale has made in her
style of rowing this year. l have also
/ endeavored to. show how unreasonable
1t is to attempt to make any compari-
| son between Yale and Harvard and
Cornell. There is only one estimate
that can be made of Yale's present
crew that amounts to anything what
| ever. Compared with former Yale
crews, and, in fact, compared with the
| very fastest crews that Yale has ever
had, Capt. Bailey's eight for two miles
I i-.1 -f7iy nj 70 VoJo III
ard. It is a question, however, whether
/ Yale has enough muscle in her boat
to row a fast four-mile race. Girls
void at No. Z, Campbell at No. 8, Whit
ney at No. 2. and Rogers at bow, are
all men who lack the ideal amount of
| physical endurance for oarsmen. None
of them have ever roWed in a varsity
beat before, and they all must remain
to a certain extent unknown quantities
for hard four-mile race.