The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1903-05-20
The Oarsnlen Hang on the
Catch and Wash Out on the
Finisb-Thefr Slide Work
Is Exceptionally Good.
Coach Den1psey's Stroke Is a
Good One, and When Once
Mastered Eight Should Gbe
Account of Itself.

1t is proverbial among oarsmen that
the crew which travels fast between
strokes is the crew which Will win in
the long run. Coach Dempsey. of the
Georgetown crew. has. endeavored to in
still this principle into his crews with
good effect.
The men Of both the varsity and sec
ond crews control their slides on the
recovery cleverly. coming aft slowly and
permitting the boat to run with little
check between strokes. The men are
coached to run their slides at the same
rate of speed all the way down to the
catch This is contrary to the methods
used by many coachers of slowing the
slide the nearer it gets TO the catch.
Dempsey's Stroke.
The stroke taught the Georgetown
crews by Dempsey is as follows:
The catch is made with legs and back
simultaneously. There is no lift-up, the
power being directed along a line paral-
lei to the water. This power is evenly
distributed throughout the stroke, and
the body swing. leg drive. and pull-in
with the arms are finished at the same
moment.
AS soon as the hands are brought in
to the chest. they are shot away quick
ly. the shoulders follow smoothly, and
then the slide. Though these move
ments are separate. they are supposed
TO follow each other without any
break, so as to appear as one.
Slide Run Slowly.
The slide is run slowly and at the
same rate of speed throughout the re-
covery AS the men slide down on the
recovery they reach out and up, rounding
the oar into the water at the very in
slant their recovery is finished. The
feather is held almost until the instant
the oar is dropped into the water.
Dempsey uses a long slide and a short
body swing the men swinging but lit
tie beyond the perpendicular on the fn-
ish and sitting up in the full reach
He maintain that this is easier on the
stomach, especially in a four-mile row,
and that the arc of the car in the water
is just as great with the long slide and
short swing it would be with a
longer swing and shorter slide.
The Georgetown varsity crew as it
rows today is still rough and Mr.. Demp-
sey Is working hard to get the crew into
rowing his stroke without hitch.
Stroke Too Short.
The crew Is too short in the water.
The oars are too high OFF the water at
,bo catcb apd tho fire, hi ~ tho .+roI,o
is lost by clipping in. and on the finish.
in the effort to draw the hands in quick
~, the tendency is TO jerk. pulling the
oar out OF the water. rather than finish
ing the stroke squarely and picking the
oar out OF the water clearly by a sharp
drop of the hands. The crew throws up
a good deal of water and loses the last
bit of the stroke which is so valuable
The work inboard is rather ragged
the men swinging out of the boat AS a
crew they row rather we'll together, get
ting in aud out in good time.
Russell Strong Oar.
Russell. the captain and stroke, is
strong oar. and uses his slide well. but
is inclined TO hang on the catch and to
shorten his stroke by pulling out at the
finish The rest of the crew must nee
essarily get in and out with him, though
they frequently catch ahead
In practice the crew rows about thirty
strokes to the minute. rarely getting
above thirty-two. except on the racing
starts
Captain Russell and Mr.. Dempsey de-
serve much praise for turning out such
a creditable crew with the small amount
of material which they had at hand, and
in the comparatively short time they
have been in the water. There are sew
eral men in the boat who before this
year have never had an oar in their
hands. and but two of last years varsity
are left in the squad.
1t is too early to say how the crew
Will figure in the race at Poughkeepsie.
they are strong lot, though not par
ticularly heavy, averaging about 165
pounds.
1t will be possible 10 get a better line
on the crew after the race with the navy
crew next Saturday