The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-06-25
TEN EYCK, OR COURTNEY?
PACKARD OF SYRACUSE DE-
SCRIBES THEIR SYSTEMS.
Stroke Oar OF Last Years Winning Boat
Declares That Get There" Style Is
the Detter-Faults OF Wise onsin and
Columbia Detailed by the Oarsm an.

PoudHKEEPsIE, N. Y, June A.-The boat
races on the Hudson which will take place
here on June 20 are to be more or less Of
. duel between Cornell and Syracuse for
hrst honors according to a majority Of
opinions. Syracuse, as last years winner,
has what little advantage a shade in the
choices would signify, but the underlying
feeling OF confidence in Cornell is based
on consistent good form for years. In
fact, the chief thing about the Cornell crews
Is their beautiful, concise form. their smooth
and sweeping action compared to which
the ragged, jerky. get there style of Syracuse
looks awkward indeed. Still, 1t must be
remembered that tho awkward squad in
rowing won, and won twice. from Cornell
last year. There has been ever since a
division in the ranks OF the votaries Of
college rowing. Courtney, who used
formerly to be the sole idol Of oarsmen,
found that the allegiance paid him had
been divided by those who thought Ten
Eyck was the wizard OF rowing.
1nasmuch as these two men are the prime
opponents in the battle for intercollegiate
rowing honors and as they row diametri-
cally opposed styles, it is interesting to see
what Edgar n. Packard, Jr, the stroke Of the
winning Syracuse varsity eight, has to say
about the methods OF most Of the coaches.
Packard. having rowed the Ten Eyck style,
is able to describe it, however little he may
know about what the other coaches teach
Almost everybody who saw the races last
year is eager to know just what Ten Eyck
was trying to do, and therefore Packard's
explanation has double value.
The CIR Ito itato
to say what he thinks. He explains that all
the coaches except Ten Eyck have slavishly
copied the Courtney style and that none
has succeeded Packard pays comp-
ment in turn to Wisconsin and Columbia.
Wisconsin, according to him, has initiated
the Courtney style, but has generally lost
all the bearings in a race. the oarsmen
rushing their slides and rowing different
style from that which they were taught
This. Packard declares. is the cause Of the
+ )or showing Of the Wisconsin crews in
recent years. lie sveIiis III forget that Tie
Wisconsin men had their boat rugged for
smooth water on the day Of the races. and
as the water was Unexpectedly rough,
owing to the rollers from tug, on the
outside course the Badgers shell got
waterlogged and half filled with water.
This. too may have had something to do
with the showing Of the Westeners.
Columbia Packard says, always takes
up so much time learning the niceties OF
blade work that the oarsmen do not practise
enoughfor endurance. Therefore, although
they row prettily, they cannot go the dis
tancc.
The Syracuse stroke sums up by saying
that Courtney's style is not necessar ily
better than Ten Eyck's, or even as good,
because a crew made up OF strong men
rowing the Ten Eyck style manages to get
away with an advantage on each stroke.
The readiness for each stroke, without
any special slow recover. has an advantage,
according to Packard, even though his
description Of 1t makes 1t appear that the
stroke Is very haphazard thing.
But the story that Packard himself wrote
for the Syracuse Unirersity Herald tells
the thing better than any comment could.
1t is as follows:
"The somewhat unexpected outcome Of
the regt tia at Poua hkeepsie last June has
given rhte to many natural questions in the
minds of those not intimately acquainted
with eight cared shell rowing. Indeed,
many professed experts In crew work have
wondered how 1t was that Syracuse. which
had IN former years crossed the line at the
nnish among the last crews, should last
e,imme have won both the big events on
the Hudson.
=, Now, to those who had followed closely
the long spring work Of the crews, and who
knew the characteristics Of the individual
Fights, the outcome was not 30 much a
phenomenal exhibition of sheer strength or
sustained endurance as ii was the successful
result OF purely natural causes--but
causes lying in the nature of the stroke
taught by Coach Ten Eyck. Victory gem
orally rests with that crew which holds in
oars in such way as to max their own
boat go faster than that Of their opponents
and the ability to last physically through
long hard race. Added to this-and no