The Washington times., 1905-05-22
TEN EYCK DEFENDS
FASTER RECOVERY
Syracuse Coach Argues
Against Slow Stroke.
CORNELL METHOD IS WRONG
Speed Is Sacrificed for Appearance.
Packard Greatest Stroke in
College World.

SYRACUSE, n. Y, May Z2.-Jim Ten
Eyck, coach of the Syracuse University
crews, says there is only one way to
row, and that is the right way.
There have been differences in the
styles employed by various crews, says
Ten Eyck. but 1t was always the crew
which came nearest to rowing the right
way which won the race, the other
conditions being about equal This one
style Is the product or the evolution of
rowing Jim says. and no man is It's sole
product Newspaper attempts to arouse
Ten Eyek through statements that
James Wray is copying his stroke ar
Harvard have utterly failed to reach
their mark.
Jim Wray is a brilliant oarsman. !"
said Ten Eyck. He knows as well as I
do that there is only one way to row.
and that's the right way. Undoubtedly
that is the way he Is teaching the Har-
ward oarsnen. I hope he is. AS far as
the stroke which sent the Syracuse
crews across the finish line at Pough-
lzeepsie easy winners last June is con-
cerned. Wray or anybody else has as
much right to use it as l have. This
idea Of calling the stroke employed by
a winning crew by the name of its coach
and the thought that nobody else has a
right to use it. makes me tired.
Nobody can tell me that a crew row.
ing twenty-eight strokes 10 the minute,
with the power properly applied, can
beat as good a crew rowing thirty-two,
also applying the power properly. The
slow recovery in the stroke was de-
veleped at Cornell, and Its use was best
typifed by the Cornell varsity crew of
7aao orl IN
point OF size and weight. This crew
rowed best at twenty-eight-to-th
minute stroke, but I know that a crew
which / would have regarded equally as
good rowing thirty-two strokes to the
minute could have beaten the former
crew. Why? Because the main fact IN
rowing is lost sight of in the slower
stroke. Although the effect may be
more nleasing to the eye, the point of
getting the most speed from the boat
is sacrificed. That is TO say that, the
power and conditions being equal, the
crew pulling the greatest number Of
proper strokes TO the minute is bound
TO win. .
Ten Eyck has chosen the men who
will pEopel the Syracuse varsity eight
at Poughkeepsie, and. while he hasn't
said anything about the combination. it
is believed he is fairly well pleased with
years winning eights he lost only three
men, Capt, r. r, Stone, of the 1904
varsity; Kimberly. of the same boat,
and Big Rice freshman.
: Of course, E. N. Packard, jr., who
stroked his freshman boat two years ago
and the winning varsity last spring, is
again at his old place in this years boat.
Ten Eyck thinks Packard the greatest
stroke In the college rowing world = as In
him, he says. are combined all tAe ele-
ments which go toward making UP the
typical stroke. Although not as heavy
a man as Ten Eyck would ordinarily
choose Tor the position, Packard applies
the power Of a much heavier man, and
so excellent is he in other respects that
his lack of weight is nothing. He rows
at add i9p renn1le poGh9s ~ Ia ckaTd saL Ten Eyek
lence. great form. and. above all, he has
brains and uses them. He never loses
other men in the boat with him. An
other thing. he is a grand judge of pace,
an essential to the position