Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-02-02
ROWING EXPERTS
TALK OF METHODS
Cambridge Coach Still Be-
Iieves That tine Orthodox
Old Country Stroke
Is Best.

Oxford and Cambridge rowing experts
have been hit by another controversy
over the different styles of Craftsmanship.
and the contention is attracting an i'm
mense amount of attention in England
Aquatic men in all quarters. on the con-
tinent and elsewhere. are deeply inter-
ested, for the real scientific points or
what is believed to be the four best
styles of rowing are being aired abroad
These are termed the orthodox, or what
is practiced at oxford; the Cambridge.
the Belgian and the House" this latter a
method peculiar to Christ church.
Although the Belgians have been seen
twice in England. not one OF the experts
heretofore attempted a detailed descrip-
ton of their style, so Americans were
all the time in the dark regarding the
stroke used by the men who twice won
the most coveted boating trophy on earth
the grand challenge cup. However,
through the present argument the vital
points of the Belgians have come to light.
AS to the beginning of the stroke. it
appears the blade is kept horizontal until
the last moment before entering the
water Being horizontal it can be easily
carried forward. and If it strikes wave
or the smooth surface it makes little diff
1tIeHCc " Ilclf Ii6Il Luz W diu, Vi 40 ioi
as the rover wants to reach. the under
side of the blade just feels the water;
then with sharp turn of the wrist and
slight raising of the hands the blade is at
once submerged and an immediate and
perfectly controlled hold of the water is
obtained.
Just as the wrist turns the oarSman
springs to his work with legs and body
and there is no laborious lifting up like
the crew which dives forward for the be-
Pnnjpp IF stroke.
at Henley exhibited such wonderful stead
mess in their swing forward as the Bel
sians. 1t exactly synchronized with the
pace of the boat that is. the run of the
boat received not the slightest check
from the way the Belgians slid up. and it
was the only shell ever seen at Henley
that did not show retardaton from
the sliding.
Belgians Adopt Normal Position.
Another point is that the Belgians sit
closer to the tholepin. and not away from
1t like the Cambridge and House styles.
This. they say. does away with the long
sweep of the body forward in reaching
for the stroke. there being less firing
movement: the chest can he kept more
open and the stomach less cramped, bot h
of which are important things if crew
wants to stay. Regarding the four styles
a Cambridge coacn says:
considering the number of expert
ments that have been tried in the last two
or three years. both in style and in the
mechanism of rowing. 1t seems the proper
place to draw some general conclusions
These appear to me to be three in number
and to have been proved in the last two
years: ID That the orthodox English
style of rowing is still the best style; Co)
that although one may be conservative
in ones adherence to this Orthodox
style, yet one may be progressive in re-
spect to the mechanism of rowing; CD
that the new styles OF rowing have done
good service to English rowing by
opening our eyes to several faults preva-
lent among us. but not caused by any
defect in style. but by defects of coaching
and execution
AT Henley regatta in 1907 there were
four distinct styles of rowing-the Bel
gian. the orthodox. the new Cambridge
and the new Christ Church. OF the three
Christ Church approached nearest to the
orthodox English. by using short oars
and not sliding up nearly square with
their work. as is usual: rowed a short
sharp stroke. getting an English begin
ming, but not making much use of their
bodies; their swing forward was short
snd they depended almost entirely on the
muscles Of their legs. The successes that
they met with did not. as shall pres
emily show, prove the superiority of their
style over the orthodox but they did
show up several faults which were preva-
lent al Oxford