Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-04-12
OLYMPIC EIGHT
TO BE SELECTED
COMMITTEE IN CHARGE HAS
TROUBLES GALORE
Oarsmen of Country Not of Same opin-
ion as Two Men Handling the
Matter, and Lively Time is
In Prospect

NEW YORK, April 11.-There is a
wide difference of opinion as to what
should be the method used by the
American Olympic Rowing committee
in picking its eight-oared crew to com
pete in the Olympic regatta this sum-
mer. The committee, which, strangely
enough, is composed of but two men,
James Pilkington, president of the n.
A. A. O., and Julian Curtiss of Yale,
has one idea concerning what ought
to be done, and the majority of oars
men throughout the country have q
different thought. After discussing
various projects, Mr.. Pilkington an
nounces that his committee will stick
to it's original program of sending
abroad a picked crew. counter
proposition and one much more at
tractive to rowing men was that the
committee should arrange for a pre-
liminary regatta In which crews repre-
senting the various cities and univer-
sites of the country should compete
and the winning eight be sent abroad.
This proposition, however, has been re-
jected.
While rowing men appreciate the
hard task this committee has before 1t,
they do not believe that a truly repre-
sentative crew can be gotten together
in this manner. The committee has
already experienced difficulty in per-
suading desirable oarsmen to become
candidates for the crew. To pick an
"All-American" eight requires that the
men must train together at some CEN
trail place, in the meantime giving up
their business altogether ana then
running the risk of not making the
crew after all. The early closing GATE
of the entries, which is June L, makes
it necessary to have the eight pretty
we'll selected by this time.
Olympic Course Too Short
These conditions have practically
eliminated all the college oarsmen and
many of the best clubmen. NO college
man would risk his seat in varsity
boat at Poughkeepsie or New London
for the chance of making the American
Olympic eight. Both of the 1ntercolle-
giate regattas are held the last week
in June. and It would then be too late
for the college men to hope for any
success in making the Olympic crew.
Still another insuperable objection,
which college men must encounter, Is
the difference in the intercollegiate and
Olympic courses. They will have been
trained for a four-mile race ana no
matter how good such man would be
at four miles he would be practlcaily
useless in a race at one and hVe-SlX-
teenths miles, which is the lehslh Oh
the Olympic course.
1t seems that practically the only OBJ
iections encountered by the committee
in holding a preliminary regatta for the
selection of the American crew are that
the entries close June in England, and
that only twenty-seven names can pc
submitted. If this is all that STANDS III
the way the American committee
should demand of the English authori-
ties that they extend the date of receiv-
ing entries and accept the entry of as
many crews as the American commit
fee can sanction as bona fide amateurs
AS matter of fact, the English Olym-
pic committee has acted in most ar
bitrarv and snobbish manner as Tar
as rowing is concerned, and the Amerl-
can committee would receive the COM
plete support of the public If 1t refused
to enter an eight under such condltlons.
There is no doubt that II pressure
were brought to bear on the English
committee the results would be sur
nrising. 1t is reported that the Bel
gian eight, whose crew, after winning
the grand challenge cup. was refused
nermission to defend this trophy in the
Henley regatta, got ample revenge by
declining to surrender the trophy until
it did have a chance to defend IL. III
the American committee will treat the
English rowing authorities with some
of this spirit this country VIII nave a
better chance of the Thames. Any set
of rules which limits our oarsmen to
men who have never done manual Ia
Dor, insists on having their entries
month in advance of their European
competitors and then practically elm
mates the college men, the cream OF
Americas oarsmen ought to receive
singing rebuke from some source.