Los Angeles herald., 1908-09-13
GREAT REGATTA
IS MADE CERTAIN
0ARSMEN WILL GATHER AT
NAPLES
FIVE BIG BOAT CLUBS TO PAR
TIcIPATE
Aquatic Sports on South Coast VIII
Be Given Great Impetus-His-
tory Of California
Rowing
sY CHESTER LAwRNEcE

| IN the west VIII De pulleu OH dI Ndpico
| Saturday, October "a. The affair will
be held under the auspices of the Los
Angeles Athletic club and will be par
ticipated in by the senior crews of
tSanford university, San Diego Rowing
club Los Angeles Athletic club, the
Dolphin Rowing club and probably
other crack northern crews.
| Plans for the regatta have been I'M
der discussion many weeks and was
finally decided yesterday when let
| ter was received from the STANFORD
Rowing association accepting the IN
vitation to row in Southern California
waters in competition with such good
crews as will participate
| One of the prime leaders in the move
ment is A. M. Parsons of Naples, an
ardent sportsman, who is not SLOW TO
recognize the fact that Southern Cali
fornia abounds with material for
championship crews. He long ago came
to the conclusion which since has been
verified by Coach AL Treloar of the Los
Angeles Athletic club that there Is no
finer place to hold match rowing
race in the state of California than at
Naples. There is an excellent two
mile straightaway, on both sizes OF
which is ample room for thousands OF
spectators to get an excellent view OIL
the whole course. There the course is
2.
abreast without crowding.
Keen Rivalry Exists
Each crew will bring a four~oar shell
in addition to two single Sculls. 1nere
will be no junior events on TINS DAY,
as this latter event Will De suppIah.teo
NV q four-oar shell race between the
I,os Angeles Athletic club and the san
Dieeo Rowing club. Keenest rivalry
ov;sts between the two latter crews,
and while each crew realizes tnat
stanford is a power to be reckoned with
thew are particularly anxious TO peat
each other. ,.,o
In order to make the day memorapie
in the history of the western aquatic
world arrangements are pelng coiilp,e
ed for a series of championship swim
ming events which will be held under
the suspices of the Southern California
Swimming association. THESE VIII De
on fine same order as the recent SWIM
ming tournament for the champion
ships of Southern California, when was
witnessed by thousands of spectators.
Coach Treloar will get the crew out
for their first practice at Naples
"Wednesday afternoon. A. M. Parsons
has arranged, quarters for the use OF
the club crew at Naples. Among the
members who probably will respond to
Treloar's call for candidates are George
Retzer, e. J. Derby, Jim Routzahh'
George Isaacs, Lou Guernsey, sam
Hall, Jorgstoff. Wheaton, Lewis ana
Morrison. Regardless of the fact that
the San Diego grew recently received
a new four-oar shell which is consld-
erably lighter and draws less water
than the shell of the Los Angeles Attn
| letic club, thel ocal boys are confdent
of their ability to defeat the southern
ers.
Series for Championship
The proposed regatta will be the first
of a series of championship eVenls
which eventually will lead to the Win
ming crew meeting Some OF the eieSh
eastern crews.
Rowing on the Pacific coast is COM
paratively new thing. 1t Is older at the
University of California and at stan
ford than at San Diego or Los Angeles'
because they began rowing at the
northern colleges in 1898. The Univer-
sitv of Washington did not take it up
until some years afterward, and 1t was
not until 1907 that rowing in eight-oar
shells was taken up in any of the coast
colleges before that all the rowing
having been odne in four-oar shells.
The University of California is really
the pioneer and has done most TO pro-
mote this game steadily. When row.
ing was started in 1898 e. M. Garnett,
Harvard 81, dClcQ as COdClls LhC JChi
following there were 500 men at the
California Boat club, which owned a
fine boat house. This was burned the
next year, but the Berkeley men got
together and put up a new boat house
on the Sausalito basin.
The rowing interest at Stanford,
which was started with an attempt to
send a crew to Chicago for race with
other colleges at the Worlds fair, last
ed only a brief time. Senator Stanford
subscribed the money for a SHE'LL and
a boat house was built at Lagunita.
The men did not realize what was be-
fore them. They went to work earnest
ly, but soon found that shell rowing is
not an easy thing to learn. The diff
ficulties punctured their enthusiasm,
and they gave up the trip. Stanford
University of California to get back
into the rowing game until many years
afterWard.
May Enter in East
In the meantime the University of
California was making trips up to the
north and rowing against clubs in Ore
gon and Washington, as well as with
local clubs in San Francisco, among
them being the Dolphin. These latter,
| however, did not give much time to
practice at that time. In 1900 Califor-
MIA bought a four-oar shell from Cor
nell. Goodwin, a Yale oarsman, coached
the crews. President Wheeler of Berke-
ley enthusiastically helped out rowing
at that time. For three years there
after rowing interest was keen.
About that time President Wheeler
was in the east attending one of the
intercollegiate regattas on the Hudson
and made the statement that soon q
crew from the state of California would
compete in the eastern regattas. This
did not come to pass, but from the out
look at present with the coming re-
gatta at Naples, which will be followed
by another in the spring. in which it
is most probable crew from the Uni
versity of California will be repre-
scented, the assertion may come true,
because it is expected that the winning
crew will be invited to participate at
one of the many regattas which will
be pulled off in the east around May
and June.
1t is, however, necessary that an
invitation be received. The eastern
stewards have followed a policy of at
tempting to insure themselves that a
crew or association once invited VIII
continue to send crews each season
thereafter regardless of the racing sue
cess. Should it chance that the crew OF
| the Los Angeles Athletic club should be
the winner of the great regatta there Is
| little doubt but what the officials and
| memh hers would back up an invitation