Evening star., 1909-06-27
LOOKS LIKE CORNELL
AT POUGH]KEEPS|E
Expert Bushnell Picks Court
ney's Boys to Beat All Col
Iege Crews.
By Edward r. Bushnell.

By Edward r. Bushnell.
POUGHK EEPSIE. n. Y. June "a
That this is another Of those frequent
Cornell years is the almost inevitable
conclusion OF those who have had an OPP
por;unity to study the crews of the five
universities now training on the Hudson
for the twelfth annual regatta of the In
tercollegiate Rowing Association to be
contested over this course Friday, July =
No matter which of Cornell's three crews
one wishes 20 study-the varsity eight,
freshman eight or varsity four-it has all
the earmarks of the Courtney crew. And
this means that 1t is just about good
enough To romp away from all contend
ers. This opinion is not reached without
giving due consideration to the merits
of the other four OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
Pennsylvania, Columbia and Wisconsin.
The sentiment of the critics regarding
the Cornell varsity eight has undergone
a radical change since Coach Courtney
boated the present varsity crew at ithaca
some weeks ago. When 1t was learned
that this boat contained not single
member of the 1908 crew the college
world took il for granted that this was to
be lean year in Cornell aquattcs. But
when this same crew SO easily trounced
the Harvard junior eight at the Ameri-
can regatta May - the reformation in
sentiment started. 1t was completed ten
days later when this same junior eight
decisively defeated the Harvard var
sity on Lake Cayuga. Courtney still has
several members OF his 1905 Poughkep-
sic crews on hand. but that he prefers
his present combination and keeps the
veterans on the substitute list is pretty
good evidence that he thinks this crew
a certain winner.
Courtney himself is reluctant to talk
- 1t H.,
est he will come to praising 1t is to say
that lit isn't quite SO fast as either the
1901 or the 1868 eights." Everybody on
the river knows what this means for il
this years eight was good as the COM
binations referred TO the other coaches
know that they might just as well take
their crews home.
Columbia and Syracuse Strong.
The two crews which look to have the
best show to make trouble for Cornell
are Syracuse and Columbia. The Syra-
cuse oarsmen are quite confident of their
ability to take the measure of their dear
Is hated foes from Ithaca. They have
in their boat four veterans from last
year and also have what advantage
goes with an average of five pounds more
weight to the man than Cornell.
There was a time when this would
have been considered an advantage worth
while. but nowadays it is not SO much
the weight a man has as his ability to
make the boat go through the water.
The Syracuse crews only reached here
Monday and have not had as much op
portunity to become familiar with the
course as Cornell and Columbia, who
have been here nearly two weeks longer
This Syracuse crew is typical SYRIA
cuse eight and gives an Indication of
great strength. The men row the we'll
known Ten Eyck stroke, and their boat
cuts through the water with a speed
which suggests an even faster crew than
that which won the big race for Syra-
cuse a year ago. But in spite of this
the Syracuse crew does not appear to
have the finish of Cornell. There is also
a slight check of the shell between
strokes that is missing in the Cornell
she'll
Turning from Syracuse TO Columbia, it
is hard to determine which is the more
likely to give Cornell a tussle. There
is only one means of comparison. Both
crows rowed Annapolis. The Middies beat
Columbia. but lost to Syracuse Other
things being equal, this would suggest
that Syracuse has the better eight, but
the Columbia eight has been shifted and
patched so much since it's defeat that
i is bound TO be a different crew when
il starts the big race, and may be able
TO make good the boast of the Blue and
White supporters and finish next TO Cor
nell if not ahead Of the Ithacans There
Is also a means of comparing Cornell
and Columbia. Columbia was disgrace
fully beaten by Harvard April IL. while
tins same Crimson crew is the one which
Cornell defeated.
The Columbia oarsmen are very secre-
tive in their practice. They live in a
houseboat up the river and only on rare
occasions do they give the other colleges
a chance to see them at work. In weight
they average 1IOA, just little less than
Syracuse, but more than Cornell.
Penn and Wisconsin.
For some reason or other no one seems
to rate the Pennsylvania or Wisconsin
varsity eights very highly. There is a
good reason for this. as far as Pennsyl-
vania is concerned 1t will be remembered
that when the Quakers defeated Yale
early in April the Quakers' rowing stock
took sudden jump. But the very next
week saw a start toward the destruction
of these rosy dreams. Two of the best
men left the shell after the Yale race
and could not be induced to return. Then
Coach Ward, who has had misfortune
enough to discourage a less reSolute man,
started to reconstruct his crew. This he
did in the face of many difficulties and
many more changes. He has accom-
plished much more with the material at
his command than many persons thought
possible, but it is doubtful if Mr. Ward
himself regards his eight as a serious
contender for the championship. though
II the crew that rowed Yale could have
bttN the QUdheTS would nave
some of the other crews trembling now.
This years Pennsylvania eight has
the advantage of having rowed more
miles than its 1908 predecessor Think
ing that the fact that three miles has
heretofore been the limit of Pennsylva-
MAS practice on the Schuylkill might be
the cause of its weakness. a four-mile
course. though not a good one, was
measured off, and the men have been
training over the full distance since the
latter part Of April. Just what differ
ence this makes In Pennsylvania final
rating the race itself must show.
The Wisconsin eight has not made the
impression expected of it. he fact that
the Badgers retained a goodN proportion
of their 1905 crew was responsible for the
belief that this might be Wisconsin )
year. The men are a. husky lot but
hardly any heavier than Cornell. They
have been Handicapped by lack of an OPP
portunity 10 test their strength against
other rowing colleges, and will have to
tight against their handicap until they
prevail upon some of the western univer-
sites to take up rowing which is not a
very promising outlook.
The Freshman Crews.
The merriest fight of all, the most dan.
gerous and the hardest TO speculate upon
is that for freshman eights. in which al
five universities will have representatives
Here again the Cornell youngsters seem
to be rowing the most impressively, bu,
both Pennsylvania and Columbia are vel
OFF with freshman eights and the fight
is sure 10 be a bitter one. AS all the
oarsmen are OF necessity new men there
- aSiS nf M