New-York tribune., 1909-02-07
ROW SIX MILES--RICE
COURSES NOT TOO LONG.
Columbia Coach Thinks Short Dis
tance More Harmful to OarSmen.

tGnce More HGrmtUt to OdrSnlfn.
James c. Rice the coach of the Columbia Uni
versity crews. was a talkative mood yesterday.
and in few spare moments between showing
freshman how to use the slide and teaching
varsity man the finer points OF featherng the oar
stock on the machines in the rowing room of the
Morningside Heights college. he told what he
thought of the agitation to have the length OF the
varsity eight-oared shell races reduced to three
miles. According TO Mr. Rice there is no more
reason why this should be done than that all run
ming races should be confined to spTinting. AS for
the injurious effects that are supposed to follow
rowing in a four-mile race, the Columbia coacn
thinks that they exist mostly in the minds Of the
people who write about races without going near
the scene Of the contests.
Rowing IS a hard sport" said Mr.. Rice ANY
body who knows anything about the game VIII
admit that bu. for a man who has undergone a
proper system of training 10 suffer permanent
physical disability of some sort other after pull
ing four miles a varsity shell is about as absurd
as TO say that a locomotive of an express tram
breaks down and has to go TO bed and take rest
after a run. a little overhaUling is all that Is
needed to put the engine in condition and all that
man needs is the proper preparation for the con-
test.
..Oarsmen. especially oarsmen in the colleges, get
themselves in better physical condition Tor rae
than athletes in any other branch OF sport For
six months they train carefully, observing all the
laws of hygiene and at the end OF that time they
are in much better condition 10 row four miles
ITO shorten the length Of the eight-oared races
IS about the worst thing that could be done For
myself I don't think that It would hurt very much
for the distance he heightened to- say six miles
The men could stand it; there is TO doubt IN my
mind as to that Why. for a three-Inile or race
Of shorter distance man has TO be able 10 row at
a heartbreaking pace all the "sy- 1t wou!d be
nothing but a sprint from the start TO the finish
It would be all finish
THE four-mfe race, on the other hand, has a
beginning middle and an end. The crews start
off with rush, but they soon slow down. and then
in the last half mile they have their sprint, arter
rowing comparatively all the first part OF the dis
tance easily Anybody who was at Poughkeepsie
last spring saw what happened to the crews that
tried the sprinting game from the start to the I'm
ish. For the first two miles Pennsylvania ana
Wisconsin rowed for all they were worth, but the
other three crews took their time after getting
through with the little sprint customary at the
start. But both OF these crews blew up In the
third mile and compelled to go slowly to the
finish.
Even at that the slower pace gave them a chance
TO rest up. and they were not badly done up az
the end of four miles. This, think, shows that
the four-mile is the best. The men in the
crews that started out 10 row the four-Tnile dis
showed signs of collapse at any stage or
the contest while the sprinters done for when
they had gone half the distance. II the distance
were six miles l think the men would be In just as
good condition provided, OF course, that they had
the right training.
Another thing that figures largely IN the races
at Poughkeepse and New London is the fact that
they are always -owed with a favorIng tide. Now
everybody should know that this reduces the strain
on the men considerably. The hardest kind Of
work a man can do is to three miles IN
single in dead water but Il is an entirely different
proposition when rowing In tidewater.
Il don't take much stock IN this talk about row
ing disabling physically. From my
perience have found that just the opposite is the
case Man develop much rapidly through
rowing than through taking part in other sports
l have had freshmen here at Columbia gain from
six TO fifteen pounds in weight in single season
and become cOrrespOndingly stronger. One man
who rowed IN the 10 freshman eight weighed 14s
pounds when he first reported, and last June when
he rowed in the varsity boat he tipped the scale at
1863 pounds. The other men in that crew have far
surpassed their classmates who went out for other
sports and even their work in the class room,
an told is better the average than that OF
those who did not go in for athletics.
AS for rowing shortening the lives Of the men
who take it up, that is statement that is absO-
luteIv untrue Oarsmen are the longest lived OF
all men and they usually the heaTtiest and
most robust. Neither /, any other to-
day has been able to observe just what effect the
modern intercollegiate race has the length OF
the lives of the men who take part We haven't
lived long enough for that I do know, however.
Dared boats with fixed seats much harder work
than rowing in an up-to-data shell. live TO a hale
old age They're going to have race in England
next summer between two crews Of veteran
men none OF the TO be less than seventy-hve
wears old II the rowing injurious l don't
think that there would be enough men of this age
lra IN he crews the race"