Omaha daily bee., 1910-12-11
Lack of Material
Defeats Yale Grew
in Harvard Race
Former Crew Captain Says More
Available Men Are Needed
at New Haven.

NEW HAVEN. Conn. Dec. 10-Yale's
rowing defeats are declared BY ex-Crew
Captain Cameron Waterman to lie due to
lack Of material waterman scores re-
cent attacks on Coach John kennedy,
who, he declares is the greatest rowing
coach Waterman says:
For years 1 have watched with alarm
the trend Of Yale rowing conditions and
the underlying causes. AS early as 1904
the result could be and was foreseen by
many. Harvard men with whom l have
conversed on the subject, very enormously
attribute the decline to our coaching sys-
tenn. as this was the entire trouble In
their own case not many years ago.
AT one time there was much trouble
with our coaching system, and nv looking
over table OF Yale-Harvard races one
can easily locate its date but that time
is past. and l believe our present coach
ing system 10 be the NEST possible to
meet American conditions and our coach,
John Kennedy, to be without peer. My
own rather unusual experience with Yale
rowing placed me in position to judge
it better than anyone who has rowed at
Yale in recent years.
Il entered college in the fall of 1897, In
time to see the last OF the Cook regime,
viewing II from the inside, and remained
on the ground until June, 1904 In 1891
Bob Cook was In his rowing dotage, 80
to speak; his ideas were not fixed, as they
had formerly been. and he had lost his
self-oonfidence. The graduates who re-
turned for the spring coaching for a day
or two at time could not be In a posi-
ton to be valuable assistance in active
coaching. There had not been on hand
to watch the development in the rowing
of the men as individuals or as a crew.
"Dr. Gallaudet, who followed Bob Cook
as coach, put his whole heart and soul
into the work but although a finished
osrsman himself. he had not the coach
ing experience that is essential to accom-
plish results His theories were not based
on sufficient practice.
Il have seen graduates coach men for
weeks at a time in vain endeavor to make
them row like the rest Of the boat and
then appeal to John Kennedy, who cor
rected the trouble over night by simply
changing the rigging Of the boat. BY rails
ing or lowering the mans slide or outrig-
ger the correction would be made and the
next day that man would row like the
rest OF the crew. without ever knowing
that things were different--except that he
might feel more natural or comfortable
and be able to get more power into his
stroke The rigging is something that
does not enter into the matter in foot
ball coaching. and it makes crew coach
ing a different proposition. When / was
in law school in 1902 / saw John Kennedy
come into actual control With him a su-
preme control of the active coaching Yale
turned out winning crews, the coaching
problem was solved. and while he holds
the same position we must look elsewhere
for the cause Of tiIe decline.
TN 1904 the new trouble began to appear
the lack OF material. Men who won
their " on the foot ball field or felt rea-
sonabiy sure Of ultimately winning 1t, did
not come out for the crew.
Neither Yale nor any other college has
proved that a winning crew can be turned
out without material, and that 1 consider
the entire trouble at the present time"