Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-05-23
REVIEW OF ROWING
Annapolis Good Trial Horse
for Four-MiIe Crews.
HARVARD-CORNELL NEXT
Contest at Cambridge Likely to Give
Good Line on Prospects for
Big Regattas.

NEW YORK, May 2S.-The preliminary
boat races this year. the two-mile affairs
that annually cause SO much heartburning
and confusion, promise to give good deal
better line than usual on the important
ragattas at New London and Poughkeep-
sic. The most important of all these early
races. that between Harvard and Cornell
is still to be rowed, of course, and the
critics are bound to reserve opinions un-
til after the meeting of, the two univer-
sites that stood at the head of American
rowing last year. The race takes place
this year at Cambridge, as usual, Me-
mortal day
The Navy takes part in no intercolle-
Slate regatta this year, the hoped-for per-
mission to go to Poughkeepsie not having
been obtained. But the Annapolis crew,
a rafting good one. gave Harvard, early
IN the season. close race, and, becom-
ing seasoned in that trial, beat Columbia
won without much difficulty. was followed
up on Saturday by gruelng struggle
with Syracuse victory resting with the
middies by the narrowest of margins
Syracuse was third at Poughkeepsie last
year, well beaten by Columbia. which
crew gave Cornell a pretty hard fight for
first honors. Columbia and Syracuse both
have good crews this year. excellent COM
two-mile races early in the season.
Therefore, if Harvard, rowing on the
Severn. could beat a crew that disposed
of Columbia and Syracuse it is reasonably
safe to assume that the Cambridge eight
is formidable in the extreme. 1t ought to
be, as a matter of fact. 1t ought to be
crew even better than the supAb one that
rowed the heart out OF Yale at New Lon
don last year.
But it will not do to assume that Har-
ward * fn Si1y I
would be unwise to bet on Harvard to
beat Cornell at all to any large amount,
and it would be equally unwise to bet
much on Cornell Courtney had two
great crews on the Hudson last year-his
varsity and his freshman eight. He
ought. barring troubles of the kind that
wrecked his crews in 1908, none of which
has developed as yet. to have better
crew this year. And. with each crew
better than ayear ago. the race on the
Charles ought to- be well worth watching.
Local conditions favor Harvard. but
Wray has only one object-to beat Yale
and has stopped developing two-mIe
crews for races on May 30.
The Harvard crew now is on its way to
the race with Yale, the ultimate test. 1t
is being trained to row four miles. Now,
last years crew went after the big race
from the gun, shot into the lead, kept up
and had to do little more than paddle in
the last mile. crew trained to row that
way is better in tWo-mile race than one
that is content just to keep on even
terms for the first two and a half miles
and trust to a squirt toward the end. Co.
lunbia has been trained in just the Oppo-
site way. In the last three years the Co.
lumbia crews at Poughkeepsie have rowed
absolutely TO a time schedule for the
first three miles, paying no attention at
all to any other boat, and squirting only
in the last mile. Each of these crews in
1907, 1908 and 1863 has been beaten by
less than a boats length by the crew
that had made it's bid just a trifie earlier
and had the power and the stamina to
stand off the rush of a strong crew row.
ing from behind.
Thus Harvard, since the advent Of the
new system, has been able to do good
work in two-mie races, while Columbia
has failed to make a particularly good
before the ,Poughkeepsie race.
Last year, for instance. Harvard fairly
rowed away from Columbia on the
Charles, and was. in turn. beaten by Cor
nell. Then Columbia. largely despised.
turned around and, at Poughkeepsie, gave
Cornell remarkably stiff fight.
Harvard's race with Cornell ought to
crystalline the situa ton pretty well. Yale
is an unknown factor, more or less, but
Yale will have to have a much better
crew than last year to have a chance to
beat Harvard At POughkeepsie, Penn
sylvania and Wisconsin have failed to re-
veal any indications of their form as yet.