Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-05-29
EARLY BOAT RACES VITAL
Two-Mile Preliminaries Will Give
Line on Crews.
HARVARD AND CORNELL CLOSE
Unsafe TO Wager Much on Either
Eight, Says DOpist-Ynlc an I'm
known Factor So Far,
mt Least.

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 a good deal
better line than usual on the important
regattas at New London and Poughkeep-
sic. The most important Of all these early
races, that between Harvard and Cornell
is still to be rowed and the critics are
bound to reserve opinions until after the
meeting Of the two universities that stood
at the head OF American rowing last year
The race takes place this year at Cam
bridge on Memorial day
The Navy takes part in no intercollegiate
regatta this year. through hoped for per-
mission to go to Poughkeepsie not having
been obtained But the Annapolis crew, a
rattling good one, gave Harvard, early in
the season, close race, and, becoming
seasoned in that trial, beat Columbia. The
victory over Columbia, which was won
without much difficulty. was followed up
by gruelling struggle with Syracuse. vic
tory resting with the middies by the mar
rowest of margins.
Syracuse was third at Poughkeepsie last
year. well beaten by Columbia, which crew
honors. Columbia and Syracuse both have
good crews this year, excellent comblna-
lions for speed and well fitted to row two
mile races early In the season.
Harvard Ought to BE Good.
Therefore, IL Harvard rowing on the Sc
vern could beat crew that disposed of
Columbia and Syracuse, 1t is reasonably
safe TO assume that the Cambridge eight
&c 1ol In, ha . h
be, as a mater of fact. 1t ought to be a
crew even better than the superb one that
rowed the heart out of Yale at New Lon
don last year.
But 1t will not do to assume that Harvard
is going to beat Cornell easily. It 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 freshmen eight. He ought barring
troubles of the kind that wrecked his crews
in 1908, none of which have, developed as
yet, to have a better crew this year, And,
with each crew better than year 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
ard has stopped developing two-mile
crews for races on May go
| 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 uI
heart-breaking pace for three miles, and
had to do little more than paddle in the
last mile. A crew trained to row that way
! Is better In q two-mile race than one thai
IS content Just to keep on even terms fol
the first two and a half miles and trust tc
squirt toward the end. Columbia ha'
been trained in just the opposite way. II
the last three years the Columbia crews a
Porghkeepsie have rowed absolutely to G
time schedule for the first three miles
paying no attention at all to any othel
beat, and squirting only in the last mile
Each of those crews In 1907. 1908 and 1SJ
has been beaten by less than a boats
length by the crew that had made its bio
just a trifle earlier and had the power and
the stamina to stand off the rush of {
strong crew rowing from behind.
EARLY Form Reversed.
Thus Harvard, since the advent of tn,
new system, has been able to do good worl
in two-mile races, while Columbia hal
failed to make particularly good showing
before the Poughkeepsie race. Last year
for instance, Harvard fairly rowed ava!
from Columbia on the Charles, and was
in turn, beaten by Cornell. Then Columbia
largely despised, turned around and a
Poughkeepsie gave Cornell a remarkabl.
stiff fight
Harvards race with Cornell ought t
crystalize the situation pretty we'll Yal
is an unknown factor. more or less, blu
4 Vale will have TO have 81 much better crev
than last year to have a chance to bea
Harvard. At Poughkeepsie, Pennsylvania
and Wisconsin have failed TO reveal an,
ri IL 49,.