Norwich bulletin., 1914-07-29
AMERICAN STROKE THE
 BEST SAYS BAKER.
Victory of Harvard Second Eight on
 Thames convinces Him.

The victory of the. Harvard second b crew in the Henley regatta settled, as far as I am concerned, the longstand- ing controversy as to the relative mer- it's of the English and American strokes in rowing I.tllink that, many others saw the Harvard crews won derful performance. many of them English oarsmen, came to the same conclusion as 1 did, that the Ameri- can stroke is the best.
 The average American whe. has never seen an English crew in action does not realize the awkwardness of the English style. The English style has several times been reported to have been adopted by American uni versailles, as at Yale this year. but such reports are misleading. The American universities which have adopted a so.called English strol.e have merely taken some of the good points of the English and 'grafted them into the American style.
 American universities will never adopt the complete English stroke, Tn my opinion, but it is more than prob able that the English may modify their form somewhat so as to approach the American style. The form shown by the Harvard crew and the Union Boat club of Boston. in the. Henley was so far superior to that shown by the English crews that. even the English themselves were forced to admit that 1t was something besides mere brown and beef which sent the America n crews to the front.
 The English and European shells are sfde-r1gged, with the oarsmen sitting a little to one side in alternate order. instead of directly in the center and in back of each other as our men do, The result is that their crews present an unbalanced and dfsorderiy appear ance, while our look neat and sh.p- shape The European and English stroke is not a long one like ours. but depends very much upon the leverage which the arrangement of the .'thole'' pins afford and is usually shorter. more abrupt stroke. which is greater physical strain than ours.
 Even the English spectators at Hem ley noticed the difference in the an- pearance of the crews. and as the Har- ward crew rowed up the course in preparation for their thrilling ra ae agaanst LeandG. mHmurs of approyal could be heard all along the shore
 The British were so happy over the international polo victory at that time tnai they did not take the defeat of sneir crack oarsmen very much to near the men at the finish of the Har- Eaxd-L1eander race turned to friend and. said: T sny. old chan but thev;re jolly good crew" His friend an- swereu: T never saw Leander fall to
 
 wflacked-" Which shows that there . re E sdn lots of good sportmen left in Eng land.
 The Harvard-Leander race was I think one of the most splendid and thrilling sporting events I have evay seen. The crack English crew. made mp of the best Varsity oarsrnan in England, drew slightly ahead of the -Amef1cans in the first mile. but the sturdy Crimson rowens just wouId moi be defeated- and in the last mile over. took Leander and finished a half boat length in the lead It was a great race and . great victory for the United States- After seeing the race I was almost willing to forgive old John Har- yard and let by-gcnes be by zones.
 While in London also had an op- Ertunify to sec the English track cnampionshipe. in which 50 many Americans were entered. Homer Baker me New York boy, ran superbly. and I was greatly pleased, as were the many other Americans present, when ne won the half-nile. Harry Smith another New York runner who was an tered. was not feeling well on fine day form. eoo up 'o The Americans were at some little aisaovantage because of the poor sferx. The track Is very poor from an Amefscan standpoint There is no strad9ntaway for the 220-yard dash ana tnis has to be run over a r,1rvad cour9e. In which the inside man na- turaliy has a big advantage Tae 1urdles are run on the grass and tbs AmeEaoanm found some little fronhla in those events. -