Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-12-28
YALE OARSMEN
WILL HAVE NEW
ROWING COURSE
Guy Nickalls Selected a
Stretch on Housatonic
River for Crews
G RE AT IMPROVEMENT
By EDWARD R. BUSHNELL

At last Yale oarsmen are to have
decent rowing course on which to train,
but they have to 20 nearly ten miles to
get II. No longer will their crews battle
with all varieties of weather and water
in the harbor and risk illness and colds
from the exposure incident to the develop
mnt of their crews. After some 20 years
study of the problem of a new course, Il
special committee has found n five-mlle
stretch of water on the HOusaton!C River
near Derby, Conn. The Yale authorities
approve the project and temporary boat
house will be constructed at once and be
ready for the crews when they begin their
outdoor work in the spring.
Although the distance across country
Is much greater than the oarsmen now
have to travel 10 reach the present course,
It is shorter in the time consumed. 1t
can be reached by trolley express in 20
minutes or slightly less by automobile
1t is almost a continuation of Yale's
outdoor athletic equipment. for 1t is on
a direct line with the Bowl and the golf
course.
Nickalls Responsible.
The man who is responsible for the
change is Coach Guy Nickalls. When
Nickalls saw and experienced the con-
ditions under which Yale had to row on
the harbor he remarked that it was a
wonder to him that Yale ever won any
day on the harbor was to find the water
like mill pond at the start only to end
in a gale and the foundering of one of
the varsity boats. I'm consequence"
said Nickalls, 1--WE had a nice collection
of colds and sore throats, and every
crew was temporarily broken up and set
back I'm it's work. The tempestuous seas
encountered daily on the harbor have
knocked the men about, not only physi-
cally but mentally. When a human be-
ing is continually fighting against nature
he always tires first; in rowing Under
such conditions the boat travels like a
dead log; the individuals will power gets
gradually used up and he lacks interest
in his work because he feels that 1t is
no good working under such conditions"
On the Housatonic Yale will have the
choice of two courses. One is a two-mile
stretch OF water, which the Ellis main
tain is the best rowing course in the
East, "better, for instance" they say,
than the famous course on the Schuyl-
kill, and somewhat similar in appear
ance."
The announcement of the plans for
spring rowing IS expected to result in a
great boom for rowing at Yale. Coach
Nickalls and Captain Low are enthusi-
astic, Nickalls declaring that II will
give him his first chance to coach an
American crew under proper conditions.
Last year Yale won the intercollegiate
rowing championship, in spite of the
handicap OF the harbor course.
May Race There
Although Yale men are careful not to
suggest 1t. there is a possibility that the
new course may prove more acceptable
than that at New London for the Har-
yard-Yale boat race. The latter course
has never been entirely satisfactory and
cannot accommodate more than two
crews at a time. II is possible that II
the new course comes up to Yales eX-
pectatiOns, Harvard men may be asked to
look it over as a possible substitute for
the course on the Thames. Another plan
Yale has in mind is the development OF
an interseholastic regatta on the new
course under Yale auspices.