New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1921-08-14
Syracuse Crew
Coach Defends
4-Mile Races
Ten Eyck Says Training and
Not Length Counts ia IN
tercollegiatc TILE Tits

SYRACUSE, N. Y, Aug. 19.-"It's
not SO much the length Of tho race
that counts as the train:nz given the
crews" declares James A. Tsn Eyck.
veteran coach Of the 3yra cuse Univc--
sity oarsmen, in discussing the deb ate
now in progress IN rc1 ng circles
about the length of the inter- oller.ate
regattas.
Zone of the outstanding tes+ures Of
me a1ter-regatta comment" says Ten
Eyck, us that which concerns the
length Of the rsce.' For yes-s the cor
troversy regarding the distance has
waved and waned Just now :. seems
TO be waxing again, and considerable
comedy has resulted, at least for those
VINO know enough about the racing
game to see both comedy and tragedy
in the varying aspects.
1t seems that the question is to be
reopened in intercolleg iste rowing and
a renewed discussion of the relative
merits OF the three and four mile race
again set forth. ! nave been asked
my opinion on the length Of the Isce
and have replied, as on former oc-
casions, that, as far as nay crews AMI
myself are concerned, the length of
the race is immaterial. 1t is the train
a crew can be trained to row either a
three or four mile course, according
TO the distance officially decided upon.
Would Add Deadly Mile"
Certain New York papers a few
years ago were loud in their disap-
prevail of what they were pleased to
call the last deadly mile 1t seems
that now they would like to see this
so-called last mile again added
to the intercollegiate distanca, and in
order to enforce their point they make
some comparisons and contrasts be-
tween the Poughkeepsie and the New
London races. The arguments seem
to lose point, however. as the crew
the New Workers. had picked to win
finished last and in bad condition over
the three-mile course.
Now it looks reasonable that a
crew which cannot row q threemile
lace couldn't hope to win in four
mile event. With the former discus
sion in mind it is interesting to refer
to recent article on rowing in
New York paper, wherein the inter
collegiate regatta suffers materially in
comparison with the races at New Lon
don.
1.-The comparison was not favorable
to the shorter race, the article states,
and goes on TO describe the Pough-
keepsle varsity race as a furious
scramble from start to finish. 1t had
the same amount Of science and gen
eralship as a wild a. m Jam" at a
slx-day D.cyele race. The Naval Acad-
envy lmped away IN ,icketysplt
fashicn-the Californians proved TO be
the second best amblers-while
poor Columbia, rowing the quietly
elegant Rice stroke, was last in the
bewildering shuttle"
Towards Work Brainlcss
"The writer of the above quoted
article goes on to comment on the
crafty strategy and subtle tactics'
which enabled Yale to get a lead on
acterizes Harvard's performance as
7brainless' and her defeat due to slug
gish OPTIMISM but he does not apply
these scornful epithets to the tailendors
at the iatercollegi 1t makes onc
wonder wherein the difference lies.
"Why not look at facts as facts ,
Yale beat Harvard either because she
rowed better race or because Harvard
suffered some handicap from position
CIR tide, or some other detail which no
one knows except the rowing men. and
the Navy won the intercollegiate simply
because she had the best crew in the
race.
Il take it that the above characteri-
cation is meant to belittie the Nays
form. There was no scratching nor
scrambling in the Nayv's she'll. 1t is
the most perfect machine l have ever
seen on the water, and during the last
fifty years l have seen lot of boat
racing. The Navy codld easily. with
her five lengths lead, have rowed an
other mile, while Columbia. with her
quietly elegant stroke was doing the
'scrambling' at the two-mile mark,
and at the three-rnile finish line there
was boat.oad of men who were lying
on the side of the she'll, and I under
stand one of the poor fellows didn't
come to for several hours. Now if they
had been obliged to row another mile
with their quietly elegant stroke I
wonder just where they would have
finished The Navy could have rowed
on to New York City, apparently, had
they been asked to do So