The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-02-24
BADGERS WILL
ENTER CREW AT
POUGHKEEPSIE
Shortening of Classic
to 3 Miles PLeases
College.
BY LAWRENCE PERRY.
downright. 1922. by The Argus. }

New York, Feb. Z4--ALnietlC du-
thorities at the University of Wis
consin are looking forward to send
ling a varsity and freshmen crew to
the Poughkecpsie regatta on the
Hudson river next June. The wrl-
| ter is in a position to make this
! statement today on the word or f.
f. Jones, director of athletics at
Madison.
rhe venture depends upon the
progress of the two Fights when
they are boated on Lake Mendoza
as soon as the ice clears, Wnlcn
will be in March. At the present
timeia large number of candidates
are working on the machines, and,
as usual, there is no criticism on
the score OF physique. Much That
is valuable may be done indoors,
but after all the real test comes
when the men put their shells over
board and swing sweeps under
actual rowing conditions. With
satisfactory showing at this stlme,
Mr. Jones says that there is every
possibility of wisconsin being rep
resented in the east this year.
Revived Last Year.
The Badgers really established
rowing as an intercollegiate sport
last year. but restricted competl-
ton to the boat clubs OF the mid
die west. This marked a revival
of a1uatics after a lapse OF seven
wears, competitive rowing having
been discontinued in 1914. Prior
to that time Wisconsin was factor
in the great intercollegiate regatta
on the Hudson river, beginning in
1901 when the middle western eight
finished third, Cornell winning and
Columbia an excellent second. In
1902 the crew from Madison finish
ed only six seconds behind Cornell.
the winner in that year. In 1903
the middle westerners were third,
being distanced by Cornell and
GEORGETOWN. while in 1904 and 1905
| they trailed the procession. Next
year they finished fourth: 1907.
| fifth; 1908, last; 1909, fourth; 1910,
! last; 1911, fourth. In 1912 W1scon-
sin came east with a splendid crew
and was only nosed out at the fin
! ish by Cornell About three sec
onds separated the winner and the
runner-up. Washington, Paclflc
coast entry, beat the Badgers in
the struggle for third place in the
1913 regatta, while the following
year-the last in which the Madi-
son institution was represented at
Poughkeepsie-th crew finished
last.
Race Too Long.
1t was after the regatta OF 1914
that DR.. Ehler, then athletic direc-
tor at Wisconsin, put the oarsmen
under rigid physical examination,
as a result of which four-mile row.
ing was declared to have proved
injurious and Wisconsin withdrew
from further competition until last
wear. Reduction of the Pough-
keepsie distance from four to three
miles has undoubtedly played a
part in the renewed interest of the
Badger authorities and it is likely
that had the Poughkeepsie stew
ards decided to return to the four
mile route this year the interests
of the regatta would have been in
! jured.
All sorts of opinion concerning
the proper distance for rowing
have been put forth since the meet
| Ing OI the fOuSnhGSpSIe Stew Oh %
last week and the point that pro-
tudes most significantly is that
among institutions which have
rowed the four miles in the past
there is a marked division of sell
timent Proponents of the four
mile distance cite medical statistics
to show that in point of longevity
the four-mile rowing alumni COM
pare vegy we'll with graduates who
| did not row.
But what is overlooked is that in
former days oarsmen were not
called upon to go through the sue
cession of exhausting and nerve
wrecking two-mile races that have
| marked the so-called preliminary
season in the last 10 years, while
at the same time figures which
merely show that certains groups
of alumni are still living are in
| adequate.
| N N m 7Hu - Wu - m