THE RECORD IN ROWING.

Five years ago this autumn Mr. R. C. Lehmann came to coach the Harvard crew. For two years, '97 and '98, he was in charge. Since then I have had that pleasure.

To get at the beginning of the present general interest in rowing, we must go back several years before this period to the time when Mr. George W. Weld gave the boat house for the Weld Club, and Mr. W. S. Youngman persuaded many men to join the Club and to row, and finally succeeded in proving to the lofty ones at the University Boat House that there were other men in College who could row, thus greatly increasing the element of competition.

In the autumn of '96 this growing interest was greatly increased by the arrival of Mr. Lehmann. Mr. Lehmann had been for several years the coach of the Oxford University Crew, had been very successful, and was considered to be the best coach for eights in England, the home of good rowing. He came at the request of Captain Goodrich of the University crew, and with the approval of the Athletic Committee and the leading graduates interested in rowing, to help the Harvard crew out of the rut into which it had fallen. He was a man of great natural enthusiasm and charming manner, the College and the rowing men were delighted with him and went at the task with renewed hope and vigor.

To the enthusiasm then aroused and to the courage and foresight of Captains Goodrich, Perkins and Higginson, in changing the old system of lass races and preparation for the University crew is larpely due the present increased general interest and skill. The new boathouse given by the New York graduates has now been in use one year, and has contributed very greatly to the pleasure and attractiveness of rowing for many men.

Victories over Yale have not been plentiful, but there have been some, and several of the races have been close and interesting. It is in the greatly increased amount of general rowing and the improvement in the average standard of skill that the greatest change can be noted. That there has been an advance here no one will doubt who has been down to the river and followed the crews. Even this autumn, in the height of the football season, there were from twelve to fifteen crews out daily, while last spring there were twice that number, many of them being able to swing along at a very good pace.

The style taught by Mr. Lehmann was the same as that used before and since then, in theory and in a manner of applying the power. It differed in using a greater length of body swing, both forward and back; using a shorter slide and in several other less important details, all of which gave the crew when in motion a very different appearance from that to which we had been accustomed. All hands took hold with enthusiasm and the men apparently mastered the new style, so that by the end of May '97 the crew was going at a good pace. The three weeks previous to the race the crew spent at Poughkeepsie-on-the-Hudson, and during all that time fell off steadily in condition, so that when the race came they were quite unable to do themselves justice, and were badly beaten by both Cornell and Yale. Part of this was undoubtedly due to the harmful effect of the climate, while part may have come from overwork and inability to stand the strain of the very long body swing.

In '98 several of the most promising men left College to fight in the war against Spain, so that the crew as picked was not really a first-class one physically, and though in good condition, was again badly beaten at New London.

The results of these two years do not by any means prove that the style attempted was wrong. Nevertheless, it seemed safer in '99 to shorten the body swing a little, lengthen the slide, and seat the men lower in the boat, and the same style and rigging have been kept in 1900 and 1901.

In '99 the changes in the general plan of the spring rowing which had been made by Captain Goodrich and Perkins were carried still further by Captain Higginson. The old system of class races was abandoned, the Newell Club was formed, the men divided between the Weld and Newell, and the time for picking the University Crew squad deferred until about May 1, after there had been three sets of inter-class and inter-club races.

The same plan has been followed in 1900 and 1901, but it seems now that perhaps it may be changed somewhat to advantage before another season.

The '99 crew was a good one. There were good men in it, intelligent, and of the right spirit, and they learned to row well. They beat the Yale crew five lengths. The 1900 crew was a good crew too, better than the '99 crew. On Sunday Higginson, Captain and stroke broke his ankle. Harding went from two to stroke and after only three days' practice the crew rowed a beautiful race and were three-fourths of a length in the lead and still going away at the 3 1-4 miles, when Harding collapsed, knocked out by sunstroke. The race was rowed at 1.30 p.m., under a fierce sun and no wind. Harding had a slight sunstroke four years previously. He will always have what is known as a sensitive head, but apparently is otherwise none the worse for his experience.

The 1901 crew was a clumsy one; the men were strong and willing, but lacked finish. They were never able to get thoroughly well together, or to row the boat steady, and consequently never got the speed they should have had. Nevertheless, they were even with Yale at 3 3-4 miles and were beaten out at the finish only after a desperate race.

For three years there have been races between the 'Varsity substitutes in four-oar shells with coxswain and Harvard has won them all,--the first and last easily,--the second by about three lengths.

The outlook for next spring is for the largest number of men ever seen on the river, and the keenest competition for places. This should insure only good men reaching the top and these with proper leadership and coaching should be able to hold their own with Yale. What we want now are victories.

Before closing I wish to bring before you another matter, and to urge you to consider it carefully, namely, the length of the race. Should it be four miles or three? I am of opinion that it should be the latter.  EDW. C. STORROW.

The five years covered by the agreement with Yale mark what has probably been the most important period in Harvard's rowing history. Previous to 1897 a number of different methods and systems had been followed, and the result as everybody well knows, was far from satisfactory. At the beginning of the autumn of 1896 Mr. R. C. Lehmann was invited to come to America and supervise the coaching of Harvard rowing. This he kindly and generously consented to do. On his arrival he set to work to change the style, so that it should conform to what was generally considered best in England. The two most important and obvious changes were shortening the slide by four or five inches and lengthening the body swing forward and back by about double. There were of course a number of other changes in the rigging which were also important but which would require too much space to be treated here.

The training of the University crew in '97 was an exception to that of previous years. The schedule consisted of about two months' work in pairs and eights in the autumn. After Christmas the candidates were called out and worked daily until the race; that is, such of them as were able to show their superiority. The class crews did much the same, excepting that they did nothing in the autumn, and after the class race in the spring they stopped. This was the first year that the Weld Boat Club really came into prominence. It profited immensely by the new enthusiasm for rowing that arose that year and showed greatly increased activity and improvement.

The race in 1897 was a three cornered one, and was rowed on the Hudson at Poughkeepsie. The University and Freshman crews spent an unusually long time there that year, which proved to be serious mistake, as the climate and locality had an injurious effect upon the men. The result of the race was, as everybody knows, most disastrous. The Harvard crew had, a week before, made before, made exceedingly fast time, but in the race the long body swing and the had effect of the climate played such have with the crew that it failed finish.

Immediately after the race Mr. Lehmann again offered his services, and came back the next autumn. The autumn rowing in 1897 was made considerably more important and interesting than it had been formerly. Rowing began in four-oared shells, which raced at the end of October. Candidates were then picked for two trial eights, which raced a month later. After this a provisional University crew was picked from the best men and practiced for another two weeks.

After Christmas no University squad was called, but instead everybody was told to try for his class crew. Very little was done until after the mid-years, when all the class crew squads were organized and began daily work. The Weld Boat Club proved of great assistance, as each class crew used its respective Weld class crew as a second and a trial horse with which it could race. The class races came just before the last vacation, and were well contested.

During the vacation the University squad began regular work under a now captain, J. H. Perkins; D. M. Goodrich who had been captain nearly two years, having resigned. The excellence of the '98 crew was seriously impaired by the absence of a number of the most promising candidates, who enlisted for the Spanish war.

The race was at New London, and was three-cornered,--Yale and Cornell being the other two crews. The crew in this race was certainly in good condition, but it did not contain good material, and what speed it had could only be shown, in smooth water. Harvard was last in the race.

The following year an attempt was made to combine with the Weld Boat Club and broaden rowing. The four-oared races were first held, and after that a race between four eight-oared crews, two from the University Boat House and two from the Weld. Mr. E. C. Storrow '89 was appointed head coach, and the style adopted was a compromise between that taught by Mr. Lebmann and that which had been in vogne during the few years preceding him. It was felt this year that something more permanent than the class crew system should be adopted, so the Newell Boat Club was formed and given part of the University Boat House.

The regular Class crews rowed this year as formerly, and besides each club had its set of class crews. The various class races took place as in the previous years, and then each club formed first and second crews which raced two weeks later, and from these four crews the University squad was selected at the beginning of May. The race this year was a dual one as it used to be before the rupture with Yale, and resulted favorably for Harvard.

The work of the following year was very similar, excepting that all the autumn rowing was done in eights and under the auspices of the two clubs. In the spring the old form of class crews was done away with and instead each club had its set of class crews. Each pair of class crews raced together to decide which should represent the class as a whole, and the winning crews raced just before Easter. The programme for the University squad was exactly the same in 1900 as in '99, both in Cambridge and New London. Unfortunately the Harvard crew met with a series of accidents, and the race was won by Yale in the last half mile.

Rowing during the last two years had become much more popular, about 450 men getting out on the water each year, and any where from 23 to 27 organized eights, beside several fours.

The year of 1900-01 was a repetition of the preceding one in every respect, even so far as the result of the race. However, the crew was a good one, and only lost after a close fight because Yale had a better one. It is unreasonable to expect to win always, but it is not unreasonable to expect that the University crew shall be a good one always. The present system certainly fills the requirements as nothing else ever did, for it allows a great many men to row who never used to have a chance, but who not infrequently prove to be good,--to row and to be sure of getting instruction. And what is more, the system can always accommodate more. The one thing that is necessary for both undergraduates and graduates to remember is that it needs all the help that can be given it, for if allowed to run by itself it will run down