Criticism of the Crews.

The University eight has been improving fairly steadily since its arrival at Red Top. Although a number of individual faults are still prominent, the crew as a whole is well together. Foster is inclined to be a little slow in the body at both ends of the stroke, but not enough so to cause any break between the bow and stern men. A good deal of practice with a very slow recover has developed in the men better control of slides than has been seen in most of the recent. University eights, but at a stroke much over thirty, especially when the men are tired after two or three miles, a tendency to slug, with the blades high off the water, is still apparent.

The crucial fault in the boat, however, is the lack of united leg drive. The legs, from which come the real power of any crew, do not make the hard drive at the same time. In this respect some improvement has been shown during the last few days, and the final speed of the eight will depend largely upon how far this development can be continued.

The Yale eight, though upset by many recent changes in order, appears to be at present faster than the University crew,--at least, as far as can be judged from times rows under varying conditions. Inboard the men appear, as was the case with last year's Yale eight, to be not well together; but they have a very fast and easy shoot-away at the end of the stroke, which enables them to recover with little hindrance to the movement, of the shell. Outboard the blades are almost perfectly together.

Neither crew, in its general work, is at present especially fast, but both show qualities which would seem like to lead to development into very speedy crews.