For this absence of competitions in an American University Boat Club, the severe American winter, which closes the rivers from about the middle of December until early in March, is only partly responsible. During October and November the rivers are open; but up to the present very little
advantage has been taken of these valuable months. At Harvard there has hitherto been no race or series of races for Fours or Pairs or Scullers, and freshmen, during their first term, have been exercised on a rowing machine, when they might, with infinitely greater profit, have gained instruction on the water.
Early in January, when the undergraduates have returned from their short Christmas vacation, a "squad" for the University crew has generally been formed and sent to the "training-table," and the men composing it have been put into regular exercise, consisting of running varied by occasional skating, and of rowing practice every day in the tank. When the ice breaks up in March an Eight appears upon the water, and practises regularly from that time until towards the end of June, when its race against the rival University takes place. This long period of combined practice has many obvious drawbacks, which will at once strike an experienced oarsman. I believe better results might be obtained by allowing members of the University "squad" to take part in the Class races, and then, after a period of rest, selecting the University crew.
Notwithstanding, however, all these disadvantages, rowing at American Universities has reached a high standard—a result due to the extraordinary earnestness and enthusiasm of those who take part in it. The American University oarsman is in every respect as strong and as well-developed in physique as the average Englishman. All he lacks is the prolonged racing experience, which makes the Englishman so formidable and robust an opponent. There are men amongst the old oars of Harvard, Yale, and Cornell, who have made skilled rowing their special study, and whose knowledge of all points of the game is fully as great as that of our English oars. Yale, in particular, has, during the last ten years, been able to turn out some wonderfully fine and powerful crews; but the tendency amongst the American University oarsmen, during recent years, has been to sacrifice body-swing to the mere piston action of the legs on a very long slide. There is now, however, a reaction, due to the visits paid by Cornell and Yale to Henley in 1895 and 1896, and the long body-swing and general steadiness, which are marked features of English rowing, are now being very successfully cultivated in America.
At the five chief rowing Universities—Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Pennsylvania, and Cornell—it is also customary to train a freshman crew every year, not merely for the local class races, but for competition against one another, the races taking place a few days before those in which the University crews compete. This year Yale defeated Harvard by something more than a length, Harvard being about three-quarters of a length ahead of Cornell. The race—a two-mile one—was very severe, and the crews, considering their material, showed, on the whole, better form than that displayed by the University crews. A week later the Cornell freshmen defeated those from Pennsylvania and Columbia over the same course. It is surprising to see what good results can be obtained from these freshmen crews. The men composing them have, for the most part, not rowed before coming to the University; they have had no graduated system of instruction on fixed seats. Up to March, all their rowing has been done on hydraulic machines in the gymnasium. They then launch a sliding-seat Eight and practise for the Class races at the beginning of May. After that they are carefully taken in hand, and
trained for their race in June against the other Universities. It is from this freshman crew, and from the older hands, who may have been rowing in the Class races, that the 'Varsity crew of the following year will be recruited.
The number of students at American Universities is thus stated in Mr. Caspar Whitney's book: Harvard, 3100; Yale, 2400; Pennsylvania, 2500; Columbia, 1600; Cornell, 1800; as against about 2400 at Oxford, and 2800 at Cambridge.