10 



K(.\vi\(; 



ROWLANDSON 



All Iwat* abide by their accident* e.g. of broken 

 gear or apcets. 



Sin/I mi Mr-its. -The us* of wilding seat* began 

 in 1S7I "in England. A mericans had previously 

 ucd I. nt thought little of the novelties. A T\ m- 

 crew, ciiptiiined by F. Taylor, matched against 

 anottii-r Tyne crew, lined inch seats in a match, 

 mW* 1871. and won with tlirm. Next year 

 four Henley crew* adopted them with marked 

 success, and the Lon<ln BttwiMg Chili used them in 

 a winning match r. Atalanta Rowing Club, of New 

 York, hi IST.'t they IWINUIIP universally adopted. 

 Leading amateur clul>* prohiliit use of slides by 

 their beginners, till swing on fixed Beats has been 

 lir-t mastered, else there is a tendency in a tyro to 

 sacrifice swing to slide. Slide should conclude with 

 swing. The slide should' be field till the body is 

 nearly or unite per|>endicular in the swing l>ack. 

 Then the slide may be released, and the legs should 

 be extended gradually, the extension to terminate 

 contemporaneously with the oar reaching the 

 chest. 



f'n nit* in Rowing. A ' coach ' or tutor of a crew 

 endeavours to cure faults by admonition, BO as to 

 get his crew into ' form ' and style. Uniformity of 

 oars and of action of bodies has much to do with 

 pace in a racing boat, though, of course, strength 

 is also an important factor. Still a strong oar 

 who mars uniformity among his comrades often 

 does more harm than good, and is well replaced by 

 a lighter and neater oarsman. Among salient 

 faults may be specified 'rowing out of time,' by 

 letting the oar enter or leave the water too soon or 

 too late; 'rowing light' i.e. not covering the 

 blade ; ' rowing deep ' i.e. burying the shank as 

 well as the blade of the oar; 'feathering under 

 water;' 'sliding too soon' or too suddenly. 

 Among ' faults of swing ' are ' hanging ' with the 

 body oefore recovery, or when forward before 

 dropping the oar in ; delay in shooting out the 

 hands ; ' bending the arms ' too soon ; bending the 

 back in the middle of the stroke instead of swing- 

 ing from hips ; hunching the shoulders ; ' screwing ' 

 Le. not swinging straight in a line with the keel ; 

 'meeting the oar i.e. swinging to meet the oar- 

 handle instead of rowing it well home ; ' rowing 

 short ' Le. not swinging to full reach forward. 



Stroke and ' No. 7.' A ' stroke ' is selected to set 

 a good style to the men who are to copy him. Hence 

 -t\le more than rough strength is of importance 

 for this post. A stroke should be lively in swing ; 

 harp in catching hold of the first part of the 

 stroke ; long in reach ; even in swing ; even in 

 time, like a |M*ndulum ; a good judge of the pace 

 of stroke which he U rowing ; capable of ' spurt- 

 ing' i.e. of quickening the pace of stroke when 

 extra speed is needed, and this without getting 

 short in reach. Thirty strokes a minute is a fair 

 practice stroke. In racing for a mile or mile and 

 balf course as many as forty-four a minute can be 

 rowed long by good crews. Over a four mile course 

 thirty-seven a minute, well rowed at full length of 

 reach, U about as much as can lie done, excepting a 

 final ' spurt' ' No. 7 ' is second to none in import- 

 ance in an eight oar. He couples stroke to the 

 crew. The best man in the team should if possible 

 be plan-d here : a weak No. 7 takes many points of 

 merit otfa crew, anil cripples the work of good but 

 rough men )>ehind him. 



./. Four oars are now rowed without 

 coxswains, except in junior or second-class races. 

 One of the oarsmen steers with levers attached to 

 bis stretcher and connected with the rudder by 

 wirea, In an eight, a coxswain is an important 

 factor ; he should have nerve and judgment, and 

 be capable of reminding his crew of faults, when, 

 as in a race, no ' coach ' or mentor can attend 

 them. The main art in steering is to keep the 



boat in a straight rourse by gent le touch and adjust 

 meiit of the i mliler lines, not by hard pulls, wl.ieli 

 tend to spoil equilibrium, and to bring tin- Unit lound 

 too sharply. In going round a curve the lxms 

 should not be e\]>ccicd t<> point in the direction 

 required. They must of necessity point outwards, 

 because the l>oat lies as a tangent to a curve. 



Roving Club*. Among leading amateur rowing 

 club*, besides the universities, may In- mentioned 

 the I^eander, the London liowing Club, Thames 

 Mowing Club, Kingston, Moulsey ; these usually 

 supply the competitors at Henley, together ith the 

 universities. There are good pnn incial dul at 

 ])urham, Worcester, Bridgnorth, Bedford, Hunt 

 ingdon, Burton, &C. Among schools Eton. 

 Had ley, Westminster, Magdalen (Oxford), I 

 ford 'Grammar' and Bedford 'Modern' supply 

 good oarsmen Eton especially. Of university 

 crews nearly one-half are made up on the average 

 of old Etonians. 



Training. ' Condition ' promotes endurance in a 

 contest, whether of horse or man. Hence train 

 ing is an important item in preparation for a lioat- 

 i ace. Hard work trains ; regulated diet keeps the 

 oarsman up to this hard work, and puts on extra 

 muscle to replace fat which hard work has sweated 

 off. Five weeks is a minimum time for full train- 

 ing where oarsmen have been out of work for 

 some time ; n shorter period may suffice if they 

 have not lieen inactive for long. Professionals 

 n-iially train for three months before a match. 

 The usual rules are early rising say 7 A.M. a 

 short morning walk, bath, breakfast, morning 

 row (if studies or business hours admit of it), 

 luncheon or mid-day dinner, afternoon or evening 

 row (according to season of year), late dinner or 

 supper, a short post-prandial stroll, a cup of gruel 

 or chocolate, aim bed for nine hours. After each 

 row the body should be well washed and rubUtl 

 down. As to diet. For breakfast : beef or mutton, 

 cold or broiled ; some fish, if wanted ; an egg ; water- 

 cress or lettuce ; and two cups of tea ; stale bread or 

 t oast. Luncheon : cold meat and some green food ; 

 or broiled meat and vegetables. Dinner : fish ; 

 joints of beef or mutton ; vegetables any greens, 

 asparagus, spinach, a potato or two, &c. ; now and 

 then a modicum of poultry as an extra course; 

 Mewed fruit; rice or plain farinaceous pudding. 

 1 >rink : at luncheon or dinner, ale, claret and water, 

 or champagne. A pint at each meal usually 

 suffices; in sultry weather a little more fluid may 

 lie allowed, in which case it is best to let the extra 

 supply be water only. Oranges or strawberries are 

 allowed for dessert, and a glass or two of claret or 

 one of port. Pork and veal are tabooed, as l>eing in- 

 digestible in the large quantities which hungry men 

 consume. Such is modern training. In earlier 

 decades less liberality was allowed. Steaks, chops, 

 and plain joints formed the staple supplies, and 

 the hobby was to have them ' underdone,' almost 

 to semi-rawness. This system often produces dis 

 order of blood, resulting in boils, the died of too 

 much animal food without sufficient green meat. 

 Professionals still adhere to old creeds of training 

 more tenaciously than do modern amateurs. 



See Routing by Rowe and Pitman (Badminton aerie*, 

 1898); Rowing by I/ehmann d-thmi.oi M 

 Boating (1888), Roving ajul X. //,,; ( IKS'.) |, and I 

 andSculU (2d ed. 1889), by the present writer. 



KowlaildsOIt. THOMAS, caricaturist, wns Ixirn 

 in the Old Jewry in .lulv 17"><i. Me was scni to 

 Paris at fifteen, and here lie studied art and gained 

 a taste for the pleasures of the town. The over- 

 indulgence of a wealthy French aunt first taught 

 him improvidence, and 'tin- 7000 she left him he 

 quickly gambled away, once continuing at the 

 gaming-table, we are told, for thirty-six hours 

 continuously. Yet he maintained his uprightness 



