OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE ROWING. 167 



the Cambridge boat, with Go! die, the Lady Margaret stroke, 

 at the aft thwart, were just beaten by Oxford in one of the 

 best races ever rowed, and the year after, with the same 

 stroke, they won for the first time in ten years. The subse- 

 quent successes of the Jesus boat on the Cam afforded 

 further illustrations of the superiority of style over strength. 

 For the Jesus boat has remained for years at the head of the 

 river, though the crew as a whole has often been far sur- 

 passed in strength by the crews of Trinity, John's, and other 

 colleges. 



There is, as the writer from whom I have quoted above 

 correctly says, ' no opposition between theory and practice 

 in this matter, any more than there is in metaphysics or 

 moral philosophy.' The ill-success of Cambridge in past 

 years was in the main due to a want of appreciation of 

 theory, and the absence of due recognition of the entire 

 change which the introduction of the light outrigged racing- 

 boat had produced in the art of effective rowing. The 

 Cambridge 'finish to the stroke/ the 'lug at the end/ as 

 sailors call it, was excellent with the old fashioned boats. 

 It was indeed essential to success in a race, as was the 

 lightning feather. But now the essential conditions are a 

 sharp grasp of the water at the beginning of the stroke, the 

 intensest possible action then and throughout the time the 

 oar is in the water, so that the oar may be as short a time as 

 possible in the water, but in the time may have the largest 

 possible range. This result must not merely be obtained 

 from each individual member of the crew, but from all to- 

 gether in precisely the same time. It is necessary that the 

 stroke should mark the time in the most distinct and 

 emphatic manner. In the Cambridge style, or what at 

 least used so to be called, perfect time, though of course 

 always desirable, was not so absolutely essential as in the 

 Oxford style. The oars being a long time in the water, it 

 mattered less if any oarsman was for a small fraction of a 

 second behind or in advance of his fellows. But with the 

 sharp dash upon the water and the quick tear through the 



