The Intercollegiate Rowing Association Re gatta brought Bowdoin, in a big Davis shell with the two cockpits and ten feet of deck between and all the other Davis paraphernalia ; Columbia, with a crew made up of the four best men from the eight that had rowed at New London ; and the three crews that had met at Philadelphia, — Cornell, Princeton, and Pennsylvania. Saratoga had been selected for the race, owing to its fine course ; but the wind had been high, and from Friday until Monday it was a series of postpone ments that racked the oarsmen and put many of them off their form, for, with the exception of a little row that some of them took on Sunday, none had any practice. Once the race had started, it was seen to be a contest between Pennsylvania and Cornell, who soon forged ahead ; after the first half-mile, the boats found rough water, and the Cornell men, with a higher boat, went to the front and led until well into the last half-mile ; in this last half Princeton, ten lengths back of the first crews, started a spurt that brought them within four lengths of the first crews. Pennsyl vania had been steadily gaining on Cornell, and in the last hundred yards were even ; it seemed as though it must be a dead heat, neither crew could gain, and both were spurting at their top, Penn at forty and Cornell at one stroke less. Fifteen feet from the line the Penn oars were in the water and Cornell were recovering; one powerful stroke placed the Pennsylvania shell three feet ahead and over the line before the force of the Cornell stroke could make up the distance. It was one of the closest races that has ever been rowed.
After their many defeats the rowing spirit of Princeton gradually passed away, and their last crew was in 1884 ; for some years they used the boat-house without any regular system, and then abandoned rowing. The canal never furnished the proper water according to our American idea of how much space is necessary, and the passing boats and the many low bridges combined to increase still further the hazards of the course. Princeton won only one race, — a Freshman con test, and the sport was always the butt of the student body.
With Princeton out of the Childs Cup con tests, Pennsylvania invited Bowdoin to come; but the distance was too great and 1885 found Cor nell as the only competitor, and they won by about a length and a half. This is the final contest for the cup in four-oared shells.
A mysterious revolution had taken place in Harvard's rowing under the captaincy of J. J. Storrow ; Faulkner, the professional sculler of Boston, was engaged as coach, or as boat rigger, or in some other capacity — anyhow, he was with the Harvard crews all the year, and the stroke was not the stately Bancroft swing. They said that the new stroke combined the Bancroft, Per kins, and Curtis strokes, which is certainly hazy enough ; but the result was a true professional style. The men put their weight on hard at the catch, but without a noticeable effort, and the greater part of the power came in the middle and at the finish, while the slide was as fast as possi ble without checking the shell. Above all, they
looked after the watermanship ; the crew was not even in the boat, the backs were not straight and constrained as they had been of old, and they had little swing ; but the oars took and left the water as one, and it is there that the professional coach ing told, and it is this watermanship that made the crew fast.
Harvard started with only one man of the eight of the previous year, and the new men were light and not strong ; but their perfect watermanship brought speed ; rowing from thirty-six to forty, they beat Columbia at New London by nearly half a mile and found no more trouble with the Yale eight that had in it seven of the winning crew of the previous year, and Harvard finished about a quarter of a mile or more in the van. The Harvard Freshmen beat Columbia very easily, and all together the Harvard crew seemed to be the best that they had yet turned out.
The race was not without a disagreeable inci dent — Yale and Harvard squabbled nearly every year, and on the day before the race Yale pro tested the Harvard stroke, Penrose, because they could not find his name in the catalogue ; but the mix-up was straightened out, and he went into the race. The other trouble was about Faulkner.
Harvard was most secretive ; they would neither say that Faulkner was coaching, nor would they say that he was not, and the crew always took their practice where they could not be observed, while absolutely no one was allowed in the boat-house. The practical coaching of the crew was in his hands, however, just as Davis had pre viously coached Yale, and rather too much was made of the mystery.
The Intercollegiate Regatta, shifted to Lake Quinsigamond, ended in a muddle : Columbia could not get a four, having taken to eight-oar rowing entirely, but Brown came back to the scene of their first race, and Bowdoin, Pennsylvania, and Cornell again entered. The course had not been buoyed off, as it always should be for coxswainless crews, and in addition the referee was on an old tub that soon lost sight of the crews ; the race is decidedly dark, and only the participants know the details. Each of the fours was fouled and also fouled once or twice ; the finish judge reported that Cornell had led across the line fif teen feet ahead of Brown, and that Bowdoin was third and Pennsylvania fourth. When the referee finally reached the finish he was met by protests from every crew, which could not be fairly decided because no one could say what crews were in their own water ; as a matter of fact, all of them had been out of their courses. The referee heard the testimony and placed Cornell last, Pennsyl vania third, and ordered Brown and Bowdoin to row over, although Bowdoin had fouled Pennsyl vania twice. Brown would not row, but they changed their minds a couple of weeks later and were beaten by Bowdoin.