It is hard now to realize the opposition to the separation of the petty professional from the amateur, but then the amateur idea was a new one and could not be grasped at once by the men who knew nothing of the ethics of sport. When amateurs published challenges in the newspapers and made matches in true profes sional style for a prize of a certain market value which was turned to account a little while after the race, it is not strange that the attempted elimination of these men should cause a war among their backers — for they all had backers.
With all this controversy in the East, the row ing was spreading with marvellous rapidity ; asso ciations of clubs sprang up all over in order to give the races that would keep the clubs alive. The Harlem Regatta Association began to give races in 1873, and opened them to all clubs in 1877; the Passaic River regattas at Newark were started in 1874, and in a few years there were associations for nearly every section, while the Northwestern Association increased in strength. There was the Metropolitan Associa tion of Amateur Oarsmen, the Ohio regattas, an excellent rowing spirit about New Orleans and in St. Louis. In fact, the whole country was buying boats.
The first regatta of the National Association of Amateur Oarsmen was held on the Schuylkill River in Fairmount Park on October 8, 1873, and it was very successful, though but three races made up the programme, — single and double sculls and four-oared shells. As yet no classification had been adopted, and the Argo nauta four of New York won their race, and later better established their claim to the champion ship by beating the Buffalo and Atalanta Club fours in match races. Charles Myers of the Nassau Boat Club won the singles, and Steele and Witmer of the Crescent Boat Club of Phila delphia were the initial winners in doubles in which pair-oars also rowed. Most of the more notorious amateurs did not attempt to enter for the races, and the Executive Committee was spared their disqualification.
The holding of this amateur regatta undoubt edly helped the sport greatly, and the policy of the association being to shift the races about from year to year, and thus increase the interest of the various localities, the regattas of the next two years went to Troy ; the Schuylkill Navy, with the National Association so far away, thought to try their speed with the crews of other cities, and for 1874, and the year after, the Navy opened their annual regatta, which had always been dosed to crews outside the Navy. The regattas at Wat kins, New York, and on Seneca Lake started, and, in fact, racing was plenty.
Four-oared shell rowing held the popular posi tion ; the colleges went in for sixes, but the clubs did the major part of their racing in fours, and the number of fast crews is astonishing ; Michigan's men in particular seemed to take to the sweep, and their powerful sons made many a speedy crew. In the West no crew could really give a
contest to the Wha-wha-sums in sixes, and in 1875 another crew of French Canadians — the Shoe-wae-cae-mettes from Monroe, Michigan began to win all the four-oared races that they entered. The Beaverwycks of Albany were another fast lot, and so were the Atalantas of New York.
The Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia brought about the holding of the first inter national amateur regatta in this country, and really the only one that has ever been held. There were six events—single and double sculls, pair- and four-oared shells, intercollegiate fours and college graduate fours ; the two last have already been described in another section. The foreign representatives were the London Rowing Club, Trinity College (Dublin), and First Trinity (Cambridge). The Dublin crew were all graduates and rowed in both the cham pion and the graduate fours. Every crack four in the country entered for the big race, including such crews as the Beaverwycks of Albany, the Eurekas of Newark, the Vesper, Crescent, and Pennsylvania Barge Clubs of Philadelphia, the Duquesne of Allegheny, Eli zabeths, Falcons, Wat kins, Argonauta, and Northwestern of Chicago, — seventeen of them in all. The first heats were won by the Eurekas, who beat Dublin ; by Yale ; by Columbia College ; by the Beaverwyck ; by Watkins; and by London. The final heat nar rowed down to Beaverwyck, Watkins, and London, and they made a grand race. The " Beavers " led at the start, but halfway down the course all three crews were even. The Watkins four put on their spurt at the head of Peter's Island, about a quarter of a mile from the finish, and gained a full length ; the effort was too much ; they could not keep the lead, and fell back to the others. Then London went out until they had a length, and Watkins and Beaverwyck were bow and bow. All this had taken place within a very few seconds. With but a hundred yards to go, the Beaverwyck four started their spurt, over hauled London within a few yards of the line, and, as luck would have it, their oars were in the water at the line, and they won by a couple of feet. The official time was, Beaverwyck, 9.06; London, 9.o64; Watkins, 9.o81.-. The winning crew was made up — J. T. McCormick, bow ; L. H. McEntee, R. T. Gorman, T. J. Gorman, stroke. Charles E. Courtney of Union Springs, New York, the amateur champion of the pre vious year, easily won the singles, and, with F. E. Yates, a former champion who seems to have rowed for a different club every year, won the doubles. The Northwestern Boat Club of Riverdale, Illinois, won the pair-oars. The Na tional races had been held on the Schuylkill, a few days before the Centennial races.