James B. Juvenal of the Vesper Boat Club, Philadelphia, a former winner of the National senior singles, entered at Henley in i9o3, but he went out in the first heat. The only other American who has ever won the Diamond's is B. H. Howell, Trinity Hall (Cambridge), who re ceived all his rowing as well as his other educa tion in England ; he won in 1898, making a new record of 8.29, and again won in the following year, reducing the record to 8.o6. In 19o4 L. Scholes of the Don Rowing Club, who had previously tried for the sculls, won. With the exception of the college men, the sallies of the club oarsmen have all been at the Diamond's, and no sweeps have gone over since the troublous trip of the Hillsa'ales.
The most noted group of club oarsmen be longs to Philadelphia, where the Pennsylvania Barge Club gathered in all the best sweeps on the river, among whom was John O. Exley, the best club sweep of recent years ; these men subse quently shifted to the Vesper Boat Club. They won for the two clubs many prizes through many years. Exley, with various companions, won the pair-oars for four years ; Van Vliet was the mainstay of four winning doubles ; and in fours the same group of men won twice, while in eights for one club or the other, and with some changes, they could win whenever they chose to train. They were all large, powerful fellows and had their speed from absolute strength . and fine watermanship ; of body form they had none, but from their familiarity with sculling and all kinds of boats they could get in and out together, and this won them the short-distance races of the club regattas.
The Canadian fours have always been strong, and that of the Winnipeg Club won a number of times, while the Argonauts also sent fast fours ; one of the fastest of the fours that rowed in the National Regattas was that of the Wachu sett Boat Club in 1900, coached by Ten Eyck. In eights, before the advent of the Pennsylva nia Barge-Vesper group, the Atalanta Boat Club of New York and the New York Athletic Club were supreme.
At the time of the Paris Exposition of 190o an international regatta was planned on the Seine in connection with the Olympic Games, and the National Association of Amateur Oarsmen held a test regatta after the regular races to determine the best men to send abroad. Ten Eyck won the senior sculls, and with Lewis had a row over in the doubles. The Vesper Boat Club, with the men mentioned above, won the fours and the eights. Ten Eyck refused to go because the Association would not also pay the expenses of his father to coach him, and the Vespers were the only representatives. The races occurred on August 25-26, over one mile one hundred and fifty-three yards of the Seine, at Asnieres, above Paris. A Belgian, a Dutch, a German, and a French crew entered ; the Americans drew with the French eight in the first heat and won easily, the Frenchmen stopping at the end of a mile. The final heat brought out more of a struggle, but after a couple of hundred yards had been rowed, the Vespers had a safe lead and won by about three lengths in A peculiar local condition about Boston in 1895 brought out a new rowing association in that district, — the Metropolitan American Rowing Association. In that year a great many crews prepared to enter the regatta of the New Eng land American Rowing Association, but the managers of that Association, because they failed to get a sufficiently large appropriation from the city of Boston, decided to hold no races, the de ciding votes being cast by non-active clubs, and the active clubs thereupon formed the Metropolitan American Rowing Association, to give races on " Bunker Hill Day." It includes in its member ship the Harvard clubs and all of the better row ing clubs. William S. Youngman was the prime mover in the organization and its first president.