The Hudson on race day was wonderfully fast ; it had been storming in the morning, but toward the time of the University race the weather cleared, the wind shifted down the river, and with a strong tide and current the boats started. Cornell, Co lumbia under Hanlon, and Wisconsin made the struggle ; the weak Pennsylvania eight took last at once, and stayed there, while Georgetown and Syracuse contested the fourth position. Columbia had the best crew of recent years and fought hard with Cornell. At the finish, Cornell led Columbia by not quite two lengths ; Columbia had a little longer distance on Wisconsin, and Georgetown was well behind Columbia. Cor nell's time was and the first four crews were all under the former record. Pennsylvania won the Freshman race and Cornell the fours.
For the two years following Cornell was supreme and won every race ; the stroke was that of 1901, but the crews were becoming so powerful that they could row and win at a pace that often went under thirty ; but whatever the stroke, all the crews nursed their recovery and the slide was slow. There were no pronounced features ; the catch was hard but not evident, merely a steady application of power from the moment that the oar touched the water, — and if any one thing was distinctive, it was the recovery, which was very slow. In the fours and the Freshman races Cornell had contests, but in the University eights they usually pulled away from the start and led all the way. The crew of 1903 was one of the fastest, if not the fastest, four-mile eight that ever rowed ; with conditions which were fast but not exceptional, they made 18.57, on an even stroke of twenty-seven without being pressed at any point in the race, and won by half a minute from Georgetown — a fast crew that year.
The fact that Cornell could win with a slow stroke gave the idea that they won because of the slow stroke, and nearly all the crews came to the Hudson in 19o4 rowing below thirty while the big Cornell eight seldom exceeded twenty five. Syracuse rowed the old long-slide stroke, running from thirty-two to thirty-six as demanded, and won both races in surprising style ; they had long, lithe men with very good watermanship, and were able to row a high stroke for the full course ; they beat Cornell in the first two miles, and then on the third mile let out and won easily by several lengths. The illness of two men in the Cornell squad compelled E. T. and G. W. Foote to row in both the four-oared race and in the University eights, — an unequalled feat of strength and endurance. They won the fours easily, and did not seem more fatigued than their fellows at the end of the four-mile race.
The career of the Intercollegiate Rowing Asso ciation has been marked by a steady progress ; each regatta has been better than the previous one, and the spirit of absolute fairness, the freedom from petty bickering, and the invitation, ready for any competitor, has served vastly to increase the rowing of this country. It is most unfortu nate that Harvard and Yale have not helped the advancement of the sport beyond their own institutions ; Harvard has been broader than Yale and has sent out club crews to various regattas, but Yale has not entered a race, except with Harvard, where there was not a certain victory. The Intercollegiate Association has been the means of fostering rowing at Wisconsin, it has given rowing to Georgetown and to Syra cuse, and since 1902 New York University has been rowing and trying to get an eight for Poughkeepsie.
The University of California is the leading rowing college of the far West. In the fall of 1893 the movement started, and by the following summer the funds had been subscribed for the purchase of shells and a boat-house had been built, while an eight was already in training and competing with the club crews of the neighbor hood. A large regatta was planned for 1895, but a few days before the races the boat-house and the entire equipment was lost through a fire. It was a terrible blow to the youthful sport, but with the energy of a new university, the students raised more money, put up another, though less pretentious, house, and bought more shells. The only competitors were the clubs about the bay, and their sportsmanship was not marked ; the president in 1895, W. E. Cole, made an effort to have Leland Stanford University go into row ing, but nothing came of it, and class races were started which kept up the interest.
The University of Washington, largely through the efforts of Paul Harper, had taken up row ing in 1902, and some correspondence passed between them and California about a race ; but no contest was actually arranged until 1903, when the first college boat race in that section of the United States took place on Lake Washington and was won by Washington ; and in the next year the two eights again met, this time on Oak land Estuary, and the race went to California by eight lengths.
During the fall of 1903 California, then under the presidency of Benjamin Ide Wheeler, who had done so much for rowing in the East, made a determined effort to start Stanford in boating. A representative went to Palo Alto and found worthy helpers there in Professor A. W. Smith, an old Cornell oar, and Paul Harper, who had started rowing at Washington. Between these two men the spirit was aroused, and Stanford put a crew on the water, and a triangular race between California, Stanford, and Washington was arranged for May 1, i9o4 ; but Washington had several mishaps and could not row until two days later, when they met California in the race mentioned above. California won easily from the green Stan ford eight, but the latter, taking in half a boat load of water in the first mile, pulled pluckily to the finish.
Rowing is now on a firm basis in the far West, and there is no reason why the crews, in time, should not be the fastest in the country. The climate permits of open practice through the whole year, and with plenty of waterways the con ditions surpass those of any Eastern university. It will be only a short time before a strong asso ciation will rise to hold an annual regatta.
The Naval Academy, because of the little free time that the many drills and the severe studies leave to the midshipmen, dropped off in their rowing after the first burst in the seventies and eighties, and for some years did not support a crew. Winston Churchill was a cadet between 1890 and 1894, and he is the founder of the present system. In a few years races were arranged with the Pennsylvania crews, and later, from time to time, with second crews from Harvard and Yale. At the present time Pennsylvania, Georgetown, and Yale each send down crews, and the rowing spirit is high.