The Arts Of Rowing And Training With An Appendix Containing The Laws Of Boat Racing Etc 1866 PDF Download

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1866 edition. Excerpt: ... THE AETS or ROWING AND TRAINING. PART I. ROWING. CHAPTER L Introduction. Boat-racing is a sport at the present moment exceedingly popular amongst the younger portion of the upper and middle classes, and the annual eight-oared race between the rival srews of the Universities, as a subject of interest to the general public, is only surpassed by that national institution the Derby-day--each the greatest event in its own peculiar sphere. The devotees of the oar are numerous and widely distributed, and their capabilities vary considerably, but it can hardly be disputed that the standard of rowing is maintained by Oxford and Cambridge, and their feeders the schools of Eton, Eadley, Westminster, &c, and that if boating ceased to be one of the chief recreations of British youth in these its strongholds, it would materially and rapidly deteriorate: there would be little or no competition, and therefore no incentive to excellence. The Henley-on-Thames Eegatta, which is the great yearly gathering of amateur oarsmen, and at which the chief rowing clubs of the Thames, as well as the B Universities, are generally represented, also takes no small share in keeping up the standard above mentioned; but what is Henley in the absence of Oxford and Cambridge crews? In recent years this standard has been in a fair way of falling very low; and that there should have been such a tendency in localities generally looked up to as the acknowledged head-quarters of the sport, is much to be regretted, but the fact is indisputable. The rowing of late has too often been short, scratchy, and ineffective; it has been characterised by a marked absence of length and by an utter want of power, because of an improper application of strength. It has been kept at a low ebb by...