Eights 1910Eights 1910
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The summer eight-oared races, which were postponed from May 19, were begun at Oxford yesterday afternoon. They will be restricted this year to four days instead of six. The boats taking part in the races numbered 31, the same total as last year. The feature of the racing was that Christ Church, who had held the position for three years, were deprived on the headship.The crews in the third division started in the following order :— Trinity II, Queen's, Hertford, Magdalen II, University II, St. John's II, St. Catharine's, Brasenose II, St. Edmund Hall, Wadham II, and Lincoln [II]. Hertford were bumped by Magdalen II at the Cherwell; and Brasenose II bumped St. Catherine's at the Free Water Stone. St. Edmund Hall were unable to get clear of the Brasenose boat, and Wadham, rowing past, scored a bump.
The crews in the second division started in the following order :— Wadham, Lincoln, Oriel, Christ Church II, Worcester, Keble, Pembroke, Exeter, Jesus, New College II, and Trinity II. There was only one bump, Christ Church II bumping Oriel opposite the Worcester barge.
The crews in the first division started in the following order :— Christ Church, Magdalen, New College, St. John's, Balliol, Brasenose, Trinity, University, Corpus Christi, Merton, and Wadham. An exciting struggle took place between Christ Church and Magdalen. The latter had gained considerably at the Corporation Ferry, and, coming up fast from the Free Water Stone, made the bump opposite Long Bridges, and University were bumped by Corpus at the Ferry.
These annual races, for which there were thirty-one entries this year, were commenced at Oxford yesterday, under extremely favourable conditions. The feature of the first day's racing was the loss of the headship of the river by Christ Church to Magdalen, the latter eight containing three old Blues. This was the only bump in the First Division, and a similar remark applies to the Second Division, in which Oriel gave place to Christ Church II. In Division Three Magdalen II, Brasenose II, and Wadham II went up at the expense of Hertford, St. Catherine's, and St. Edmund Hall respectively. Racing will be resumed to-day.
The summer eight-oared races were continued at Oxford yesterday.The crews in the third division started in the following order :— Trinity II, Queen's, Magdalen II, Hertford, University II, St. John's II, Brasenose II, St. Catherine's, Wadham II, St. Edmund Hall, and Lincoln II. Wadham II bumped St. Catherine's opposite the Free Water Stone and Lincoln II bumped St. Edmund Hall at the Red Post.
The crews in the second division started in the following order :— Wadham, Lincoln, Christ Church II, Oriel, Worcester, Keble, Pembroke, Exeter, Jesus, New College II, and Trinity II. Worcester were bumped by Keble just before reaching the Long Bridges. There was a fine race between the next three boats, but no bump took place.
The crews in the first division started in the following order :— Magdalen, Christ Church, New College, St. John's, Balliol, Brasenose, Trinity, Corpus Christi, University, Merton, and Wadham. Christ Church were bumped by New College at the Red Post; Balliol bumped St. John's at the Willows; and University were bumped by Merton at the Boathouse.
The Summer Eights were continued at Oxford last evening under most favourable conditions. In the third division, St. Catherine's were bumped by Wadham II at the Weirs Bridge, and St. Edmund Hall fell to Lincoln II at the Willows. In the second division Worcester were caught by Keble at the Gut after an exciting race along the barges. In the first division, Magdalen easily maintained their position as head boat, whilst Christ Church were beaten by New College at the Willows. St. John's fell to Balliol at the Rough's boathouse, and Merton secured University at New Cut.
The summer eight-oared races were continued at Oxford yesterday in fine weather.The crews in the third division started in the following order :— Trinity II, Queen's, Magdalen II, Hertford, University II, St. John's II, Brasenose II, Wadham II, St. Catherine's, Lincoln II, and St. Edmund Hall. University II were bumped by St. John's II near the Long Bridges. Brasenose II, in consequence of this, were compelled to take a rather wide course on the towing-path side and Wadham II, who were close up, were able to row straight ahead, passing Brasenose II, and thus securing a bump. St. Catherine's were bumped by Lincoln II in Iffley Reach.
The crews in the second division started in the following order :— Wadham, Lincoln, Christ Church II, Oriel, Keble, Worcester, Pembroke, Exeter, Jesus, New College II, and Trinity II. Only one bump took place, Pembroke overtaking Worcester.
The crews in the first division started in the following order :— Magdalen, New College, Christ Church, Balliol, St. John's, Brasenose, Trinity, Corpus Christi, Merton, University, and Wadham. University were bumped by Wadham at the Willows. The races will be concluded to-day.
The summer eights were continued at Oxford last evening, there being again a good attendance. In the third division University II were bumped by St. John's II at the Long Bridges; Brasenose II fell to Wadham II at the Cherwell; and St. Catherine's were caught by Lincoln II at Weirs Bridge. In the second division only one change took place, Worcester being bumped by Pembroke under the Willows. Magdalen easily maintained their position as head of the river. Christ Church were hard pressed by Balliol, and University fell to Wadham at the Willows.
The Summer Eight-oared Races were brought to a close at Oxford yesterday in fine weather.The crews in the third division started in the following order :— Trinity II, Queen's, Magdalen II, Hertford, St. John's II, University II, Wadham II, Brasenose II, Lincoln II, St. Catharine's, and St. Edmund Hall. Queen's were bumped by Magdalen II near Talboys barge; Lincoln II bumped Brasenose II in Iffley Reach; and St. Edmund Hall bumped St Catharine's at the New Cut.
The crews in the second division started in the following order :— University, Lincoln, Christ Church II, Oriel, Keble, Pembroke, Worcester, Exeter, Jesus, New College II, and Trinity II. Lincoln bumped University at the New Cut, and Exeter bumped Worcester under the Willows.
The crews in the first division started in the following order :— Magdalen, New College, Christ Church, Balliol, St. John's, Brasenose, Trinity, Corpus Christi, Merton, Wadham, and Lincoln. There were no bumps in this division.
There is no doubt that the Summer Eights as a whole have reached this year a standard of excellence that has not been attained for many years past. This can be attributed, first, to the coaching of Professor Bourne and Mr. W.F.C. Holland, who have devoted their energies both to the University Eight and to the Summer Eights; secondly, to the fairly even distribution among the different colleges of "blues," who thus disseminate broadly the correct tradition and style; and, thirdly, to the fact that the races were postponed. The time allowed is usually far too short, both for the coaches to teach and the crews to learn; and this postponement gave just a little more time for finishing the crews off — time which would otherwise have been spent in hurrying them on to a racing stroke before they were ready for it. All or nearly all the crews are rowing in the right way, and this is true not only of the first four boats and of the first division, but of all three divisions. The second division certainly are far better than they have been for many years, and the difference between the merits of the first and second divisions is not nearly so cleary defined as it was four years ago.As was generally expected, Christ Church lost the position of Head of the River, which they have held for three years. They are not so good as they were last year, and both Magdalen and New College were considerably superior in respect both of form and of physique. These two crews thus had an initial advantage, and Christ Church gave the appearance of having worked too hard in practice and of being rather stale for the races. Magdalen are undoubtedly a very fast crew, in spite of weak spots. They rowed long and their work came on together; when they were paddling and rowing their faults were not conspicuous because they were together. New College row more correctly and in better style than any other crew. Both crews have broken "records" and done extraordinarily good times in practice, but New College had not the power or the experience of the Magdalen crew.
No other crew was nearly as good as these two. Trinity rowed with a style and a rig different from the other colleges. They are an instance of an attempt to apply a fixed principle to rowing. The only thing that can be said as to the results is that without much material they are faster than any other Trinity crew has been for 20 years, but they do not row in anything like the style that is generally accepted as the best. Balliol have come on a great deal, and had a certain amount of pace. Corpus, Merton, and Wadham all rowed in the right way, and the first-named was a very nice crew. Brasenose and St. John's would have profited by a longer period of coaching, and gave the impression that they could do better than they did. Lincoln, Pembroke, Exeter, and Jesus are all fair crews for their places, and above the average.
The boats in the third division were not very good as a whole, but showed an improvement on recent years. University have again had an unfortunate year, but they are a very weak crew, and also had bad luck in losing a man through illness.
... [Henley prospects]
Yesterday afternoon saw the end of the quietest Oxford eights week that has ever been seen from the social point of view since the races became the most popular function of the University year. In view of the national mourning, the president of the O.U.B.C. requested that the week should be kept as quietly as possible, and that the races were held on four nights only, instead of the usual six. The result was that only those who take a real interest in college racing and are not merely attracted by the gorgeous and delightful scene that is usually afforded by the eights, were present on the barges and the river banks. But in strange contrast to the lack of gaiety on shore, the racing was exteremely interesting, and the rowing was of a much higher standard than that of the past ten years. Rarely, if ever, have two eights of the quality of Magdalen and New College been together in one year on the Isis; while, at the same time, the next five boats did not fall far below their standard. Below these there is no doubt that all the boats are well above the average; while every crew rowed, or attempted to row, in the same style, with the exception of Trinity, and they only differed from the rest in the manipulation of their oars at the beginning, their body work and development of power being on the right lines.The number of bumps recorded was not remarkable and by no means illustrated the keenness of the racing. It must be admitted that the better crews were somewhat deficient in racing qualities, and exhibited a lack of life and dash at the crucial moments. Magdalen, who bumped the good, but physically weak Christ Church crew, and so went head on the first night of racing, are a remarkably good college crew, and in practice broke the records over several short pieces, which is surprising for a crew of their weight, for they average rather over 12st 7lb, which is heavier than most University crews. They undoubtedly owe their great speed to the splendid oarsmanship of their 5 and 6, and they were lucky to find, in Fleming, a stroke who, besides his great qualities as an oar, knew how to push a heavy crew along.
On the other hand, New College, who in practice were almost as fast as Magdalen, owed their pace not so much to their individual strength, as to the excellence of their stroke, R.C. Bourne, and the perfect style and uniformity which they displayed. They did not show to such advantage when racing as in practice; but they were able to bump Christ Church on the second night. Magdalen, however, on the two last nights, left them behind fairly easily.
Christ Church, who had started head, managed, by the splendid efforts of C.A. Gladstone, their stroke, to keep away from Balliol, although the latter got within half a length of them at one point. Balliol caused some surprise by bumping St. John's on the second night, for the latter had been looked on as one of the first four crews who were in a class by themselves. It is true that they got a very bad start, but they were not able to make up any of their distance on the remaining two nights. Balliol's success in thus attaining fourth place is due to the splendid way in which M.B. Higgins, bow of this year University crew, rowed his men along and kept them going all over the course. There was some good racing between Trinity and Brasenose, but the latter, with their less uniform but more correct style, managed to keep away.
Last night, when the races concluded, not a single bump was made in the first division. In the second division the only bumps made were by Lincoln, who caught University coming out of the Gut, and thus passed to the head of the division, and Exeter, who started fourth from the bottom, and caught Worcester at the Willows. Trinity II kept their lead of the third division without much trouble; but Queen's, who started second, were bumped by Magdalen II. Lincoln II bumped Brasenose II, and St. Edmund's Hall caught St. Catherine's.
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