National Rowing Hall of Fame Events on 9 & 10 March 2012

National Rowing Hall of Fame Events on 9 & 10 March 2012 Featuring the Induction of the National Rowing Hall of Fame Class of 2012 on Saturday, 10 March

Event Descriptions and Details:

Friday, 9 March 5:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Cocktail Reception, Raw Bar and Silent Auction in memory of Hart Perry. Proceeds from this event will be used for projects related to Rowing History and The National Rowing Hall of Fame and Exhibits. Cost $100 per person. Location: The National Rowing Hall of Fame in the G.W. Blunt White Building at Mystic Seaport, 75 Greenmanville Avenue in Mystic, Conn 06355.
The highlight of the evening will be the auction of Hart Perry’s Thames pulling dinghy, donated by Gill Perry and the Perry family. This boat once belonged to famous Oxford Blue and Olympic champion Don Burnell (1875-1969), father of renown oarsman, Oxford Blue, Olympic champion, and rowing journalist Dickie Burnell (1917-1995).

Saturday 10 March 9:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Rowing History Forum
Guest Speaker will be Peter Raymond, Princeton ’68, Olympic Four 1968, Olympic eight 1972, and member of The National Rowing Hall of Fame Class of 2012. Additional presenters are Tom Weil, Joanne Iverson, Peter Mallory, and Christopher Dodd.
For additional information go to www.RowingHistory.net/forum.htm or send an email to Bill Miller at bmiller@verizon.net. Cost $40 per person, lunch will be served. Location: The River Room in Latitude 41 Restaurant at Mystic Seaport, 75 Greenmanville Avenue in Mystic, Conn 06355.

Saturday 10 March 5:30 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.
National Rowing Hall of Fame – Class of 2012 Induction Ceremony & Reception
Come to honor and celebrate the Class of 2012 at a cocktail reception in the National Rowing Hall of Fame, followed by dinner and the Induction Ceremony. Cost $200 per person. Location: The National Rowing Hall of Fame in the G.W. Blunt White Building and the River Room in Latitude 41 Restaurant at Mystic Seaport, 75 Greenmanville Avenue in Mystic, Conn 06355.

The Class of 2012:
Sebastian Bea ~ Eugene Clapp ~ Elizabeth S. McCagg Hills ~ Franklin Hobbs IV ~ William Hobbs ~ Paul A. Hoffman ~ Anna Seaton Huntington ~ Robert Kaehler ~ Jeff Klepacki ~ J. Cleve Livingston ~ Michael Livingston ~ Mary McCagg ~ Timothy C. Mickelson Lawrence “Monk” Terry ~ Ted Murphy ~ Harry Parker ~ Stephanie Maxwell Pierson ~ Peter Raymond ~ Jennifer Dore Terhaar

Please register online at www.natrowing.org

Rowing Is Back In Springfield!

A couple of days ago, HTBS received an e-mail from Jonathan Moss, President of the Pioneer Valley Riverfront Club in Springfield, Massachusetts. I am happy to share the exciting news with the HTBS readers. Jonathan Moss writes,

The history of Springfield rowing is nearly as old as the 150+ year old history of American Rowing. Yet, it had a dark period for many decades ... until now. The Pioneer Valley Riverfront Club will bring rowing back to the facility which had public school rowing out of it in the early 1900s. We were recently notified by the City of Springfield of our winning proposal!

Much work needs to be done for development of facility, location, and programs. But this was the first very critical step in the vision of the organization (and, my dream since moving to the area 10 years ago and learning of its past). We will be putting lots of sweat equity and other efforts forward in the coming weeks and years. To get us started, we’re launching a fundraising campaign. The first $18,000 raised will be matched dollar for dollar by some local advocates who share our vision. Please, consider helping to fund this effort by going to our donation page here.

To have a facility will not only allow us to continue our youth and adult programs along with inner-city outreach efforts, but we should also be able to expand and stay on top of equipment maintenance much more easily. We plan to have more than just rowing connecting people to healthy activities in Springfield. North Riverfront Park is conveniently located between the river and a bike path while being conveniently accessible by car.

To get a bird’s eye view of the site, click here.

Thanks so much for your encouragement, interest and support.

Sincerely,
Jonathan Moss
President, Pioneer Valley Riverfront Club
Rowing@pvrowing.org
cell phone: (413) 262-0945

Martin Gough: Women’s Boat Race: Worth The Wait

From London, Martin Gough*, who sometimes writes for HTBS, has an exacting report about the Women's Boat Race. Martin writes:

The only criticism being levelled at organisers of the University Boat Race, after it was announced earlier today, Wednesday, that the women’s race would have parity with the men’s event from 2015, was that it will not come sooner. As part of a new five-year sponsorship deal with asset management company BNY Mellon, women will have the same funding, support and coverage as their male counterparts in three years’ time, racing on the same day, over the same course, in front of the same 250,000-strong crowds and watched by the same TV audience of 7 million.

But while officials batted away detailed questions over the logistics of racing in 2015, it was clear how much work still needs to be done to raise the infrastructure and levels of performance of the women’s squads from their current standard – among the top crews in the country – to those in the men’s race – among the top crews in the world. Sir Matthew Pinsent took part in three Boat Races for Oxford – winning in 1990 and 1991 and losing in 1993, either side of winning his first Olympic title. He also coached the women’s reserve crew for two years while a student and is now on the event umpires’ committee.

“To this day one of the big attributes of someone in the squad is that they have their own car,” he said of the women’s race. Pinsent continued, “The reason Oxford’s women train at Radley [while the men are half an hour away in Wallingford] is that they cycle there. The men’s boat club has vans to take them to training. The boats they had, the coaching they had, the logistical support; a huge amount fell on the boat club officers. Every year they would have to create it again. Finally we’ve found a solution to that.”

Race organisers expect an increase in applications from international rowers and graduates from the US – where undergrad rowing is strong but post-grads are ineligible to compete for their universities – to study at the two institutions and compete in the women’s event, although no sports scholarships are available.

Pinsent cited two examples of successful female rowers making different choices than men would in the same situation, because of the stature of the women’s race at the time. Anna Watkins (on the right), who, along with Katherine Grainger, has won back-to-back world titles in the double scull and is heavily favoured for Olympic gold this summer, rowed at Newnham College a decade ago, but never went for Cambridge squad selection. Watkins decided she wanted to go to the Olympics but realised the most obvious route into the GB squad was through sculling, which is not on offer at university level.

“We’ve got to make sure there is more of a pathway from the women’s boat club to international rowing. At the moment it happens accidentally. Hopefully in 2020 there will be three or four women in the Olympic team who have come through the Boat Race,” said Pinsent.

Watkins said on Twitter that she was “thrilled” by the news, adding, “Looking forward to seeing a viable pathway from CUWBC and OUWBC to British Rowing re-established.”

Pinsent’s God-daughter is Natalie Redgrave, daughter of his former rowing partner Sir Steve, who was part of Oxford’s winning crew last year, in her second year at the university. However, she is not going for a second victory this year. Pinsent added: “I doubt even as a medic that she’s still going to be studying in 2015. There’s a case in point of someone who obviously loves the sport and loves racing but once you’ve done it once, you think: I’ve done that now. In the men’s boat club you would seldom have a guy who won a Blue in his first year of uni decide not to do it anymore. Of course you’re going to do it again, aim to win two or three. But it’s much harder work [currently] on the women’s side to give a two or three-year commitment.”

The commitment has been made, the fanfare is over. Now the work begins on turning the Women’s Boat Race into the same captivating spectacle that the men’s event often is.

*Martin Gough is a freelance writer on Olympic and Paralympic sport. You can follow him on Twitter and read his regular blogs.

Photo of Anna Watkins by Dr. Robert Treharne Jones, Leander Club.

Greg Denieffe: “Women in Rowing – Rocking the Boat”

Guin Batten shortly after receiving her silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The medal is on display at the River & Rowing Museum in their “Rocking the Boat – The Story of Women’s Rowing” exhibition which runs until June 2012.

HTBS’s Greg Denieffe writes from England:

Guin Batten was back at the River & Rowing Museum on Saturday, 4 February 2012, to talk about the changing experience of women in rowing over the last 30 years. It was essentially a reprise of her presentation “The Glass Ceiling” at the Rowing History Forum at the same venue last October which was reported by Tim Koch on HTBS on 1 November 2011.

The weather for the two events could not have been more different. In October, the ‘Thames Room’ was bathed in sunshine but last Saturday the temperature did not get above zero and that was indoors! The lecture was held in ‘The Launch’ where about forty people were in attendance. For the Rowing History Forum, the great majority of attendees were men, but for this event the women outnumbered the men by as much as 4:1. Perhaps the title of the lecture had a great bearing on who it appealed to?

What was clear from listening to Guin, like many great athletes, she had made up her mind when she was quite young that she was going to be an Olympian. At thirteen years of age, she showed some promise as a cross country runner and represented her school at the English School’s Cross Country Championships. As she stood on the start line she thought the next step would be the Olympics (overlooking the fact that cross country running was not on the Olympic programme). A disappointing result soon put paid to that dream, but the Olympic ambition was still very much alive. After taking up rowing at Southampton University, where her sister Miriam was already a student, Guin began the journey that would lead to 5th place in the women’s single sculls at Atlanta in 1996 and a silver medal in the women’s quad four years later in Sydney. Tim’s report covered her presentation in detail so there is no need to repeat it here.

Guin’s lecture was followed by a screening of A Hero for Daisy, the inspirational story of U.S. Olympian Chris Ernst who, in response to substandard conditions for women in the 1970s, fired up her rowing squad to storm the Yale athletic director’s office in dramatic fashion. I am embarrassed to say that I had never heard of the film before, but I’m sure that everyone who has seen it will never forget it.

“Featuring two-time Olympian and Yale rower, Chris Ernst, who galvanized her rowing team to protest the substandard conditions facing female athletes in the 1970s. On a cold rainy day in 1976, Ernst led her teammates to the athletic director’s office, where they stripped, baring bodies emblazoned with the phrase TITLE IX in blue marker. This event rocketed around the globe, leaving an indelible imprint on the nation in terms of what gender equity really meant.” The film was directed by Mary Mazzio.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a United States law but is most commonly known simply as Title IX. It will be known to everyone in the USA but may not be so well known to people on the other side of the pond. The law states that “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance...”

The full statement read by Chris Ernst to Jodie Barnett, Director of Physical Education in Barnett’s office in Ray Tompkins House, 3 March 1976:

Mrs. Barnett:
 These are the bodies Yale is exploiting. We have come here today to make clear how unprotected we are, to show graphically what we are being exposed to. These are normal human bodies. On a day like today the rain freezes on our skin. Then we sit on a bus for half an hour as the ice melts into our sweats to meet the sweat that has soaked our clothes underneath. We sit for half an hour chilled ... half a dozen of us are sick now, and in two days we will begin training twice a day, subjecting ourselves to this twice everyday. No effective action has been taken and now matter what we hear, it doesn’t make these bodies warmer, or dryer or less prone to sickness. We can’t accept any excuses, nor can we trust to normal channels of complaint, since the need for lockers for the Women’s Crew has existed since last spring. We are using you and your office because you are the symbol of Women’s Athletics at Yale; we’re using this method to express our urgency. We have taken this action absolutely without our coach’s knowledge. He has done all he can to get us some relief, and none has come. He ordered the trailer when the plans for real facilities fell through, and he informed you four times of the need to get a variance to make it useable, but none was obtained. We fear retribution against him, but we are, as you can see, desperate. We are not just healthy young things in blue and white uniforms who perform feats of strength for Yale in the nice spring weather; we are not just statistics on your win column. We’re human and being treated as less than such. There has been a lack of concern and competence on your part. Your only answer to us is the immediate provision of use of the trailer, however inadequate that may be. - Yale Women’s Crew 3/3/76

A short video clip from the movie:



I did a quick search on the internet and found Oli Rosenbladt’s review of the movie on the row2k website from 5 May 1999, which you will find here.

Chris Ernst went on to win a gold medal in the lightweight women’s double scull at the 1986 World Rowing Championships held in Nottingham. Having been at those Championships, I searched out the programme, but could not find anything within about the LW2X or Chris. I may be wrong but the photo on the cover just may be her. Confirmation one way or the other would be most welcome.

I think it is appropriate that the Yale crew is known as the ‘Bulldogs’ and Chris would be proud to be called one. After finishing her international rowing career Chris Ernst* became a plumber and in doing so went from fighting for showers to fixing them!

Thanks to Guin Batten and the River & Rowing Museum for putting on the event.

*For those who would like to have more information about Chris Ernst’s rowing career read Dan Boyne’s The Red Rose Crew (2000).

Erging? Of Course, There Is An App For That!

Three weeks ago, HTBS wrote about Patrick Schnöll’s newly released application for rowing, “iRowCoach”. Now Patrick is at it again, in the beginning of February, he released an “iErgCoach”. This app is also compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation), and iPad. It requires iOS 5.0 or later. It is available here for $1.99. Get it now and enjoy your "outing" on the erg.

The Forever Sonata

The Forever Sonata

(To Frederick Kelly)

In a morning of tranquil splendor
He rowed the bay,
The air hung fragrant with peace.
He did not notice in the cut of the water
The agitation of shadows foretelling doom.

In the word “water” is the word “war.”
But who would think that?
Certainly no one
Out for a row in a morning of splendor.
And the Somme? Who would even know

What the Somme was, though the Somme was
Already calling somberly his name
In the somber roll call of the dead.
And the Somme drummed on ahead of him
As he rowed through splendor morning.

Never to know morning would become mourning,
As the Somme drummed somberly his name.
And where peace once hung fragrant in the splendor
Morning, now hung acid
Stink of the war, the acid

Odor of the dead who rowed
No more, no more.
Now across the bay a century later,
Splendor rises in the morning air,
Air through which I can sense

The dead rowing where the fragrance
Of peace laurels his brow,
Laurels with the music of his sonata,
His sonata that will play
Forever in the splendor.

Philip Kuepper
(1/21/2012)

See also "F.S. Kelly's Lost Sonata Found After 80 Years"

Reception In Memory Of Hart Perry

Exactly a year ago, on 3 February, 2011, Hart Perry passed away. Those of us who worked with Hart almost weekly on many of his ideas and other tasks to raise awareness and support of the sport of rowing still miss him immensely. We miss his guiding hand, but also Hart as a person, his gentle smile and that special twinkle in his eyes that you would see when you realised that you yet again had signed up for a chore that you normally would have turned down if it was not Hart who had asked you. But you also knew that the job, big or small, was for the general good of rowing. And Hart was never, never late telling people that you had done a great job, not he.

On 5 February, 2011, I published some memorial words about Hart which begins,

With the passing of Hart Perry an era has come to an end. Without exaggeration it can be said, that never in any sport have so many athletes had so much to thank one single man for. Thousands and thousands of rowers and others involved in our much-loved sport would not be where they are today if it had not been for Hart Perry, both when it comes to rowing, but also for what kind of persons they would become after their rowing career was over. I am one of them. Read the rest of the entry…

On Friday evening 9 March, 2012, there will be a Cocktail Reception & Raw Bar in memory of Hart Perry in the National Rowing Hall of Fame in the G.W. Blunt White building at Mystic Seaport, Mystic, Connecticut. There will soon be more details and information posted on the National Rowing Foundation’s website about this event. This is one of three rowing events during the weekend of 9-10 March. During the day on Saturday, the 6th Rowing History Forum will be held in the River Room in Latitude 41° Restaurant by Mystic Seaport. More information here.

In the evening on Saturday, the National Rowing Foundation will host the Hall of Fame Induction Banquet, also in the River Room. Induction Banquet information will be also be posted on the NRF website but it will be by invitation, only.

OUBC Film 4: Charming Men, Eventually...

The Boat Race is getting closer (7 April). Oxford Today has just released the forth film of six in its series “A Year in the Life of the Boat Race” about the Dark Blues and the crew’s training. This forth film is taking a look at the technology of the design and construction of the shells used in the Boat Race. Watch it by clicking here (where you also can watch the three first films).

Paul Costello: The Triple Olympic Champion

Paul Costello, three-time Olympic Champion.

One of America’s most famous oarsmen is without doubt Jack Kelly Sr., father of Jack Kelly Jr., ‘Kell’, and actress turned princess, Grace Kelly. Kelly Sr., took altogether three Olympic gold medals, in the single sculls and double sculls in 1920, and again in the double sculls in 1924. His partner in the double was his cousin, Paul Costello. In the grand book about Kelly, Kelly: A Father, A Son, An American Quest (2009) author Dan Boyne writes about Costello:

“He was a dark-haired, dour-faced young man, with sloping eyebrows that made him look like he was always wincing. Unlike Kelly, Costello wasn’t always comfortable in the public eye, and most of the photographs taken of him were less than flattering. He had one of those sad, serious faces that had probably always made him look old, despite the fact that he was actually two years younger than Jack. […] In reality he was an amiable man with a generous heart, but his modesty prevented him from playing to the crowds as his cousin did. When reporters asked Costello how he would do during a race, or how he had done afterwards, his standard response was, ‘I let my oars do the talking.’”

In August 2009, a local newspaper in Philadelphia, The Fallser*, published under the header ‘East Falls Past’ a piece about the Olympic oarsman, Paul Costello, where he seemed to have opened up during an interview in 1983 by gerontologist Cherie Snyder. The article, which was some excerpts from the interview, states that Costello, then 89, “an East Falls native who rowed for Vesper Club, was understandably proud as he remembered his athletic achievements”. The article goes on:

When did you start rowing?
My early 20s. I started out like anybody else—a nobody. I won one race the first year. After that, it was rather discouraging to think you’re going to go back and try to win some more.

What happened?
The next year I won three or four. I was motivated terrifically by that. I had a beautiful physique built up from gymnastics and I had the right type of ego that I was going to win.

Was the 1920 Olympics your first?
1920 was in Antwerp. Jack (Kelly, Costello’s cousin) won the singles, and Jack and I won the doubles. In 1924 in Paris I won the doubles with Jack. I was scheduled for the singles the same day so I told Jack “I’m going to scratch it...We can always challenge the champion to rowing.”

Didn’t you also break the world record in single sculling—the 2000 meters?
I rowed a challenge race on the Schuylkill for 2000 meters (5/26/24). It went down as a world record. I won the Gold Cup – the (solid gold) cup was beautiful and was under strict bond. We drank champagne out of it. I had it a couple of days before it went in the vault. I am the only American athlete to win the gold three times and I could have made it four. Could have gone to California [1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles]; Kelly and I would have won out there. (Costello was the first person to win the gold in the same event – the double scull – at three consecutive Olympics).

Why didn’t you try for four?
I fell in love. I had to get some money together to get married. When you’re an athlete you don’t care.

What work did you do?
I was the leading Ford salesman in Philadelphia.

What made you win?
I shouldn’t say this but, as a competitive sport, rowing is one of the toughest. You’re rowing with all your body. You get a terrific amount of power from your legs. Naturally, your arms. Some people, I guess, they never really get the proper timing, they get discouraged and they stop.

It was a tremendous thrill. In the third Olympic (Amsterdam, 1928), we won as though we owned the canal. Charlie (McIlvaine) and I, weight-wise, were the lightest double. We heard the Canucks were hoping to get us in the finals so I said to Charlie: “When the gun goes off, we’re going up the line like as though we’re rowing 100 yards. We’re never going to be second. When we get out in front we’re going to stay there. That means we’re going to bang it all the way down. So we won the finals by 10 boat lengths. The Canadians were second.”

I fell in love with rowing. The Schuylkill River is one of the outstanding rivers to row on.

*Warm thanks to The Fallser newspaper for allowing HTBS to republish this article, which was first published in The Fallser, August, 2009.

Regularly Postings, But Not Daily...

Dear readers of HTBS - Looking back at 2010, there were 325 entries posted on HTBS, and during last year we managed to post 351 entries, which is almost one entry a day. Although, HTBS is off to a good start for 2012, I am afraid, I will not be able to keep up a daily post, at best, maybe 2-3 posts per week. There is no lack of interest from my part, the reason is more lack of time. I have promised a maritime magazine in Stockholm a couple of articles for this spring, and then I have two half-written essays is my desk drawer that I need to attend to, plus one which I am doing research for right now. Add then my contributions to the Swedish and British rowing magazines, and.. well, my calendar is full (and here I am not even mentioning my full-time job as an editor of a magazine and my full-time job as the father to two small children...)

The easiest way you can keep track of new entries on this blog is to subscribe to HTBS. You only have to fill in your e-mail address up on the right, 'Follow HTBS by Email', and you will receive an e-mail in your inbox each time there is a new entry on HTBS - and, yes, it is of course free!

Anything Is Possible!

Finishing as the seventh boat, Row2Recovery arrived to Port St Charles, Barbados, after 50 days, 23 hours and 12 minutes at sea, rowing in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge. The brave crew of ex-servicemen had then travelled 2637 nm, raising close to £700,000 to support service men and women who have been injured in battle. At their arrival, the crew, Neil Heritage, Rory Mackenzie, Carl Anstey, Will Dixon, Ed Janvrin, and Alex Mackenzie, received the following message from Queen Elizabeth II: “Please convey my warm thanks to all the members of the Row2Recovery team on the occasion of them reaching the end of their row across the Atlantic, in aid of injured soldiers and their families. I heard of the trials and tribulations on your journey and, in return, I send my good wishes to you all for the successful completion of the challenge.”

During the crew’s voyage, the media has pumped out the message that these fellows, four with severe injuries from serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, are trying to prove that anything is possible. That is what these brave men now have proved. Well done!

Tim Koch: Fit For A Queen

HTBS's Tim Koch reports from London:

This summer will see many celebrations in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth to mark 60 years since Elizabeth II became Queen. The only other British sovereign to celebrate a 60-year reign (a ‘Diamond Jubilee’) was Queen Victoria in 1897. Both boats and the River Thames will play a big part in marking the event.

Between April and September, the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, London, will hold an exhibition called ‘Royal River: Power, Pageantry and the Thames’ which ‘explores the relationship between the monarch, the City and the people, as it was brought to life on the Thames – London’s greatest thoroughfare’. I particularly like the Canaletto painting that they show on their website entitled The Thames on Lord Mayor’s Day... It is a pointer towards the other river related event of the Jubilee.

On Sunday 3 June, up to a thousand boats will take part in the ‘Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant’, which is said to be ‘the biggest maritime celebration seen in Britain for nearly four centuries’. Including marshalling and dispersal areas the route runs from Hammersmith to Greenwich (14 miles / 22 kms). The organisers expect one million people to line the route and take part in other Jubilee celebrations on the day. The Daily Telegraph reports:

"Music will also be an integral part of the celebrations and pieces commissioned for the event will receive their world premiere on special barges… Downton Abbey composer John Lunn was commissioned with nine other film composers to create a new movement using the original titles of Handel’s Water Music for inspiration."

The flotilla will be in ten sections of various types of craft but it is the first group, the ‘manpowered section’, that will be of most interest to HTBS readers. It will be led by Gloriana, the new royal rowbarge. It will be followed by shallops, Thames watermen’s cutters, gigs, skiffs, Dragon Boats, kayaks and many more rowed, sculled and paddled craft. Follow the link on the website’s FAQ section to a pdf of all the boats taking part (‘vessel factsheet’).

An artist’s impression of the Gloriana, an 88-foot / 27-metre ‘rowbarge’ decorated in gold leaf and propelled by eighteen oarsmen, was released a few days ago.

It is half way through a twenty week build ‘at a secret location in West London’ and it is said to be ‘the largest rowed vessel in the UK today’. The London Evening Standard newspaper claimed first sight of the work in progress. Unfortunately, it would be unsafe for ‘fine boats’ to take part in the event. It will be held at the top of the tide with hundreds of powered craft churning up the water so there would be a real danger that racing boats with low saxboards would be ‘swamped’.

While the River Pageant will undoubtedly be a splendid occasion, it will have slightly unfortunate consequences for Putney based rowing clubs. The details are not yet finalised but temporary moorings to accommodate many of the participants will have to be put in between Hammersmith and Putney. They will take some time to be installed and removed and they will not leave room for safe rowing on a considerably narrowed river. Work will start after the University Boat Race (on 7 April) and rowing boats may not be allowed to pass perhaps for most of May and some of June. This means that big clubs such as London, Thames, and Imperial College will have to row downstream of Putney Bridge (towards Wandsworth) where the embankments mean that water is often rough when the tide is higher. Of course, those based upstream of Hammersmith Bridge will have the river to themselves. Reports of schadenfreude by the smaller clubs of Hammersmith, Chiswick, and Mortlake will, I am sure, be denied.

Two Men In A Boat

Yesterday, on HTBS, I pointed you readers in the direction of the Daily Telegraph which had interviewed solo-rower Andrew Brown, who broke the world record crossing the Atlantic earlier in January. In this interesting article, Brown says that "My heroes are the old-fashioned hardy sailors like Chay Blyth and Robin Knox-Johnston, who thought that if someone had to come and rescue you, then you would be putting them in danger. So if you get yourself into trouble, then you've got to get yourself out of it."

As you probably know by now, it was Chay Blyth's and John Ridgway's 92-day crossing in a row boat in 1966, which "laid the foundation for the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge of 2011." Here are two short film clips about them and their boat, the English Rose III:

(1966)

TWO MEN IN A BOAT

English Rose III was later on display in a boat show in London in 1967:

BOAT SHOW - LONDON-ON-SEA

Hooray For HTBS!

Dear reader of HTBS - on 12 March, 2009, I started this rowing blog, I guess out of being bored... At first, I thought that no one was actually going to read it, I did not even bother to put up a so called site metre. After a couple of months of blogging, I did realise that there were people reading it, and I have happily been blogging away ever since, now with help from rowing friends in France and England. However, when HTBS turned one year, I did ‘install’ the site metre, which earlier today showed that HTBS has had its 100,000 visit (with slightly more than 230,700 page views!). In the blogging world it might not sound like a lot, but for a blog dealing mainly with rowing history, it is incredible!

My warmest ‘thank you’ to all you loyal readers of HTBS & and to contributors Hélène Rémond, Tim Koch, Greg Denieffe, and Philip Kuepper.

More Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge Reports

Here is some more reports about the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge – The World’s Toughest Rowing Race.

As HTBS has mentioned before the all-female crew Row For Freedom in The Guardian has reached Port St Charles in Barbados. The women – Julia Immonen, Debbie Beadle, Helen Leigh, Kate Richardson and Katie Pattison-Hart – have set two world records: they are the first five-woman team to row any ocean in the world and have broken the record for rowing The Atlantic in the fastest time by an all-female crew. Here is an interview with the ladies, who almost seem to have laughed their way across the Atlantic.

The other day, there was a great article in the Daily Telegraph about Andrew Brown, who came in on an over-all second place, but broke a new record for solo-rowing the Atlantic. Read the article about this extraordinary man here. (When he is back in England, I hope he will sit down to write a book about his experience how to battle the Ocean all alone. That would be hot stuff, as they say…)

The team The Atlantic 4 with Adam Wolley, Greg Symondson, and twin brothers Hugo and Ross Turner came in on a third place.

Coming in on fourth place was two Welsh firefighter, John Haskell and Jamie Windsor. Read article here and watch interview with these brave fellows.

Spirit of Corinth with Chris Walters, Elliot Dale, Tony Short, and Brian Fletcher, who docked Port St Charles as the fifth boat, have promised to update their blog after they have had some beers, which is a very reasonable request……

At the same time as these boats are arriving in Port St Charles, oarsman Tommy Tippetts has now left La Gomera for his solo-row to Barbados. Follow his voyage here.