Rowing History Footnote: HRR – Not a Water Picnic!

From The Graphic, 9 July, 1887.

In the report for the 1898 Henley Royal Regatta, the Henley Stewards expressed concerns about the ‘pleasure boats’ at the regatta. They wrote in their report:

‘The committee have to record, with great regret, that in several races the competitors were obstructed by a mass of boats protruding on the course, and in one instance by a punt drifting, through incompetent management, on to the course. The Committee feel that protection must be afforded to competitors, and, if necessary, the course must be boomed on both sides and pleasure-boats prohibited from going on the course during the Regatta. Such action would be reluctantly taken be the Committee, as it would curtail the pleasure of the majority who manage their boats efficiently, and with due regards to the best interest of the regatta, which exists for boat-racing, and not as a mere water picnic.’

For the 1899 Henley Royal Regatta, on 5-7 July, the Stewards had ordered there to be booms placed on each side of the race course to avoid pleasure boats and punts drifting out in front of the crews racing, which had in the past ruined the day for many good oarsmen. One of these unlucky oarsmen had been the young Guy Nickalls (then rowing for Magdalen College, Oxford), who, in 1887, raced in his first Diamonds event, in the final against James Cardwell Gardner of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

Amongst the spectators that year was the Prince and Princess of Wales with a Royal party on a boat which got surrounded by small boats and punts (see on top). These crafts soon took over half the course on one spot, so the unfortunate Nickalls, racing on the Berks side, rowed right into the Royal enthusiasts and crashed his shell. He was not offered a re-start.

Sandow’s Magazine of Physical Culture, founded by Eugen Sandow, ‘the strong man’, reported that houseboat owners at Henley produced ‘a chorus of groans and complaints’ as they saw the new booms ‘as a bar to the success of the meeting [the regatta]’. However, there were some places were sliding booms allowed the pleasure boats to pass on and off the course between the races. The Field later reported that ‘the booms were a splendid success.’ The regatta set a record when it came to attendance as more than 12,000 people arrived by train for the last day’s races.

Rowing History Footnote: Leave it to Sandow, the Strong Man...

Earlier on HTBS there was an entry about the crews who rowed in the 1897 Boat Race. The Dark Blues won, despite the high hopes the Light Blues had to overcome their antagonists. In September the same year, the satirical Punch, or the London Charivari published a funny illustration how the 1898 Cambridge crew would look if 'Sandow, the strong man' would be in charge of the Light Blues' training, using 'his own system'.

‘Sandow, the strong man’ was actually Eugen Sandow (1867–1925), who was born Friedrich Wilhelm Müller, a Prussian pioneer also known as the ‘father of modern bodybuilding’. He began his career as a circus athlete, but soon shifted over from lifting heavy obstacles to flexing his muscles. On Wikipedia.org it says: ‘Sandow’s resemblance to the physiques found on classical Greek and Roman sculpture was no accident, as he measured the statues in museums and helped to develop “The Grecian Ideal” as a formula for the “perfect physique.”’

Read more about Sandow here.

View a short clip on Sandow showing off his body art:


In the article "The Making of a Rowing Blue", published in The Tatler on 5 March, 1902, Walter 'Guts' Woodgate wrote: 'The Farnese Hercules would be a duffer in the boat; he has too much arm and shoulder and too light a loin in proportion. He would try to do all his work with arms, especially with biceps, and would be a bad choice for a torpid or lower division eight.'

Maybe this is why the Light Blues never asked Sandow to coach them? No, to be honest, Sandow did a lot to help rowing and other sports by publishing a paper, Sandow’s Magazine of Physical Culture, which had some very well-written articles on all kinds of different sports.