This blog covers all aspects of the rich history of rowing, as a sport, culture phenomena, a life style, and a necessary element to keep your wit and stay sane.
We had spring weather in Connecticut today – lovely. We have had a tough winter, so it’s not one day too early, I think. And with the beginning of spring just around the corner, I took the opportunity to try out a new shirt that arrived from one of the shops in Jermyn Street, put on tan trousers to go with my navy blazer. I thought that was appropriate as I was going to a ‘rowing’ meeting this morning.
Above you see an image from a famous annual rowing regatta in America: the boat race between Yale and Harvard on the Thames River in New London. The ‘H’ flag on the right and the ‘Y’ flag on the left give away the location of the race. I guess the picture is from the 1930s or 1940s, but I am not entirely sure.
Of course, it is not really the boat race in itself that is shown in this picture, it is the gentleman, the spectator, and how he is dressed that is the important thing. It is probably June, so he is wearing a tan double-breasted jacket, a light-coloured shirt, red tie and a matching ‘pocket-square’. His trousers are white, or maybe off-white, and white shoes. To protect his head from the sun, he is wearing a brown hat with a wide brim and ribbon (a little too large for my taste).
It is not very likely that you will see anyone dressed like this at the boat race this year, which is on Saturday the 28 May.
Tim Koch, HTBS's special correspondent in London, has some great news that he would like to share with you readers. The story about the Huskie crew, who took the Olympic gold medal in the eights at the Berlin Games in 1936, maybe will become both a book and a movie. Tim writes:
The show-business newspaper Variety reports that the Weinstein Company (who recently produced the intelligent and award winning film, The King's Speech) have purchased the film rights to an upcoming book by Daniel James Brown, The Boys in the Boat, about the University of Washington eight that won gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Impressively, Harvey Weinstein has got the acclaimed British actor, Kenneth Branagh to direct the movie. Branagh's previous directorial projects have included many Shakespeare adaptations and the movie blogs seem genuinely excited by the prospect of a film that may transcend the usual sporting movie stereotypes (though, unfortunately, it is been hyped as 'a cross between Seabiscuit and Chariots of Fire').
Branagh is quoted as saying "The Boys in the Boat is an epic. I was completely captivated by the characters, the era, and the dreams of a generation unfolding beautifully and dramatically". Eric Eisenberg of cinemablend.com says: "...what I'm really hoping for from this project is that it is simply a two hour version of the Henley Regatta sequence from The Social Network. If they do that, I see 15 Oscars in their future".
The amazing thing about the 1936 'Huskies' and the story of their performance in Berlin is that, if it were not true, it would be dismissed as a ridiculous collection of film clichés which would insult all but the most undemanding viewer.
Cliché 1: The young coach, the old master and the former colleague turned rival.
In 1927 Al Ulbrickson had taken over as Washington University crew coach at the age of only 24. In the early years he constantly lost to the California crews of Ky Ebright, a former Husky cox and assistant coach. While Cal was to remain UW's greatest rival, the Washington crews slowly got better and better. Ulbrickson was assisted by his friend and former classmate, Tom Bolles (both on the right), and the 'quiet master', George Pocock, the famous boat-builder and coach.
Cliché 2: Selection for the Big Race and beating the old enemy - just.
By 1935 the training had reached a new intensity and the UW crews adopted the motto 'LGB', meaning 'Let's Go to Berlin' or, perhaps, 'Let's Get Better'. At the Olympic Trails in Princeton in July 1936, the Huskies were competing for the US Olympic place against a good Pennsylvania Club Crew, a New York Club Crew, and Ky Ebright's California Crew. Ulbrickson's strategy was one that had proved successful but was also one that needed calmness and confidence to carry out: start with a low rate and produce a fast finish. Going off at 34 stokes per minute, UW were last and a length down on the leading crew until the rate went up to forty. They took the lead in the final 400 metres and won by a length. '...I think this crew will give a good account of itself in Berlin' said Ulbrickson.
Cliché 3: The Big Race is organised by people with another agenda.
Berlin 1936 remains the most controversial Games in Olympic history. The Nazis, who had been in power for three years, were not yet universally recognised for what they really were. They exploited the Games as a propaganda exercise to 'sell' the new state to the world and to propagate their ideas about race. The crews that won their heat to get to the eights final were the USA (who beat the much favoured British crew and set a new world record in the process), (Nazi) Germany and (Fascist) Italy.
Cliché 4: The Big Race: The star player is ill, 'cheating' by the organisers, winning in the last few strokes.
Even before the heat, the '3' man, Gordon Adam and the brilliant stroke, Don Hume, were ill. By the day of the race, Hume was worse but Ulbrickson decided that he would race. There was a strong crosswind and the Germans decided to give the most protected lanes to the slowest qualifiers, which happened to be Germany and Italy. In spite of their protests, the US crew were given the worst lane. Different sources give different accounts of the race; it is clearly one of those stories that get better with telling. Some say that the Americans did not hear the French instruction to start and were dropped on the first stroke. It was certainly true that at 1,100 metres, the Huskies were in last place. The cox, Moch, claims that stroke, Hume, was too ill to respond to his calls for a higher rate. Hume says that he was 'ill but not out of it'. At 1,200 metres Moch was ready to tell the ‘7’ man, Joe Rantz, to stroke the boat when Hume seemed to rally. At 1,500 metres the US boat was third, half a length down from Italy and a few feet behind Germany. In practice their highest stroke was 40 but by 1,800 they were up to 44 and in the next 100 metres they took the lead, beating Italy by eight feet and putting the Germans in third place. The times were: USA 6.25.4, Italy 6.26.0, Germany 6.26.4. Back at the dock, Hitler presented the exhausted crew with a large laurel wreath. 'He wasn't too happy' remembers ‘5’ man, Jim McMillin.
Film of the finish of the 1936 Eights Final is here:
The first minute shows the Germans winning the coxless fours final. I think the shot where they cross the finish line has been speeded up as I make the rate to be in the fifties! It is from the official film of the Games by the brilliant and controversial director, Leni Riefenstahl. The close ups and the 'in boat' shots of the eights were not taken during the race but were shot in practice and edited in later as the camera technology of the time would not have allowed anything else. The Americans do not feature in the film very much. They are the crew furthest from the camera at the start. The closeness of the finish can be seen at 3 minutes and 14 seconds in and there is a nice shot of the crew at 3 minutes and 50 seconds in.
A great picture and short biography of Al Ulbrickson is here.
It is sad that the film could not have been made ten years earlier when the majority of these remarkable men were still alive. They were:
Bow: Roger Morris (1915-2009) 2: Charles Day (1914-1962) 3: Gordon Adam (1915-1992) 4: John White (1916-1997) 5: Jim McMillin (1914-2005) 6: George Hunt (1916-1999) 7: Joseph Rantz (1914-2007) Str: Donald Hume (1915-2001) Cox: Robert Moch (1914-2005)
The blog, obsessedwithfilm.com cautions that ''...the book is only in proposal form and has not yet been written, no screenwriter will be sought for a while, so don't expect this one to film this year.... perhaps it could be an Oscar 2013 contender''. I look forward to it.
Tim sent an e-mail with a press release about an interesting talk by rowing historian Chris Dodd, who is giving a talk about The Boat Race on 17 March, at 7:30 p.m. The talk is organized by Chiswick Pier Trust. The press release reads:
Oxford have been racing Cambridge on the four-and-a-quarter-mile tidal ‘S’ bend from Putney to Mortlake since 1845. In the twenty-first century the spot where the Boat Race has been won or lost has shifted upstream from Hammersmith Bridge to Chiswick Reach, as in the 2010 race where Cambridge broke Oxford’s lead at Chiswick Steps.
Christopher Dodd, the Boat Race historian, recounts the thrills and spills of the Blues locked in perpetual conflict on the Tideway, the oarsmen who have been at the cutting edge of amateur rowing and amateur sport in Britain since the first race in 1829.
The Chiswick Pier Trust are hosting the talk, at 7.30 p.m. on Thursday March 17 at the Pier House, Corney Reach, W4. Doors open at 7:00 p.m. and the event will start at 7:30 p.m. Free to Chiswick Pier Trust Members, £3 to non-members. Chiswick Pier and Chiswick Pier House are at the end of Corney Road and Edensor Road, Chiswick, W4 2UG.
The talk is part of a series organised by the Chiswick Pier Trust, a charity that puts people in touch with the River Thames. For further details on events at the Pier and how to get there, contact the Chiswick Pier Trust 020 8742 2713 or log on at www.chiswickpier.org.uk
Last year I never got around to order a then newly published rowing book, A History of Galway Rowing Club 1910-2009 by James Casserly. I thought it would be interesting to read about Irish rowing, especially when someone told me in an e-mail the Casserly's book was a "good" read. I had seen it on the web, and although one should never buy a book because it has a good-looking cover, or a wine with a good-looking label, A History of Galway Rowing Club 1910-2009 had a promising cover with nine lads in an eight.
Some weeks ago, I happened to see the book on eBay for a fraction of what it cost last year. I ordered it, and three weeks ago it arrived safely in the mail. It was with great anticipation I opened the parcel to flip through the pages of the book. After a while I put the book aside, only to open it again after a day, or two. I have done this procedure for three weeks, and when it is now time to write this little review, I am sorry to have to write that I am terribly disappointed about the book.
Yesterday, when I wrote about the two ways there are to write a club history, The Art Of Writing A Book On The History Of A Rowing Club, Casserly's book would end up in the second category, a book only for the members and friends of the club. I think that he missed a great opportunity to write about Irish rowing, maybe not as a whole, but Galway RC probably has a great part of rowing in Ireland, and that is sadly not shown in this book.
It is difficult to write a book about the history of a rowing club, or to be more specific, a good book about the history of a rowing club. The way I see it, there are two schools of thoughts on how to go about doing the research and to write such a book. One way is to see the club, its activities and members, as a cog in a large machinery, and the machinery is the rowing in the town, region, country, and even in many cases, the world. You put the club's history in a context to the rowing going on around the club, of course not without being introvert at times, mentioning important and interesting facts that happened on a club level. To mention some books in this category: Hear the Boat Sing (about the Thames RC; 1991) by Geoffrey Page; The Brilliants (about Leander Club; 1997) by Richard Burnell & Geoffrey Page; Water Boiling Aft (about the London RC; 2006) by Christopher Dodd; and more recently, The Dolly Varden Legacy (about the Wellington RC; 2010) by Michael Grace. I find these excellent books well-written and, in general, interesting because they go beyond the respective clubs' rowing, and therefore are appealing to anyone who is into rowing history.
The second category of a book on a club's history is to keep an introspective view at all times. These kind of books follow the club minutes to the letter. Often they are written chronologically, starting the year the club was founded, going through the years, and up to present time. In these books the readers will find sentences like: "In 1925, the club sent three crews to the National Championships. The eight: [nine names]; the coxed four: [five names]; a pair: [two names]. The pair won their race after a strong finish." Or sentences that read: "Sadly, the boathouse burnt down to the ground, and the boats had to be kept in old Mrs. X's barn for two years. Thanks to subscriptions, organised by the club committee, in 1971, a new boathouse was built where the old one stood", etc., etc. Very rarely will you find the names of the crews or clubs that were racing against 'the club', they are of no importance to the history, instead there are endless lists of names of club members page up and page down, making sure that no-one in the club's history is forgotten. This is a beautiful thought, but of course it makes it impossible to read, unless you will find your own name on that list.
The second category of books are also illustrated with old photographs, or should I say all photographs that the club holds in its archives. It does not matter how poor the pictures are, they might at one point have been crumpled up, or ripped, but they appear in the book with wrinkles, and are repaired with tape, etc. Again, to make sure that everyone in the club's history, not only makes an appearance with their name in the book, but also in a photograph. And this is understandable as these are the people who are going to purchase the book in question.
Although, it might be very obvious that I prefer to read a book of the first category, I would probably still buy a book from the second category, just to make sure that my library of rowing books is close to complete.
Today, it is exactly two years ago I started this blog, 'Hear The Boat Sing', HTBS. Honestly, I really did not have any big plans for my blogging about the history of rowing, although it is a subject close to my heart. I was surprised at the way the blog took off, though, and how many people from around the world had the same interest I have. This has been shown in many ways, but in particular, and this I am very happy about, how rowers have contacted me with questions and suggestions of topics to write about. Families and relatives of old famous oarsmen from England have also contacted me to share good stories, and, I hope, more are coming.
I am also extremely glad for those contributions I have been able to post on HTBS from rowing historians, journalists, rowers, and others, and here I would especially like to mention Hélène Rémond of France and Tim Koch of England, both of whom I now regard as fellow HTBS-arians.
For those who are interested in statistics, this is the 470th entry posted on HTBS, and as I am writing this, HTBS has had 45,688 'visits', but not during the two years it has been up running, no, only during one year's time as it was first after a year's blogging I attached this feature to HTBS.
And just so you know, I am not making any money on HTBS; therefore, to be able to feed the children and buy my dear wife a present now and then - and myself a new necktie and a book occasionally - I took a new job just after Christmas, an editorial job. The company gave me the fancy title 'Editor', but it is not at all as glamorous as it sounds... By the way, this meant that my blogging fell behind, but hopefully I will soon be able to catch up, as there are many, many good rowing history stories to tell.
When Barry beat Felton in the return match in Sydney it was a chance for Dick Arnst (seen on the left). Arnst had issue a newspaper challenge to the winner of the match (a possibly unusual way of going about it). Barry returned to the UK and ignored Dick so Arnst claimed the World Championship by default after the usual three months had passed. Arnst had been an earlier world champion so it was not exactly out of the blue but a few of the Sydnesiders did not agree with it. Anyway, Dick held on to the championship for another challenge before losing to fellow New Zealander Darcy Hadfield who had won bronze at the 1920 Olympic Games. Arnst was born not far from where I live and he was the first rower I wrote a book about as no-one had done it before. [Book title: Richard Arnst: The Single Sculls World Champion From New Zealand (2005)]
Richard (Dick) Arnst was born in a town near Christchurch called Tai Tapu on the 28th of November 1883. His birth name was Jacob Diedrich Arnst. It seems that the children selected another name to be known as when they grew up. Also, as Arnst was a German name they may have wanted to Anglicize it. However, Dick’s brother, Jack, was in the NZ Army and was killed in France in WWI. Dick was a champion cyclist (as was Jack) before he took up sculling. See Wiki for more information.
As for me, I was born in Christchurch and have lived all my live here. Boringly conventional!
Warm thanks to Bernard for this story. It is good to hear that Bernard is as cheerful as ever, despite the disaster that struck his hometown some weeks ago. Keep up the good spirit!
According to the paper Pune Mirror in India, the College of Engineering, Pune, Boat Club has the only wooden single scull left in the country. The boat, H M Ganesh Rao, is more than 50 years old, the paper writes. In the article, the boat is called 'a diamond scull', which, the paper states, "probably derives its name from the 'Diamond Challenge Sculls', a rowing event for men's single sculls at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames in England".
The boat club, which has organised an annual regatta since 1928 on the Mula River, plan to row the H M Ganesh Rao in the regatta on 13 March. 100 students are participating, not only in rowing, but other water games, too. Read the nice article by clicking here.
Tim Koch, HTBS's special correspondent in London, gives a report about the upcoming Boat Race.
As mentioned on HTBS of 27 February, Monday 7 March saw the official weigh-in and crew announcement for the 157th Oxford–Cambridge Boat Race which starts at 17.00 GMT on 26 March. The crews were welcomed by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who, as always, gave the impression that the task had been sprung on him at the last minute. As an old Balliol College (Oxford) man he wished both crews good luck – "especially Oxford".
For the first time in many years, Oxford have just one crew member from overseas. On paper they are the less experienced boat. Cambridge has five Britons, two Australians and individuals from Canada and the United States.
The PR people’s view of the crew selection is here.
I took advantage of a room full of the great and the good of rowing journalism to get more seasoned views of this year’s race.
Chris Dodd (Writer and historian, former Guardian newspaper correspondent):
It should be a good race. Cambridge has more experience and they are a heavier crew (if that counts for anything these days, probably not). Their ‘disadvantage’ is that their coach, Steve Trapmore, has not done the Boat Race before. He is a generation younger than the previous coach and he has a lot of experience on the Boat Race course as he was Chief Coach at Imperial College which is based at Putney. Also, he got an Olympic gold medal in the eight in 2000 and that crew did most of its training on the Thames Tideway…….. He was also in that crew for all of the three years it was together so he has a lot of experience of eights that are changing personnel. Also he runs a very big programme at Imperial….. so he has a lot of experience in crew selection. So, to be new to the Boat Race is not what it first seems for Steve Trapmore. Against that, Sean Bowden, the Oxford Coach, has led eight victories in the past eleven years. He is a very cool customer, he knows exactly how to produce crews to peak on the day which is the key to this race….. These crews are not packed with internationals but they are good quality student oarsmen and are not too far apart, I think.
Coaches Sean Bowden and Steve Trapmore
Dan Topolski (Commentator and Oxford finishing coach 1973-1987, which included twelve wins and an unbroken run of ten victories):
On paper, Cambridge holds the cards, but whenever Oxford has been asked to perform they have done pretty well……. You have a very British-Oxford-Eight with three undergraduates, a more experienced Cambridge crew, most of them have done the race. Not a lot of difference in the weights, more difference in the heights and ages….. and I think it will be a very intriguing race, may be similar to last year.
Martin Gough (BBC):
It’s going to be a really tight race. There is not a huge amount of experience in either crew and this makes it difficult to pick the fastest boat. Cambridge has more Boat Race experience, but having Sean Bowden as coach means Oxford will be able to draw on his experience…… It’s not the race of the last few years where you have a group of internationals going head to head……. but this makes it more exciting…… It’s the usual cycle, two years of big names and internationals and then two years of proper students as you go into an Olympic Games…… the only man in the race who we could expect to race (at the 2012 Olympics) is Constantine Louloudis, the Oxford number six. [Read Martin Gough's article here.]
Rachel Quarrell (The Daily Telegraph):
It’s defiantly too early to make any predictions at the moment….. I think that the last week will be very interesting, I think that both crews will come on a lot (in that time)….. Normally just after the Olympics you have a lot of internationals going to Oxford and Cambridge…. It always dips again after that but this year it was dramatic because the 2010 World Rowing Championships was in November, so it ruined two academic years. Nobody wanted to compete in the 2010 or 2011 Boat Race who planed to row internationally….. so there are no current internationals in either team.
I will be interviewing these people again during ‘Tideway Week’ on 21-25 March, when the world’s press descends on Putney to follow the crews out on their final outings.
Thank you, Tim, for an interesting report. In due course, HTBS will be back with more reports about this year's Boat Race.
Yesterday, the Mid-Hudson Rowing Association, MHRA, had a premier screening of the film, A History of Rowing on the Hudson at the newly restored and modernized, but still historic, Cornell Boathouse. The organization had very kindly sent me an invitation, but unfortunately I was not able to attend. This was indeed a pity, and from an e-mail I received earlier today from Bill Washburn of the MHRA and one of the filmmakers, I understand that I really missed a great event. Bill writes in his e-mail that the premier screening “for many of us at the Mid-Hudson Rowing Association, it was the culmination of two and half years of work. Judging from the enthusiasm of the applause at the end and the heartiness of the handshakes and congratulations, it was a success.”
Rowing historian Tom Weil, who has just come back from a trip to China, was there and, Bill writes, Tom “said a few words before the screening to encourage the audience to visit the National Rowing Hall of Fame at Mystic Seaport Museum. He was in much demand at the end from people with their own collections of rowing memorabilia who were looking forward to visiting the museum.” Tom Weil, as one of the most famous rowing historians in the world, is of course featured in the film at the Rowing Hall of Fame.
For anyone who is interested in a copy of A History of Rowing on the Hudson, for $20 a DVD can be yours (Blu-Ray version, $25). Go to the MHRA's website and the “Special Merchandise” page by clicking here.
All proceeds from the sale of the film will be used to support the Hudson River Rowing Association Community Boathouse, which is located at Poughkeepsie, NY, and the seven local high school rowing programs, which use this facility. “The production costs were underwritten by a grant from the Hudson River Improvement Fund and individual donations from members of MHRA,” Bill Washburn also mentions in his e-mail.
I have followed Bill and his fellow filmmakers hard work for a couple of years now, I am very pleased to hear the good news that their documentary has now crossed the finish line. It is my sincere hope that many, many people who are interested in rowing will click on the link above to order a copy, or two, of A History of Rowing on the Hudson.
It seems March is National Nutrition month! EAS sport nutrition has challenged the tough Navy Lieutenant Commander Sam Tickle to compete in 30 different sports in 30 days in 30 cities in what is called the Unstoppable Tour. Below you can watch the trailer for the tour:
On Day 8 it was time for Sam Tickle to learn how to scull to be able to race down a 5,000-metre course on the Scioto River in Columbus, Ohio. Will he stay afloat? Watch the Day 8 video below:
On 27 October 1919, for £500 a-side, World Champion sculler Ernest Barry lost his title to the Australian Alfred Felton on the championship course between Putney and Mortlake. This was captured by Tom Webster, who was a cartoonist at the Daily Mail (see above and below). Almost a year later, 28 August, 1920, Barry took back the Champion title from Felton on the Parramatta River. Barry's trip to Australia to regain the World title was made possible thanks to Webster's newspaper. The Daily Mail started a public subscription to fund the Englishman's voyage, which was going to cost £2,000 (£500 stake money and £1,500 for expenses). In his Sculling and Skulduggery Stuart Ripley claims that more than 100,000 people lined the Parramatta River for the race. After the race Barry retired from professional sculling.
"It's nothing of the sort. It's tails". (Felton says) Ernest Barry may know a lot about the Thames but he doesn't know a great deal about tossing.
Choosing the Middlesex side Felton went along in water that would not have disconcerted a really reckless sardine.
But Barry on the Surrey side was requiring something slightly superior to a "hush hush" ship in order to weather the storm.
The race was followed by a keen crowd on the banks - all shouting for Barry and some of them were kind enough to point out the winning post!
The chase was abandoned at Chiswick. The onlookers by that time being convinced that Britain no longer rules the waves.
Australian soldiers following the race. Twickenham spectator marked with a cross.
During the first mile the crew of Barry's cutter sank and I didn't see one of them wave him farewell.
A sporting finish. Barry sculls over to congratulate the winner.
On 29 October it is time again for a Rowing History Forum at the River & Rowing Museum in Henley. “The headline speaker will be the collector Tom Weil on a topic yet to be disclosed”, Chris Dodd writes in an e-mail, “but attendees can expect a tirade of erudition delivered with panache, as demonstrated at previous history gatherings.”
Another American rowing historian, Peter Mallory, who is also one of the directors of the Friends of Rowing History, is going to entertain the attendees “with the trials and tribulations of writing his forthcoming epic book The Sport of Rowing, a gripping world-wide voyage through two centuries of argument about coaches, catch and recovery.” From the British homewaters comes Jerry Sutton, master oar-maker, who will demonstrate the dying art of wooden oar making, Dodd writes. He continues, “Guin Batten will speak on the theme of women’s rowing and the Olympic Games, complimentary to the exhibition opening on 3 June.” Plus much more! There will also be an optional dinner with a history theme and speaker at Leander Club on the evening of 28 October.
HTBS will come back with more information when we are getting closer to this event.
On Monday 7 March, the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, will address the Oxford and Cambridge crews who will be rowing in The Boat Race on 26 March. The oarsmen will weighed in at City Hall and the Mayor will acknowledge that it is 175 years since the university crews first raced on the River Thames in London. Read the press release here.
Who is Boris Johnson, a Non-Brit may ask? Boris Johnson, a Conservative politician, is a former MP (Member of Parliament) for Henley-on-Thames who has been Mayor of London since May 2008. He studied at Eton College and Balliol College, Oxford, and at neither school he rowed, which was obvious when he, as the MP for Henley, opened the Upper Thames RC's new boathouse in 2005 (see picture below from the 'Tideway Slug').
He is one of the few British politicians known around the country on a first-name basis, and his unruly hair and far from tactful outspokenness are some of his trademarks, as is his badly tied neck-ties, I think. In Britain, he is either loved, or regarded as a babbling fool who constantly puts his foot in his mouth. Boris has worked as a journalist for the Conservative Daily Telegraph, where he still has a column. Between 1999 and 2005 he was the editor of the weekly magazine The Spectator.
The last years have shown that the interest for professional rowing is alive and growing. Maybe it is the combination of social history and the history of the sport of rowing, combined with good stories about how certain races were conducted, the oarsmen’s training, and their backers sometimes ‘dirty tricks’ behind the scene. During the 2000s some very good books were published about the professionals and their era, to mention some: Gordon Trickett’s Ned Trickett, Champion Sculler of the World (2000); Ian Whitehead’s two The Sporting Tyne (about the professional oarsmen on the Tyne; 2002) and James Renforth of Gateshead (2004); David Clasper’s Rowing: A Way of Life (about the Claspers; 2003); Wendy A. Lewis’s Fire on the Water (youth book about Ned Hanlan; 2007); and Stuart Ripley’s Sculling and Skulduggery (2009). To these books we can now add the excellent Seven Australian World Champion Scullers, which was published in 2010 by Bernard W. Hempseed.
Seven Australian World Champion Scullers is about the oarsmen and the period that came to be known as the Golden Age of Australian rowing. The professional World Champion Aussies were: Ned Trickett 1876-1879; Bill Beach 1884-1887; Peter Kemp 1888, 1890; Henry Searle 1888-1890; John Mclean 1890-1891; Jim Stanbury 1891-1896, 1905; and George Towns 1901-1904, 1906-1907. In his introduction Bernard Hempseed states that the purpose of the book is not to give detailed biographies of all of the champions involved, nor is it a full history of professional sculling in Australia, “instead”, he writes “it seeks to celebrate, and provide a detailed account of the thirty or so Championship races that occurred during the period in question”.
Hempseed has the knack of pulling out the essential parts from these championship races to present them in an appealing and well-written way in his 85-page book. In an Appendix he lists all the contestants who sculled in the 95 races for the World Sculling Champion Title, starting with Ned Hanlan of Canada who raced 12 times for the title and won seven of the races; the Canadian is followed by Bill Beach, who raced and won seven races. The peculiar way the list is set, it is, at first, hard to understand, but for anyone who would like to read a full chronological list of the race for the World Championship Title in the single sculls can go to Wikipedia by clicking here. As a matter of fact, some of the articles on Wikipedia about the Champions are written by Bernard Hempseed.
Seven Australian World Champion Scullers is self-published book, which I think nowadays is a very good and honourable way to get your work out on the market - especially if the market is as small as the one about the history of rowing!
Anyone who would like to purchase a copy of Hempseed’s brilliant book can contact him on the following e-mail address: mbrosn (at) gmail.com The price is US$15 which includes postage.
Note: Bernard Hempseed lives outside of Christchurch in New Zealand, and I am happy to report that he has contacted me to tell me that he and his family are okay after the terrible earthquake there the other day. Of course, in the wake of this disaster it can take some time to get the mail going.
‘Hear the Boat Sing’ (HTBS) was founded in 2009 by Göran R Buckhorn, a Swede living in Connecticut, a magazine editor, culture scribe and a rowing historian. In 1990, Göran co-founded the Swedish rowing magazine, “Svensk Rodd”, for which he is now a contributing editor. He has written numerous articles on rowing, and is one of the Directors of Friends of Rowing History and a member of BARJ, the British Association of Rowing Journalists. Regular contributors to HTBS are: rowing historians Tim Koch and Greg Denieffe, both in England; Hélène Rémond, France; and Philip Kuepper, Connecticut. Besides writing articles on The Boat Race, the Henley Royal Regatta, the Wingfield Sculls, and the Doggett’s Coat and Badge Race, Tim has made some rowing documentaries. He is also a Director of the Friends of Rowing History and a member of BARJ. Greg is an Irishman who specializes on Irish rowing. Some of his finest pieces are on HTBS. Hélène, who wrote her thesis on British rowing, has covered The Boat Race and the Henley Regatta for French papers and HTBS, also shooting beautiful photos for this blog. Philip’s poems on rowing have topics about everything between the daily life and the divine.
We had spring weather in Connecticut today – lovely. We have had a tough winter, so it’s not one day too early, I think. And with the beginning of spring just around the corner, I took the opportunity to try out a new shirt that arrived from one of the shops in Jermyn Street, put on tan trousers to go with my navy blazer. I thought that was appropriate as I was going to a ‘rowing’ meeting this morning.
