The five years covered by the agreement with Yale mark what has probably been the most important period in Harvard's rowing history. Previous to 1897 a number of different methods and systems had been followed, and the result as everybody well knows, was far from satisfactory. At the beginning of the autumn of 1896 Mr. R. C. Lehmann was invited to come to America and supervise the coaching of Harvard rowing. This he kindly and generously consented to do. On his arrival he set to work to change the style, so that it should conform to what was generally considered best in England. The two most important and obvious changes were shortening the slide by four or five inches and lengthening the body swing forward and back by about double. There were of course a number of other changes in the rigging which were also important but which would require too much space to be treated here.
The training of the University crew in '97 was an exception to that of previous years. The schedule consisted of about two months' work in pairs and eights in the autumn. After Christmas the candidates were called out and worked daily until the race; that is, such of them as were able to show their superiority. The class crews did much the same, excepting that they did nothing in the autumn, and after the class race in the spring they stopped. This was the first year that the Weld Boat Club really came into prominence. It profited immensely by the new enthusiasm for rowing that arose that year and showed greatly increased activity and improvement.
The race in 1897 was a three cornered one, and was rowed on the Hudson at Poughkeepsie. The University and Freshman crews spent an unusually long time there that year, which proved to be serious mistake, as the climate and locality had an injurious effect upon the men. The result of the race was, as everybody knows, most disastrous. The Harvard crew had, a week before, made before, made exceedingly fast time, but in the race the long body swing and the had effect of the climate played such have with the crew that it failed finish.
Immediately after the race Mr. Lehmann again offered his services, and came back the next autumn. The autumn rowing in 1897 was made considerably more important and interesting than it had been formerly. Rowing began in four-oared shells, which raced at the end of October. Candidates were then picked for two trial eights, which raced a month later. After this a provisional University crew was picked from the best men and practiced for another two weeks.
After Christmas no University squad was called, but instead everybody was told to try for his class crew. Very little was done until after the mid-years, when all the class crew squads were organized and began daily work. The Weld Boat Club proved of great assistance, as each class crew used its respective Weld class crew as a second and a trial horse with which it could race. The class races came just before the last vacation, and were well contested.
During the vacation the University squad began regular work under a now captain, J. H. Perkins; D. M. Goodrich who had been captain nearly two years, having resigned. The excellence of the '98 crew was seriously impaired by the absence of a number of the most promising candidates, who enlisted for the Spanish war.
The race was at New London, and was three-cornered,--Yale and Cornell being the other two crews. The crew in this race was certainly in good condition, but it did not contain good material, and what speed it had could only be shown, in smooth water. Harvard was last in the race.
The following year an attempt was made to combine with the Weld Boat Club and broaden rowing. The four-oared races were first held, and after that a race between four eight-oared crews, two from the University Boat House and two from the Weld. Mr. E. C. Storrow '89 was appointed head coach, and the style adopted was a compromise between that taught by Mr. Lebmann and that which had been in vogne during the few years preceding him. It was felt this year that something more permanent than the class crew system should be adopted, so the Newell Boat Club was formed and given part of the University Boat House.
The regular Class crews rowed this year as formerly, and besides each club had its set of class crews. The various class races took place as in the previous years, and then each club formed first and second crews which raced two weeks later, and from these four crews the University squad was selected at the beginning of May. The race this year was a dual one as it used to be before the rupture with Yale, and resulted favorably for Harvard.
The work of the following year was very similar, excepting that all the autumn rowing was done in eights and under the auspices of the two clubs. In the spring the old form of class crews was done away with and instead each club had its set of class crews. Each pair of class crews raced together to decide which should represent the class as a whole, and the winning crews raced just before Easter. The programme for the University squad was exactly the same in 1900 as in '99, both in Cambridge and New London. Unfortunately the Harvard crew met with a series of accidents, and the race was won by Yale in the last half mile.
Rowing during the last two years had become much more popular, about 450 men getting out on the water each year, and any where from 23 to 27 organized eights, beside several fours.
The year of 1900-01 was a repetition of the preceding one in every respect, even so far as the result of the race. However, the crew was a good one, and only lost after a close fight because Yale had a better one. It is unreasonable to expect to win always, but it is not unreasonable to expect that the University crew shall be a good one always. The present system certainly fills the requirements as nothing else ever did, for it allows a great many men to row who never used to have a chance, but who not infrequently prove to be good,--to row and to be sure of getting instruction. And what is more, the system can always accommodate more. The one thing that is necessary for both undergraduates and graduates to remember is that it needs all the help that can be given it, for if allowed to run by itself it will run down