Coach Courtney of Cornell has criticized the four mile crew race because of its strain on the participants and even more so because of the prolonged training required for such a long race. Because of his long association with rowing and his prominence as a coach of winning crews, Courtney's opinion carries much weight. Coach Abbot, of the Yale crew, however, has written a letter to the Yale News, pointing out his arguments in favor of the four mile contest and refuting the statements made by the opponents of the long distance.

Coach Abbot's letter follows:

"It was with astonishment that I read an article in the New York Times of Sunday last in which the writer claims that the rowing authorities of Yale have under consideration a proposal to change the distance of the annual race with Harvard in June from four to three miles. I may state that the article in question contains the first news that the Yale rowing authorities have had of the Yale rowing authorities have had of the proposed change. But the Times does not rest content with its Sunday article. In the Monday edition, under the heading of 'Comment on Current Events in Sport,' we come upon an item on the same subject wherein we find the following paragraphs: 'Yale and Harvard have each appealed to the other to shorten the New London Classic; and now rowing followers explain Yale's new tack by pointing to the fact that Eli crews have been far from successful in recent years and that last June all three--'varsity, junior and freshman--were vastly, inferior to the Crimson shells.' I pass over the fact that during the last three years, under Coach Nickalls' administration, the Yale crews have defeated Pennsylvania, Cornell and Princeton, and that year in the final races at New London all three crews--'varsity, junior and freshman--were victorious over Harvard.

"There are three stock arguments which the opponents of a four mile race are forever propounding. They say first, that the strain on the oarsmen is too great; secondly, that a crew ahead at the third mile usually wins; and, thirdly, that the training for a four mile race is much more severe and takes more time from the athlete's college work than athletic should.

Number of Strokes Tire Men.

"As to the strain on the physique of the men, every rowing coach knows that it is the number of strokes rowed to the minute rather than the distance covered that wearies the oarsman. This is occasioned by the fact that rowing is a form of exercise which forces the athlete to take a breath every time he pulls a stroke. The normal respiration of a man is about 17 breaths a minute. Now if the rate of stroke is, say 34 strokes to the minute, it means that the oarsman is breathing twice as fast as the naturally would. Increase the rate of stroke and the strain on the heart of the man becomes proportionately greater because no human being could stand the strain of a high stroke over such a distance. The strain on the heart is therefore a gradual if a long pull, and is not so weakening as would be a shorter race. In a race of four miles, then, when the stroke attains an average of 30 strokes to the minute--and in spite of newspaper reports it is very seldom that any four mile crew can attain to this average--taking 20 minutes to row, the oarsman will have breathed 600 times. In a three mile race where the spurting would be fast and furious because of the shorter distance to be covered, we may safely assume that an average of 36 strokes to the minute be attained and therefore if the race lasted 15 minutes the oarsman would have breathed 540 times, is only 60 times less than in the four mile distance. Moreover the strain on the heart would have been greater because of the quickened respiration.

"Secondly, does the crew that is behind at the third mile race usually lose? Yes, it does, but this is from the fact that the crew ahead at the third mile is greatly superior to the other crews. In all my 20 years of studying rowing I have never seen a crew which won a four mile race and was a length ahead at the third mile which was not superior in every way to the other crew or crews. This crew would have won just as easily if the race had been the shorter distance. Moreover I have seen many a four mile race won by a crew which was a length behind at the end of the third mile, and a race such as we had at New London in 1914 was worth many years of 'walkovers.'"

"Lastly, as to the amount of time required for a four mile preparation. In this connection it is amusing to take up the newspaper and find that Princeton --the exponent of the two mile race--has already called out its candidates for the eight, while Yale is not going to begin regular rowing practice until after the Prom. Two hours a day is the most that Yale requires of its oarsmen. If this amount of exercise were demanded all the year round I cannot see how it could have anything but a beneficial effect on an oarsman health and studies, and yet we only require it for four months."

Tiger Coach for Short Race.

Dr. Spaeth, coach of the Princeton crew, is one of those opposed to the four mile race and he states his views as follow:

"The Harvard-Yale and Poughkeepsie races were inaugurated in imitation of the Oxford-Cambridge race of somewhat over four miles on a fast current. We have at most of our rowing colleges, been for years rowing a distance which seems unsuited to our climatic conditions, our natural physiological temperament, and to the local conditions prevailing at most of our rowing colleges, merely because under entirely different circumstances, Englishmen have developed a four-mile tradition.

"None of the Eastern rowing colleges, with the exception of Cornell, have a satisfactory four mile course at home, and the result has been the establishment of elaborate training quarters away from the atmosphere and routine of university life, where rowing is no longer a recreation for men engaged in college work, but where for nearly a month every year they live to row, supported by gate receipts from commercialized athletics, or by the generosity of opulent patrons. The size of the rowing budget is thus enormously and unnecessarily increased, and rowing itself suffers from being considered a drain on the athletic treasury, and the beneficiary of 'productive' athletic activities.

"Furthermore, where the shorter distances are rowed, two or three races a season or more can be undertaken without risk of injury, and the increase in the number of competitions will add to the pleasure and recreational character of the sport."