On Saturday, May 15, the Cornell crews, rowing a short powerful stroke, made a clean sweep at Lake Carnegie. Princeton, using a very similar stroke, also led the University crews across the line in all three events. They rowed a beautiful race and deserved to win. All credit to Cornell and Princeton. Without detracting in the least from their enviable performance, it might be advantageous to consider a few facts gleaned from the contest. The Yale crew, although crossing the line third, broke the previous course record by seven seconds. The crew rowed in perfect form. Not only Coach Spaeth of Princeton, but also Coach Nickalls of Yale, as well as other prominent rowing authorities, were of the opinion that it was the best Yale boat that ever faced Princeton. Before the contest it was admittedly an impossibility to even attempt to predict a winner. All conditions seemed equal. The three crews as they paddled up to the mark were equally smooth, equally fit, and equally primed for the race. All seemed equal. All except one factor was equal--that factor was the stroke they rowed. The Cornell and Princeton crews used a short stroke with a strong leg drive and sharp finish--the so-called American stroke. The Yale crews, rowing in faultless style, used a long stroke, combining an accentuated body swing with a long reach and a sharp catch--the English style.

The result of the race, which was two miles long, seems to have conclusively proved the shorter stroke to be superior over such distances as this and the Henley course, not only because it can be effectively and efficiently raised to 36, 38, and even 40 to the minute and impossibility with the English style of rowing--but also because it is not nearly so exhausting when rowed at a relatively high stroke, necessary in a short race.

Would it not be propitious for those in charge of the destinies of Yale rowing, in view of the recent reversal, to seriously consider the advisability of forming a light crew, trained for the Henley and two-mile courses, and equipped with a short stroke, adapted to these distances?

At the same time, the heavy crew, using the long English stroke, so successful in our past Harvard races, would be benefited through training throughout the whole season for the long distance event, the four-mile New London classic.  --Yale Graphic.