Tom Bolles coaching tactics in crew this fall have brought to light some old controversies in their full force. Questions of whether it is the heavy crew or the light crew, the tall crew or the short crew, and better form or more power that makes the best eight have all had an opportunity to resolve themselves in Bolles' experimenting, but the question still remains undecided.

The only answer that seems to be at all evident is that no set rule of the ideal crew man can be made. It is true that while Bolles did try a particularly tall crew and a shorter, stockier crew in a race, the shorter crew won, but looking over the members of both crews it seems fairly obvious that the outcome of the race might have been predicted on the quality of oarsmen alone.

Crew Experiments

At another time Tom Bolles pitted three class crews against each other. In this race the 1941 crew won, but once again it would almost have been called obvious from a quick glance at the boatings. Stroked by Sherm Gray, the Junior boat was made up with a good many members of last year's varsity. In addition the eight was enhanced by the presence of Behn Riggs who felt that he was unable to row last year what with the press of scholastic work.

However, there was one interesting reflection cast by this race and that is the question of form. It was not too hard a race for the Juniors, and they won decisively, but their form was almost ragged at times. The catching was not good, and all in all they were anything but a polished crew. Not only that, but they were paced by a relatively inexperienced stroke. Meanwhile the Senior boat pulled through evenly and showed excellent form, but they were left in the lunch.

The indefiniteness of the Bolles findings brings to mind the statement made by Mr. Meikleham who was for many years a race official at New London. He said that the choice of any one type of crew man for a boat was almost entirely a matter of contemporary style, and that the best crew man did not necessarily have to confine himself to any particular build. His knowledge was based not only on his long association with crew but upon the fact that while he was a Captain of the Columbia crew he helped to nurse the sport out of its infancy.

Princeton Experiments

Not only is experimenting being done on the Charles this fall, but down on Lake Carnegie at Princeton, Coach Fred Spuhn has been mixing them up a little. The almost entirely unimpressive showing of the Tiger eight last year would ordinarily allow little hope for the coming season, but the Bengals still think they have a trick or two up their sleeves mainly because a Tiger cub crew last year, unimpressive in itself, laid claim to some excellent material.

The real possibilities of this material were brought to light in a measure not so long ago when Hank Drinker, erstwhile cub stroke, came through in the heavy sculling singles to win an all college event. Drinker's sculling experience was limited but natural ability seemed to carry him through. However, Drinker is not the only hopeful that remains out of the limelight at Nassau.