Examinations or no examinations, indoor rowing reaches a new high in enthusiasm this Winter with over 90 oarsmen participating every afternoon in practice at the Newell Boat House.
Behind this new interest in the ancient sport of rowing is the installment of a new streamlined crew machine which pushes the water past the stationary oarsmen at the rate of five miles per hour, an increase of three miles per hour, over the old gasoline engine which has put so many former Harvard rowing "greats" into championship form.
With 24 strokes per minute now being a real possibility indoors, the new machine more nearly duplicates outdoor conditions. The oarsmen "catch" faster and their "pull throughs" are speeded up tremendously.
Here and There
The father of oarsman Howard Turner '40 was so interested in the new machine that he leaned over too much in an attempt to see the intricacies of the streamlined motor. His pocketbook dropped into the water, went sailing through the complicated machinery, and came out the other end unscathed. All the bills were recovered, just slightly the worse for the experience.
Tom Bolles was quite chagrined when he read in the Boston Herald that Lauren C. Kingman, Jr., of West Concord, Harvard senior and member of last year's junior varsity crew, broke the Harvard ice cream record, downing no less than 27 dishes of peppermint stick ice cream smothered in chocolate sauce. At the Adams House dining hall, however, Mrs. Anne Jarrett, house hostess, denied the feat.
Investigation revealed that the ice cream record was all a hoax concocted by Kingman's roommate. Tom Bolles was relieved.
Indoor Rowing Valuable
Down at the boathouse veteran Bert Haines was asked, "Does this indoor rowing do you any good?" "You mean to make a crew in the spring?" countered Haines, adding a moment later, "Yes . . . It's the only way to make the crew."
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