On sunny days, when Bermuda shorts and lecture notes reappear along the Charles' banks, the river is dotted with clumsy wherries, maneuvered by PT credit-conscious freshmen, laboriously tugging their ears, nervously trying to stay on a straight course.

But there is an obvious foil for these novices sculling for the first or second time. It is the little band of men who glide smoothly up and down the river in sleek, narrow shells with red and silver trim.

There are only nine of these men in the University now. They come from the College, from the grad schools, even from the faculty. Some are athletes, some scholars, but all have a common bond behind the oars of a shell. They are the elite of Weld Boat House: they are the members of the Thirty-Minute club.

Membership in this club, perhaps the most exclusive in the University, is open only to single scullers enrolled in the University who can churn their way to Arsenal bridge and back to Weld, a four mile course, in 30 minutes.

42 So Far

Few have accomplished the feat. Only 42 scullers' names have been placed on the Thirty-Minute club board at Weld since the club was begun in 1940 by Blake Dennison, Boat House sculling coach. Only three scullers have made the club this season. And along with the numerous attempts to skim the four-mile distance in the required time, there have been many near misses.

Dennison tells of one sculler who practiced almost daily for an entire spring, rowing the four-mile course over and over, perfecting his stroke, extending his endurance. Finally, he thought himself ready for a time trial.

The little red pennant announcing "get out of the way" to other scullers was fastened to the bow of his shell. He sped away, and soon returned, racing madly to the dock, only to find his time was thirty minutes and one second.

Blake denies the rumor that the student threw both his oars into the river in anger, for two days later, he finally made the club.

Then there is the tale of Charlie Rheault, who, after long practice, streaked to Arsenal and back in 29 minutes 59.9 seconds on June 1, 1950. After the test, Rheault wrote in the Club log:

". . . Interviewed as he was being hauled out of his craft by three burly dockmen, Rheault gasped, 'Nothing to it. Knew I could never make the top of the ladder--precarious position anyway. Always somebody fighting for the top. Nobody fighting for the bottom. That's where I wanted to be.

"Dawdled all the way back from bridge, talked to sunbathers, caught crabs, trailed one foot in the water--all to make sure that I cinched the bottom rung. I figure no one can shave 30 minutes any closer than that.'"

Rheault tried to hit last place by an even tighter margin the next day, but evidently stopped to sun himself too long, for he recorded a 30:08 time.

The fastest time ever recorded by a club member was 26:05, by John H. Hart '52, now at Yale Medical School. Hart entered the club with a time of 26:06 last May, shortly before he won his second Wellesley bike race.

Even thirty minutes for four miles is lightning time in anybody's boat. No standard course records are kept, Dennison believes, but he noted that anything near six minutes for one mile is excellent time. Thirty-Minute club members have flashed over the mile distance in 6:22. Derrick M. Wilde '53, who won the Senior Scullers' one-mile race in the University regatta earlier this month, posted a time of 6:35.