1940: Rowing

College rowing in the United States enjoyed a year of great activity. The competition was good and of a high order throughout. In reviewing the results, it appears there were more crews than usual that rated as 'good.'

Those Universities that competed at Poughkeepsie and New London and in the various established cup races, comprise the following: California, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Navy, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Syracuse, Washington, Wisconsin and Yale. In this group Harvard and Washington stand out as the two best with Cornell a good second.

Harvard's exceptional record of victories in all classes, however, viz., Varsity, J.V. 150 lb. crews and Freshman entitle it to first place in the top flight of Intercollegiate Rowing for 1940. For the third consecutive year, Harvard climaxed its season with a clean sweep against Yale at New London. Harvard's Varsity won four important races and lost only once by a narrow margin of 2 feet to a powerful Cornell crew at Ithaca, with the other competitor Syracuse, 3rd. The distance was 2 miles. Oddly enough, it was Cornell that nicked Harvard's perfect score in 1939 on the same course. Harvard J.V. lost only one race. Its Freshman crew was undefeated.

Harvard won the following cup races:

Adams Cup (Harvard, Pennsylvania & Navy)

Rowe Cup (Harvard, Syracuse, M.I.T. and Boston University)

Compton Cup (Harvard, M.I.T. and Princeton)

Adams Cup (Harvard, Pennsylvania and Navy)

Goldthwaite Cup for 150 lb. Eights (Harvard, Yale and Princeton)

Joe Wright Memorial Trophy 150 lb. Eights (Harvard, M.I.T., Princeton, Cornell, Yale, Pennsylvania and Columbia)

Washington had a very successful season. The Varsity and J.V. both won at Poughkeepsie. In the Varsity race there were eight crews; in the J.V. race there were six. Varsity and J.V. had previously defeated California over a 3-mile course at Seattle.

To show the high caliber of competition at Poughkeepsie a glance at the order of finish will show that the first five Varsity crews all finished within 35 seconds. Wind and water conditions at Poughkeepsie were very unfavorable and caused a nerve-racking delay of four hours in the start of the Varsity Race. Owing to this delay, the tide had commenced to turn which accounts for the slow time of the Varsity race, viz., 22 min. 42 sec. as against the 1939 record made by California of 18 min. 12 6/10 sec. In brief, the race this year was 4 min. 30 sec. slower than the 1939 race.

Cornell had an exceptionally good season and its Varsity crew was a threat to Washington throughout the entire four miles at Poughkeepsie. In fact at the 3½ miles, Cornell took the lead away from Washington but due to a delay of four hours in starting the Varsity race, it was rowed at the turn of the tide and as previously stated, required 4 minutes 30 seconds more than the record time made in 1939. Cornell was only 3 3/10 seconds behind Washington at the finish and was closely followed by Syracuse, Navy and California. Cornell won the Freshman race at Poughkeepsie in a field of 4; which gave that crew an undefeated season. Cornell's Varsity won the Carnegie Cup (Cornell, Yale and Princeton) and Cornell gave Harvard's Varsity its only defeat of the season at Ithaca.

California suffered a reaction after an undefeated season in 1939. The stimulus of Olympic competition is strong with California whose Eight successfully represented the United States in two Olympics: 1928 and 1932. The cancellation of the 1940 Olympic Games had a dampening influence. Outstanding features of California rowing in 1940 was their undefeated Freshman crew. This crew defeated Washington in 2 miles at Seattle; also defeated several California Junior Colleges. California's Freshman did not compete at Poughkeepsie.

Columbia started the season well; defeating Rutgers and Manhattan at New York; made a clean sweep of Varsity and Freshman races against Navy at Annapolis and won the Childs Cup at Philadelphia (Columbia, Pennsylvania and Princeton). Columbia was not a factor in any of the three races at Poughkeepsie.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology is making a fresh start with a new coaching system. Freshman and 150 lb. crews won several races and give promise of something worth while in the next few years.

Navy. The Varsity did not have a single victory, although it finished a good fourth at Poughkeepsie in a field of eight. The J.V. crew won its early season race with Princeton and Cornell and lost to Columbia and Pennsylvania. The J.V. climaxed its season by finishing second at Poughkeepsie in a good field of six crews under very difficult wind and water conditions.

Pennsylvania had an indifferent season. Its Varsity won over a strong Rutgers Crew in the first race of the season and defeated Wisconsin and Marietta in the final race of the season at Pittsburgh. These were the only highlights in Penn's 1940 season. The 150 lb. crew defeated Princeton in an early season race. Penn's J.V. won over Navy and Harvard in the Adams Cup Regatta.

Princeton started out well; its Varsity defeating Navy at Princeton — 1¾ miles. Princeton made its first entries at Poughkeepsie this year with Varsity and Freshman Crews. The Freshman crew looked good; it finished 2nd to Cornell, defeating Syracuse and Columbia. The Varsity finished last in a field of eight.

Syracuse. All three crews gave evidence of class and furnished some good competition in several early races. They all did very creditably at Poughkeepsie. The Varsity finished third, after leading the field of eight crews for the first mile and a half. The J. V. finished fourth and the Freshman, third.

Wisconsin defeated crews of the Detroit Boat Club and Ecorse Boat Club at Detroit and finished second to Pennsylvania and ahead of Marietta at Pittsburgh. Finished next to last in the Varsity race of eight crews at Poughkeepsie.

Yale won the Blackwell Cup — 1¾ miles — Harlem River, New York City, defeating Columbia and Pennsylvania. Yale Varsity defeated M.I.T. and Syracuse — 2 miles, Derby, Conn., and the J.V. crew won on the same date, place and distance.

The colleges that formed the Dad Vail Association held their second annual regatta this year (1940) at Springfield on May 18th. Distance one mile, 550 yards.

The writer suggested some years ago the idea of a Henley of America, and Princeton as the ideal place for holding such a regatta, probably a week after the Poughkeepsie and New London Regattas to enable Varsity eights and probably fours to compete at the Olympic distance of 2,000 meters, or perhaps better, the Henley distance of a mile 550 yards.

This would be a grand climax and especially interesting since the Olympic Rowing Try-outs and the English Henley Regatta which provided opportunity for America's best crews at short distances are definitely out. The Lake Carnegie course and the beautiful college town of Princeton provide a setting unequalled anywhere in America for holding such an event. There could also be races for single and double sculls with college and Club entries. The idea is worth thinking about and with a little effort could be developed into an annual affair of outstanding importance and distinction.