THE SPORT OF ROWING still being coached by professional watermen. Drinkwater: “At the same time [October, 1841354], A.T.W. Shadwell, brother of the Cambridge bow, had migrated from Lady Margaret to Balliol.355 He was fully conversant with the teachings of Egan at Cambridge and had won the Colquhoun Sculls twice. He was, moreover, light enough to cox a boat, weighing but 10 st. 4 lb. [144 lb. 65 kg]. Menzies seems to have enlisted his aid at once, and, in opposition to authority, to have got together a crew of his own in the Michaelmas term.”356 Rowe & Pitman: “Several of the rowing men, and principally Mr. Fletcher Menzies of University College, realized that the style which was taught by their professional coaches was radically wrong. Menzies advocated the style [which has come to be called English Orthodox Technique], and which has since been accepted as the only true one. He also recommended the abolition of professional, and the institution of amateur, coaches. “He received the warm support of Mr. Shadwell, who had migrated from Cambridge. Shadwell and Menzies met with some opposition; but in the autumn of 1841 the latter was elected President of the O.U.B.C. and at once effected a radical change.”357 Drinkwater: “Between them, Menzies and Shadwell perfected a system of amateur coaching and, dispensing with watermen’s advice, laid the foundation of the true style at Oxford. For the short digging 354 Joseph Foster, Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715- 1886, James Parker & Co., Oxford, 1891, p. 1278 355 Balliol College, Oxford. They row with sky- blue blades with a small red triangle based at the neck. 356 Drinkwater, p. 22 357 Rowe & Pitman, p. 111 ‘waterman’s stroke,’ as it used to be called, they substituted the long dragging stroke with the sharp catch at the beginning.”358 1842 Boat Race In 1842, Menzies stroked the Oxford Dark Blue Boat while Shadwell coached and coxed. The race was nearly even during the first mile until Oxford began to pull away. Drinkwater: “In Chelsea Reach,359 [7- seat G.E. Hughes], who had lost his straw hat, began to look visibly faint and much distressed, when the coxswain [Shadwell] reminded him that a slice of lemon was placed in each man’s thwart within his reach. This revived him, and at the same moment the captain [Menzies] took off his own straw hat and gave it to him. “A second danger threatened Oxford, owing to the dense cramming of [spectator] boats a little below Putney Bridge. [Shadwell], in order to make sure of the arch, stood up, and by his shouting cleared the course. “By this accident he learned that it was possible to stand up and survey calmly all going on within and without the boat. Thenceforth it became the general practice for the coach when steering to stand up and address his men, steadying himself by the tightened rudder lines.”360 Oxford passed under the Putney Bridge finish line thirteen seconds ahead of Cambridge to win for the first time since the inaugural Boat Race of 1829. Coach or Rower It seems that the first historians of early rowing history tended to give credit for any technical innovations to the rower who 358 Drinkwater, p. 22 359 the third mile 360 Drinkwater, pp. 23-4 100
