THE SPORT OF ROWING Ellis described Hanlan as having a “haunted boat,”500 and Hanlan wasn’t about to tell anyone his secret. Here’s how he described his own technique during his career: “A full, long reach out over the toes, with both arms straight; a sharp, clean ‘catch’ of the water; a powerful, steady, horizontal stroke, with an application of the whole force at the moment of immersion; a clean feather and a low, quick recover, shooting out at the moment of the finish.”501 You can read that quote as often as you like. It sounds good, but it is full of platitudes and self-evident truths. It is not terribly informative except that Hanlan definitely practiced Schubschlag force application. Contemporaries were dazzled, even blinded by Hanlan’s technique. Here is the beginning of an account of one of Hanlan’s victories: The Illustrated London News: “The Friends of Rowing History The Ward Brothers Hank, Josh, Gilbert and Ellis sweep of the oars gliding ahead” as opposed to the normal “short, choppy, slapping effort lurching forward [ferryman’s finish] with every pull of the oars.”498 Given that Ned Hanlan seemed to break every rule followed by the professionals of his era, nobody could figure out how he could be so fast. Singles rival Ellis Ward also rowed bow in the famous American- champion Ward Brothers Four. There were five brothers in all, Charles, Hank, Josh, Gil and Ellis, sons of a fisherman and hotel keeper in Cornwell-on-Hudson, New York.499 Canadian, whose style is simply perfect, and has never been approached by that of any other sculler, at once took a slight lead . . . ”502 and so on. The Montreal Herald: “No other sculler made such a picture in a boat. There was a combination of grace and strength and the perfection of motion that appealed to the eye in the same way as the thoroughbred racehorse does.”503 Others could only joke. “The Spirit of the Times claimed to have discovered the secret to Hanlan’s smooth, effortless stroke: he had concealed bellows in his boat which, when pressed by his feet would puff him along like a modern jet.”504 500 Qtd. by Kelley, p. 33 501 Qtd. by Harding, p. 7, Kelley, p. 44 502 Championship Sculling-Match, The Illustrated London News, November 20, 1880, p. 498 Cosentino, Hanlan, p. 18 499 Mendenhall, Harvard-Yale, p. 55 506 503 Qtd. by Glendon, p. 93 504 Cosentino, op. cit., p. 39 140
