THE SPORT OF ROWING “In 1926, the City of Toronto spent $17,000 to erect a commissioned bronze statue of Hanlan near the Princes’ Gates of the Canadian National Exhibition Grounds in Toronto.”591 Race Strategy Hanlan often seemed to toy with his opponents, repeatedly letting them catch up only to sprint away again, as he did in his first race with Trickett. He often kept the races close and played to the crowds. Limiting the margin of victory was typical of Hanlan throughout his career. Morrow: “Some have thought that Hanlan ‘refused to row away from his victims and allow them to suffer an ignominious defeat.’592 But it’s more likely that Hanlan, for whom rowing provided his livelihood, won his races by narrow margins to maintain uncertainty about the outcome, which is the very foundation of all professional sport and its attendant gambling. His technical advantage and talent made him so much better than his opponents that it would have been career suicide always to pull ahead of them at the outset of a race and to stay ahead, as he could have done. “Hanlan and his backers were much too clever to have him go all-out in any single event for fear of losing the element of betting speculation.593”594 Hanlan the Man Rice: “Champion of Canada at 18, champion of America at 20 and champion of the world at 24, where can one find a record to equal it? The very men that he defeated 591 Cosentino, op. cit., p. 61 592 Hunter, p. 29 593 Cosentino, Case Study, p. 10 594 Morrow, pp. 35-6 were unanimous in their opinion of his prowess.”595 Many of Hanlan’s competitors lost heart of ever beating him. One particular tale is illustrative. Hanlan took sick during one of his races with James Riley, “and halfway up the course Hanlan had to stop. Riley was stunned, and refused to cross the line. “He had obviously placed bets on Hanlan and would lose his money if he won the race.”596 Rice: “No man ever proved to be a more popular champion than he was throughout Canada. The day he rowed Courtney at Lachine in 1879, the telegraph offices all over the Dominion were besieged by his compatriots seeking the tale of the race from quarter mile to quarter mile. When he won that race, he was the recipient of the greatest ovation that national pride could produce. “I am anxious to have myself on record as holding that no man has yet equaled the achievements of ‘Edward Hanlan of the Island’ in the game of rowing. “I never knew a finer oarsman. I never met a straighter man. He met his opponents without fear or favor. He rowed in all conditions and in many countries. In the days when the sport produced the greatest men in its annals, he fought his way to the top and held the crown for four years. In short – he was the best ever.”597 Sportsmanship The preceding quote was written in 1920, twelve years after Hanlan’s death. By then, the patina of nostalgia had begun to obscure the rough edges of the young Ned Hanlan, who had commenced his life inauspiciously as the child of Irish 595 Rice, James C., op.cit. 596 Cosentino, Hanlan, p. 38 597 Rice, James C., op.cit. 160
