THE SPORT OF ROWING “The experienced oarsman is conscious of his body-beginning, but he is quite unconscious of the start of his slide.”834 In 1905, historian Samuel Crowther, Jr.835 described the English Stroke from an American perspective: “It is a grafting of the slide upon the old swing of the fixed seat. The oarsman swings up hard, throwing all his weight into the catch with his slide stationary and his toes well braced, the typical catch of the fixed seat. When the body has passed the perpendicular and the oar is coming into its most effective arc, the legs go out and the slide moves back and the oar is brought in.”836 This represents a point of view that cuts up the pullthrough and then dictates how the parts should be reassembled. By contrast, Classical Technique is all about organic integrity. Arms Lehmann: “The arms must initially remain perfectly straight, for their chief function is to transmit the weight-power of the body to the oar.”837 Also here Lehmann disagreed with the Classical approach of Fairbairn, who eventually concluded that the arms should actively participate from the entry.838 Force Application Lehmann: “The leg-power must not be spent on a sudden shoot, but must be distributed through the whole of the rest of the stroke. “The pressure of the blade against the water must be continuous and unwavering, and all the oarsman’s movements must be so 834 Ibid 835 See Chapter 36. 836 Crowther, p. 216 837 Lehmann, op.cit, pp. 48-51 838 See Chapter 19. ordered as first to apply and then to maintain it throughout the stroke.”839 Crowther: “This stroke brings in nearly every muscle in the body; the power and swing of the fixed seat is retained, – for one must never forget that some of the old crews rowed very fast, – while the slide is brought in to give force at the most useful place, and also to put the body in the best position for a powerful finish. It is a reasonable stroke and seems to have more force-giving elements than our [American] stroke, which relies so much on the legs.”840 Lehmann: “As the slide moves, the leg- power applied must on no account diminish. If anything, it ought to increase, for the body is beginning to lose its impetus, and the main part of the resistance is transferred to the legs, the blade all the time moving at an even pace through the water.841 “Simultaneously with the legs, the hands must bring the oar handle firmly home to the chest, sweeping it in and thus obtaining what is called a firm, hard finish.”842 This is the very same conclusion, the choice of Schubschlag over Kernschlag, which T.S. Egan had made in the 1830s, Hanlan had made in the 1870s and Fairbairn had made in the 1880s. The Influence of Hanlan In 1908, many years after Fairbairn had introduced Ned Hanlan’s long slides to the Universities, Lehmann wrote about the lessons that he, himself, had learned from watching Hanlan: 839 Lehmann, op.cit , p. 51 840 Crowther, p. 216 841 Another example of confused physics. Leh- mann intended to describe not even pace but even effort level, which generates even acceleration yielding steadily increasing pace through the water. 842 Lehmann, Isthmian, p. 49 218
