ENGLISH ORTHODOX MEETS CLASSICAL TECHNIQUE 21. Fairbairnism Spreads Around the World Australia – Germany – Frame-by-Frame Film Analysis In the 19th and early 20th Centuries, the sport of rowing migrated with English soldiers, missionaries, administrators, businessmen and expatriates to the far reaches of the British Empire, to Africa, the Asian subcontinent, the Far East and the Americas and also to continental Europe as far as St. Petersburg and Moscow. Thames professionals came along. An unintended consequence of the British ban on professional coaches was that they frequently had to go abroad to make a living. British coaches and oarsmen brought with them the controversy between English Orthodox and Fairbairnism. Spracklen: “The sport had begun in England, from where it spread to other parts of the world. As the Englishmen were seen as the leaders, others looked to England for guidance which began with the Orthodox Style of rowing. Fairbairn’s success gathered in momentum and quickly spread around the world. Other nations set their standards on what was happening in England, and many changed from Orthodox to the Fairbairn method.”940 Fairbairnism Down Under In Australia, Adelaide University Boat Club Historian Edwin Michell found the following poem in the personal library of Sir Henry Simpson Newland, member of the Adelaide crew which defeated Melbourne in 940 Spracklen, The Fairbairn Method the 1934 Intervarsity Race. It is worth quoting in full: IN MEMORIAM OLD VICTORIAN STYLE OF ROWING Obit 3rd November, 1934 R.I.P. Old Noah some hundreds of aeons ago, Was desirous of moving about And his sons with the sedentary life on the Ark Were becoming remarkably stout. So he knocked up some oars out of best gopher wood, And sat all his sons on the hatch, And they got the old Ark running quite well, And developed a wonderful catch. One day as they paddled around the old globe, They espied a fast moving craft, And hailed them on board with the greatest of glee, And hitched their long vessel aft. A know-all young man who rowed in this crew Remarked as he watched the sons’ style, “Your leg work is good, but your shoulders, Oh Hell!941 We’d lose you in less than a mile. On the Yarra942 we row, not just play at the game, We’ve thrashed all the crews there from scratch. Our secret is shoulders, and after that legs, To ensure a really good catch.”943 Then Noah said sweetly, “We’ll give you a go, And the race will be straight for three miles. 941 English Orthodox criticism of Fairbairnism 942 a river in the Australian State of Victoria with the City of Melbourne near its mouth. 943 English Orthodoxy 247
