BRITISH ROWING IN THE OLYMPICS Cup crew on no less than seven occasions. With R.S.C. Lucas, I had two Goblet victories, and in 1928 rowing for the Thames Rowing Club I was successful in the Stewards’ Fours – my last race at Henley, in which we got home by the narrow margin of one foot. In the twenty- four eight-oared races I rowed over the Henley course, the crew in which I was rowing were beaten on only two occasions.”1034 1920 Turning to Gully’s international exploits, during the Olympic year of 1920, his Magdalen College Eight went Head of the River and won the Grand Challenge Cup, beating Leander Club in a walk by two lengths in the final. With Nickalls at 7, Magdalen was stroked by Ewart “Dink” Horsfall (1892-1974), 1912 Olympic Gold Medalist returning to the sport after winning the Distinguished Flying Cross as a fighter pilot in World War I.1035 The Magdalen Eight seemed to be a natural selection to represent Great Britain in that summer’s Olympics. Gully: “At the time there was what amounted to a tacit understanding that, when it came to international representation, a Leander crew should be picked. What guided the authorities in this particular piece of folly I have never been able to understand, except perhaps that a Leander crew had been successful in the eight-oared Olympic events of 1908 and 1912. “On this occasion, they took five men from the Magdalen crew and called upon three Leander men to, in their opinion, ‘strengthen’ us.”1036 The Times, describing the original Magdalen lineup at Henley: “There were six 1034 G.O. Nickalls, Rainbow, p. 147 1035 Saint Sing, The Wonder Crew, p. 156 1036 G.O. Nickalls, Rainbow, pp. 82-3 Vanity Fair, April 3, 1912 S.E. “Cygnet” Swann Leander bow-seat, 1920 British Olympic Eight The artist, Robert Wallace Hester, painted three portraits for Vanity Fair, all in 1912. good oarsmen in the boat, and the two bow oars [H.C. Irvine 10st. 12lb. 69kg and B.L. Bathurst 10st. 11lb. 68kg] will improve with experience.”1037 In fact, both men were far lighter than their eventual Leander replacements, S.E. Swann and Ralph Shove, and neither would ever win their Blues. Gully: “Not content with this, the selectors made the captain of Leander the 1037 A Wet Henley – Five Oxford Victories – Fine Oarsmen from Magdalen, The Times of London, July 5, 1920 277
