THE SPORT OF ROWING the water hard and together, left it neatly, and withal had an excellent body swing with the leg drive.”4849 Not unexpectedly, this sounds reminiscent of the Ellis Ward Stroke of the time.4850 When Wisconsin finished a respectable third behind Penn and Cornell in its first trip to Poughkeepsie in 1898, “Harvard promptly hired away O’Dea!”4851 The tenure of his successor, ‘98 Wisconsin grad Curran McConville, is most often remembered for the fate of his crew during his first year. The Berry Crate Crew In 1899, Wisconsin sent a crew to Poughkeepsie averaging 165½ pounds, the same as Columbia’s and outweighing Cornell’s (162½) and Pennsylvania’s (159).4852 The race brought out the best in sports journalism of the era, worth excerpting at length. The New York Times: “The town is in fever tonight, the tooting of horns, the ringing of bells, the shouting of college cries and all other evidences of student exhilaration between drinks. It is estimated that 20,000 persons saw the greatest race ever rowed on any course in America. “At just six minutes past 7 o’clock, the four shells [IRA members Pennsylvania, Cornell and Columbia with guest Wisconsin] had lined up and had given answer to the referee that they were ready for the struggle, when the sharp click of a pistol announced to the oarsmen that they were to start for their four-mile journey. “All the crews seemed to catch the water well together, but the more powerful strokes of the Pennsylvanians and Wisconsins 4849 Qtd. by Ibid, p. 30 4850 See Chapter 36. 4851 Taylor, p. 31 4852 75, 73.5 and 72 kg respectively. enabled them to get a slight advantage in the first half dozen strokes. Then, just as the strangers from Wisconsin were forging to the front, No. 2 in their boat unshipped the slide of his seat and went over on his back with his oar shooting upward toward the sky. “A dozen shrieks from the whistle of the referee’s boat brought all the crews to a standstill. Slowly the boys turned their shells up the river and again lined up for another start. [What followed were two more attempts to start the race, one aborted when Columbia was not ready, and the next when a huge side-wheel steamer came bearing down on the race course.] “It was a trifle after 7:30 o’clock when the crews lined up for what proved to be the last attempt to make a fair start for all. It was a fair start they got, too. All caught the water when the pistol snapped this time, and all seemed to catch with the same force, deeply and well. “For the first dozen strokes there was no perceptible advantage for any one of the eights. Cornell’s crew had the outer course, which was supposed to be the most advantageous. Columbia was next to her. Then came the brawny Pennsylvanians, and on the extreme western course were the unknowns from Wisconsin, the crew without friends before the race was rowed, but with as many friends after it was over as had any of the crews. “‘If those fellows from Milwaukee4853 can do anything in their position against the fast Cornell boys, with the best place on the course as theirs, then they are simply wonders,’ remarked a veteran of Pennsylvania who had rowed in the crew that was swamped on the course in 1895.4854 4853 Apparently, the Eastern press was only aware of a single Wisconsin city. 4854 See Chapters 32 and 36. 1352
