Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Nearly 200 Oarsmen Engage Regularly in Work-outs Scullers Compete for Trophy
By Dr. J. Duncan Spaeth
Now that football has made its farewell bow for the year, and while the winter sports are getting ready to occupy the front of the athletic stage, it has been suggested that readers of the Weekly might be interested in a brief review of rowing activities during the fall and a look forward to the spring season. Rowing is an all-year-round sport here with three distinct seasonal periods, each with its own emphasis: (1) the fall season from the opening of college to the middle of November on the lake; (2) the winter season from the opening of college after the Christmas recess to the break-up of the ice in March, in the rowing machines in the outdoor gym; and (3) the spring season closing at Princeton with the American Rowing Associations regatta at the end of May. In the fall the emphasis is put on coaching the entering Freshmen, and in races between crews chosen from the varsity and 150-pound squads, respectively. The fall season is the most enjoyable from the point of view of recreation, as the weather conditions are generally ideal, and smooth water is the rule rather than the exception. The winter season in the rowing machines is a long but necessary grind that tests out the mettle of those who really have the ambition to represent their college in a racing shell in the spring. And while no one who will report regularly is cut from the squad, the emphasis in the spring is naturally in the selection and training of racing crews. pied by the eight highest ranking scullers as determined by the previous races. An anonymous donor gave a set of sculls and the other necessary equipment. It will be interesting to watch the effect of this practice in sculling in the watermanship of our racing crews. Two distinct results may already be noted: (1) it gave Coach Logg an opportunity to devote himself entirely to the difficult task of breaking in his 110 green Freshmen during the first two weeks; (2) it gave the varsity men a taste of the pleasures of sculling which they can pursue long after their racing days are over. The development of single sculling in Lake Carnegie will make available opportunities for healthful exercise to many men whose schedules will not permit them to come out at the regular crew-practice periods, and there is no reason why we should not eventually develop here some first-class racing scullers. I rowed the last time in a racing shell on the Willamette River in Oregon in 1926 behind Stevens of Cornell (then Harvard coach), and with a Harvard and Princeton oarsman making up the four, but I still keep up my spins on Lake Carnegie in my single and enjoy watching the crews work out and taking the swells from the coaching launch in which I used to exercise my voice. If the capacity of any form of athletic sport to give zest to life and to keep up ones working efficiency long years after graduation is one of the chief reasons for indulging in it, rowing certainly deserves encouragement, and I think we should welcome the addition of sculling and the equipment necessary for it to our rowing facilities at Princeton. Princeton Alumni Weekly January 10, 1930
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FRESHMEN
Class of 1933
P.H.Cumming, G.M.Williams, R.E.Pflaumer, B.W.Smith, W.Speer, W.Pell, J.W.Dayton, A.L.Strang, M.Kennedy (Cox)
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VARSITY
F.G.Frost 30, T.F.Wimberly 30 (Capt.), L.M.Forster 32, J.L.Pool 30, W.H.Drewry 32, C.H.Moore 31, L.F.Hallett 31, G.C.Voorhees 30 (Stroke), F.Mayer 30 (Cox), S.Kimball 31 (Mgr.)
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Tonnage Increases
Thanks to Pop Fosters exercises practised faithfully every afternoon, and to the excellent training table afforded by Baird and the chief steward, we soon began to regain some of our weight and to lose most of the colds. To celebrate our faithful training we decided to give a party the last night. Each man invited a girl. When we sat down it developed that our guests came from First Class, Second Class, Tourist Third, and Steerage. The boat had been carefully combed. It was a grand party. Each girl, in lieu of a cocktail, was served a pint of ale, and Dr. Spaeth, just recovering from mixing double his usual number of bowls of salad, made one of the best speeches of his career. The Doc sat at one end with the Juniors to his right and Sophomores to his left, while Captain Wimberly and the Seniors sat at the other end. We dissipated to the extent of staying up until eleven oclock. (continued) Enough cannot be said of arrangements in England. Baird, it developed, had been at one time Admiral of the
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(continued) trial at every appearance. No one sees their records, and they know more about a contending crew than the coach himself. And to be a coach at Henley is to be something active, for hundreds of people walk along the towing path, all of them intent on a stop watch. Through the crowds coaches, yelling through megaphones, canter on horseback or more remarkable still, pedal frantically on bicycles. Its quite a feat to see a high British bicycle on a loose gravel amidst many people, holding a megaphone and a stop-watch, ringing the bell, managing the hand brake, and all the time watching and exhorting a crew. Matt did it for us while Dr. Spaeth walked the towing path and discussed every visiting crew with his many friends. Gordon Sikes was rowed by the two panting substitutes in the royal barge, a pair-oared training gig borrowed from a friendly rival. Kent School welcomed us, and Dr. Sill generously loaned his coaching boat to Sikes every day. No launch is allowed on the course, but they agreed for the short stretch available up and then through a lock. After that they can accompany the crew for miles up stream. Robert Colmore, Princeton captain-elect, coached from a bicycle. Father Sill as Matt Baird did for us. After ten days of this we excitement came Race Week itself which compares with living in the atmosphere of noon of the Yale football game. Thousands of people, circuses, bands, hundreds of boats, were handled efficiently by the superb organization of the Henley Stewards. Telegrams and cables of encouragement arrived hourly, families appeared, and friends unexpectedly showed up. John Collyer, captain and stroke of Cornell in Sikess day, almost adopted the squad. Joseph Wright, Senior, on hand to watch Joe Junior compete in the Diamond Sculls, called at our headquarters. He it was who instituted 150 lb. Rowing as a separate sport when he coached at Pennsylvania.
Gorduli, a strange sect of oarsmen at Balliol. It goes without saying that the Gorduli had been notified of our arrival. In a small village packed for its big week of the year we found accommodations reserved for us in the center of things. A bus met our boat and a lorry with a shell-carrying attachment was on hand for the luggage. Baird probably doesnt like to recall that drive to Henley, slow driving, no springs, balanced on a crate of riggers with a shell overhead. The rest of us stopped to inspect Winchester Cathedral, but the lorry had to be routed around as the shell was too long to make the turns in the city streets. Henley is more than a place. It is an experience; and the word means everything to an oarsman who has been there preparing for Race Week. It is a quaint old village on a beautiful reach of the Thames, flanked by hills on all sides. Rowing was the sole topic. Every hotel, every house seemingly for miles around, had a banner and held at least one crew. All oarsmen wore their college or club blazers; every older man wore at least a cap or tie to show his former crew. That small village held nine hundred oarsmen in training and double the number of coaches, boatmen, and assistants. Dont think a Britisher doesnt take his sport seriously! The village after lunch was silenttime for oarsmen to take naps and at ten p.m. artificial lights (but not the daylight) went out and quiet again was restored. Picture that gay river dotted with punts and canoes with from ten to fifty eights in addition to single-sculls, doubles and fours, all in a stretch less than one mile and a half in length, the towing path crowded with experts, and always more lorries rolling up bringing more shells to the tents, and cars discharging still more oarsmen into the stewards enclosure, these to meet old friends and rivals, to start asking about time-trials and weather before undressing to go out themselves.
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JUNIOR VARSITY
Standing: M.deK.Kennedy 33 (Cox), P.H.B.Cumming 33, ?, ?, A.L.Strang 33, R.E.Pflaumer 33 Seated: G.G.Sikes 16 (Coach), B.W.Smith 33, J.G.Shennan 32 (Capt.) G.G.Merrill 31, ?
FRESHMEN
Class of 1934
W.H.Turner (Cox), C.C.Alden, H.Smith, E.H.Kellogg, A.H.Howell, J.T.Hamilton (Capt.), W.H.Pflaumer, R.Wood, J.D.Wilsey (Stroke)
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FRESHMEN
Class of 1935
R.S.Firestone (Cox), J.H.Symington (Capt.), Stroke), S.F.Ketcham, W.F.Hewitt, R.M.Finder, A.Gawthrop, R.R.Zundel, J.Garrett, S.Stephens
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25 Stroke Race
CLASS OF 1933
Heavies: G.White, P.Cumming, P.Campbell, L.Williams, B.W.Smith (Capt.), J.Dayton, A.Strang, B.Pflaumer (Stroke), G.Sikes 16 (Cox) Lights: C.Davis, A.Keasbey, A.Whitlock, Summerfeldts son, G.Summerfeldt, R.Reybine, H.A.Smith, S.Backus, A.Brooks (Cox)
June 1958
JUNIOR VARSITY
W.B.Morrow 33 (Cox), G.M.Williams 33, J.T.Hamilton 34, A.H.Howell 34, H.Rutherfurd 34, W.Speer 33, E.H.Kellogg 34, R.Wood 34, R.P.Habgood 34
FRESHMEN
Class of 1936
P.Preston (Cox), L.Fenninger (Stroke), A.C.Smith, R. Kauffmann, G.F.Keppel, H.P.Dicke, J.F.Kelly, L.W.Wister (Capt.), J.T.Pierce
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1933 CREWS
RUTHERFURDS IN DOUBLE
Winthrop Rutherfurd 28 and Hugo Rutherfurd 34
LIGHTWEIGHT VARSITY
Goldthwait Cup
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COACHES
COACH GORDON G. SIKES 16
Volunteer Coach 1916-47 Assistant Varsity Coach 1916, 1917, 1919 Lightweight Coach 1920-31, 1946, 1947 Heavyweight Coach 1931-37, 1943, 1945
Gordon Gowans Sikes made an indelible mark on the rowing scene in the first part of the twentieth century, not only at his beloved Princeton University, but throughout the collegiate world. He touched the lives of many and was respected and loved as a competitor, an innovator, and a coach. Gordon joined the Class of 1916 at Princeton in the fall of 1912, having lost the use of his legs to polio as a small boy, he had developed the upper body of an athlete through swimming and canoeing. Getting about on crutches, he waited for no one to wait on him. Gordons first mentor was the legendary Dr. J. Duncan Spaeth, Rowing Coach at Princeton and a professor of classics and literature. After Dr. Spaeth had witnessed Gordons plunge into the lake to prove that he could indeed swim, it was agreed that he could try out for the position of coxswain. The first race in which Gordon Sikes is mentioned as a cox was a race between the varsity crews of Princeton and Yale held on Lake Carnegie on October 25, 1913. Princeton was victorious. In 1914 Gordon coxed two wins over Yale again and in 1915 and 1916 Gordon shared the varsity coxing job with two teammates. After graduation in 1916, with America at war, Gordon enlisted in the US Marine Corps. He served as commissioned officer in the personnel division in Paris and returned to study at Princetons Graduate College in 1919. It was here that Gordon began his long and illustrious coaching career. A group of undergraduates who wanted to row but were a notch smaller than the standard heavyweight size asked Dr. Spaeth to form a crew for the smaller oarsmen and to be their coach. Dr. Spaeth was already over-committed to his crews and his classes but immediately thought of Gordon Sikes who accepted the challenge eagerly. The newly formed 150 pound crew of Princeton won over a similar boat from Yale in 1920. From that date on a series of races was created and crews of Pennsylvania, Harvard, Yale, and Princeton raced over the Henley distance, 1 5/16 mile. This was the beginning of lightweight university crew, and Gordon Sikes can certainly be looked upon as one of the Founding Fathers. Navy, M.I.T., and Columbia joined the ranks in the mid-twenties, and Princeton was always a contender for top honors under Gordons guidance. In 1930 Gordon took the 150s to Henley Royal Regatta becoming Princetons first crew to enter. They enjoyed two days of victories and then
bowed to a larger Kent School crew. In 1932 Gordon took the coaching reins of both the heavyweight and lightweight programs. In 1933 the Heavies led Navy, Harvard, M.I.T, Cornell, Penn and Columbia to the finish line while losing only to Yale. The JV Heavies and the Third Varsity Heavies also had winning rounds, and the 150s posted five wins and a deck length loss to M.I.T. Again, this crew went to England. The 34 Heavyweight Varsity was Princetons first entry for the Grand Challenge Cup. The final that year saw Princeton and Leander in a titanic battle. Leander came out on top by one second, but both crews broke the course record. Success continued to be a trademark of Gordons crews and, in 1937, the first regatta exclusively for 150 lb crews was held on Lake Carnegie with seven universities competing. In 1938 Princetons first professional coach, Fred Spuhn, a former University of Washington oarsman, succeeded Gordon, who remained in an active role until after World War II. Shells have been named for Gordon Sikes at Princeton, and now a beautiful room in the boathouse bears his name in recognition of his endless contributions. The Princeton yearbook for 1933 perhaps sums it up best: Unfailing loyalty crowned with distinguished success has characterized Gordon Sikes long connection with Princeton Rowing, cox of the Varsity in 1916, coach of the 150s from 1920 through 1931, Head Coach from 1932. It is fitting that Gordon Sikes be named as the first Honoree in the National Rowing Foundations Book of Honor. Sponsor: Princeton University Rowing Association December 1993
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COMPTON CUP
THE KARL TAYLOR COMPTON CUP
The Gift of
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April 14: Princeton, Navy May 3: Princeton, Harvard, MIT May 12: Princeton, Penn,Columbia May 19: Yale, Princeton, Cornell
JUNIOR VARSITY
P.Preston 36 (Cox), L.Fenninger 36 (Stroke), G.F.Keppel 36, J.H.Symington 35, A.C.Smith 36, H.G.Bugbee 36, R.R.Zundel 35, R.Wood 34, J.T.Pierce 36
FRESHMEN
Class of 1937
B.Stoddard, C.B.Simonton, J.A.Howell, H.J.Swift, L.V.Hauxhurst, B.B.Sloan, J.M.Hoyt, T.A.Potter, H.B.Rockwell (Cox)
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1934 CREWS
150-POUND VARSITY
R.C.Brooks 34 (Cox), D.Echeverria 35, H.C.Mial 34, E.Harris 35, G.H.McClure 35, T.Fletcher 34, E.Glassmeyer 36, A.D.Sieminski 34, H.B.Roberts 36
HEAVYWEIGHT VARSITY
J.T.Pierce 36, A.Gawthorp 35, R.C.Hallett 35, H.P.Dicke 36, C.C.Cole 34, A.H.Howell 34, W.H.Pflaumer 34, A.Armstrong 34 (Capt.), R.S.Firestone 35 (Cox)
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1935 CREWS
HEAVYWEIGHT VARSITY
Compton Cup
R.S.Firestone 35 (Cox), L.Fenninger 36, G.F.Keppell 36 (Capt.), A.Gawthrop 35, J.F.P.Kelly 36, H.J.Swift 37, R.C.Hallett 35, H.G.Bugbee 36, B.Stoddard 37
Top Row: R.M.Wood 36 (Mgr.), H.B.Roberts 36, P.G.Cook 37, H.H.Schwartz 37, R.S.Rauch 36, D.Roberts 36, Bottom Row: A.H.Edwards 37, G.R.Cooke 36, D.Echererria 35, G.D.MacRae 37, B.W.Warner 37
HEAVYWEIGHT FRESHMEN
Class of 1938
F.S.Kinney (Capt.), O.H.Perry, G.G.Rutherfurd, T.R.McMillen, F.L.Taeusch, P.LeBoutillier, H.B.Cox, J.Evans, T.H.Norris (Cox)
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(continued)
year was held over a course one and three quarters miles long by the first and second heavyweight eights with the first boat winning by a quarter of a length in 9:44 in spite of the second eights handicap. The season was terminated with an official banquet after Thanksgiving, at which time the Coaches Cup, donated in 1929 by Chalfant Robinson, Curator of Medieval History, was formally presented to Pflaumer. Small gold oars were awarded to Bugbee, Cook, Fenninger, Kelly and Sinkler for their work in single sculls, and Preston received a prize for all around interest. In a speech at this banquet, Head Coach Sikes expressed the purpose of fall rowing and crew work in general as being for good rowing, a good time and to get something out of it. COACHES CUP WINNERS 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 C.A. Hardy 32 A.L. Strang 33 A.L. Strang 33 B.W. Smith 33 W.H. Pflaumer 34 1935 BRIC-A-BRAC
Before the first race with the Penn A.C. eight, national sprint champion in 1934, Coach Sikes decided that on the strength of performances in time trials, his Jayvee boat stood a better chance of winning than his Varsity, and in went the Juniors against the Pennacs. The erstwhile Jayvees, with Larry Fenninger at stroke, rowed a smooth, steady race and after leading all the way upset the favored club oarsmen with over a length to spare. The following week on the Charles, this same Jayvee combination with Kelly and Bugbee in place of Smith and Armstrong retained the Compton Cup, defeating Harvard by a length margin as M.I.T.s light boat followed far behind the Crimson. At the beginning of the year, Princeton oarsmen had been inclined to look past the Childs Cup encounter to the Carnegie Cup duel with Yale and Cornell. When Navy was added to the list of Ithacan starters, this tendency was increased. But when Penn pulled the surprise of the eastern crew season by beating Yales highly-touted eight for the Blackwell Cup on the Schuylkill the day Princeton won at Cambridge, the Tigers realized that Penn was a real hurdle in their march. The same Varsity boat of Fenninger, Captain Keppel, Gawthrop, Kelley, Swift, Hallett, Bugbee, and Stoddard with Rog Firestone at the tiller ropes, was slated to start the Childs Cup race, but at the last minute Firestone was taken ill and Jack Hudson was commissioned to cox this crew as well as the Jayvees. Penn pulled away at the quarter-mile post, and rowing steadily, widened the gap as the race went on. Fenninger made his bid at the mile post when he called for a rise in the Princeton beat. Penn, however, had plenty of reserve and capably resisted it. Never again were the Quakers challenged and they crossed the line a length and a quarter before the Nassau boat, with Columbia, never an important factor, some six lengths further behind. The Princeton eight, eager to avenge this defeat by Penn, was in fine shape for the Carnegie Cup contest, and in trials during the week preceding made its best season record. To the Nassau crewmen, thus, the cancellation of the race on Lake Cuyaga after waiting four hours for the water to calm down, was the biggest blow of their campaign. The other contestants had races yet to come, but for Princeton the anti-climax at Ithaca was the seasons finis. The real ability of the 1935 Princeton crew remains one of the mysteries of Tiger sport annals; it certainly is not truly represented on the record books. The poorly(continued)
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COACHES CUP
COACHES CUP John Schultz Trophy
(Fall Rowing 1935)
With a record turnout of over one hundred Freshmen, in addition to the Sophomore and upperclass representatives, fall rowing was held on Lake Carnegie until the 26th of November, 1935. Head Coach Gordon Sikes was in charge of the heavy crews with Bill Bryan coaching the lightweights. During the early weeks of the season much emphasis was placed on singles sculling under the direction of Coach John Schultz in preparation for the Coaches Cup races which were held from October 14 to 19. These races were opened by twenty-two Sophomores competing for the John Schultz Trophy, which was won by Jack Kraemer 38, a lightweight, who thus became eligible to compete in the semi-finals of the Coaches Cup races. The upperclass lightweight race was won by Chris Goldsbury 37 who also had the opportunity to race in the Coaches Cup. With a perfect start the final heat of the Coaches Cup seemed even for two-hundred yards when Jack Kelly 36 gradually forged ahead, closely followed by Goldsbury and Fred Osborn 37. Coming into the final quarter Osborn, who had shaken off Goldsbury, began to gain on Kelly, who hung on and finished to win by a length and a quarter in the time of 6. 19. In an informal intercollegiate sculling regatta held on Lake Carnegie between representatives from Yale, Pennsylvania, and Princeton on the 26th of October. Chris Goldsbury in the lightweight class and Jack Kelly, heavyweight, won first honors. Kellys time for the mile was 6.40 and Goldsburys 7.05. Rowing was concluded for the Varsity squad with a race on the 14th of November, won by Laurence Fenningers 36 boat. Four boats of Freshmen and one Sophomore crew stayed on another week when rowing was concluded with a Freshman mile race won by William Whytes 39 crew. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Andrew Carnegie, Prof. J. Duncan Spaeth, crew coach from 1910-25, addressed all the Tiger Crewmen on the 26th of November in an informal ceremony. The lake was built through the generosity of Mr. Carnegie and is considered the finest course of its kind in the country.
Charles Ashley Hardy 32 Arthur Lugueer Strang33 Arthur Lugueer Strang 33 Brewster Weed Smith 33 Walter Hermann Pflaumer 34 Henry G. Bugbee 36 John Francis Patrick Kelly 36 (discontinued)
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COACHES
COACH JOHN SCHULTZ
As far as particular pupils go, Johnny didnt have much to say. Of course Win Rutherfurd 28 is one of my best; hes national champion so he has to be, he told us. But shucks, Ive had kids three and a half years old and old men to teach. Im not interested in building individual champions; what I want to do is to get eight individual champions into one boat and then make them into one man and have a real championship boat. But we could see that he had one pupil of whom he was pretty fond. One time, in New York, he had a girls crew to coach. Seven of the eight were sisters, he informed us. Very interesting, we replied, not quite knowing what he was driving at. Yeah, and I married the stroke, said John. He has some mighty sound theories of rowing. The basis of rowing is the sculling, is his motto. If I can get together a group of real scullers, he said, Ill give the coaches a real crew. Ive never seen a good oarsman yet who couldnt handle a single, and it has been my aim in Princeton to build up each man who comes down to the boat house in a single, then when I turn him over to the eights, he knows what it is all about. You see, Im not trying to make individual champions, he reiterated, Im working for Princeton, and I know that what does the most good for the greatest number will do the most good for Princeton.
His was the kind of love that understood; that could look into a person to discern the real and often hidden worth. How many of us are what we are today in large part because he believed in us. His was a love that deeply cared; that gave unstintingly and without discrimination. Who you were did not matter to him; what you were did. It was his interest to help us to be true men, hard workers, good sportsmen, fighters for an ideal, but above all to be men.
From his Memorial Service Princeton University Chapel February 11, 1936
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JUNIOR VARSITY
W.J.Wright 36, L.W.Wister 36, T.R.McMillen 38, H.J.Swift 37, A.C.Smith 36, H.G.Bugbee 36, J.T.Pierce 36, L.Fenninger 36, W.R.Hopkin 37 (Cox)
FRESHMEN
Class of 1939
R.T.Stotler (Stroke), L.W.Baldwin, H.Aplington, R.G.King, D.W.Sidford, A.H.Silvers, A.C.Rogers, B.W.Wright, G.M.Hornblower (Cox)
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1937 VARSITY
H.B.Rockwell 37, C.D.Goldsbury 37, E.C.Hall 39, H.R.Saalfield 37, S.J.Stebbins 38, R.T.Stotler 39, B.W.Warner 37, J.F.Kraemer 38, J.W.Chapman 38
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JUNIOR VARSITY
J.D.Baker 38, P.LeBoutillier 38, J.W.Pitney 39, R.G.King 39, R.Middlebrook 37, B.W.Wright 39, B.B.Sloan 37, H.B.Saalfield 37, G.M.Hornblower 39 (Cox)
FRESHMEN
Class of 1940
L.S.Kafer (Cox), R.S.Davies, J.B.Irwin, J.H.Herbert, L.A.CArton, S.A.Wood-Cahusac, V.S.Merle-Smith, H.M.West, A.D.Keys
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PHILIP LeBOUTILLIER 38
IN SINGLE SCULL
FRESHMEN
Class of 1941
H.A.Laughlin (Cox), M.C.Huston, O.A.Vietor, L.Drake, L.R.Page, W.A.Mahlow, W.H.Phipps, R.B.Fenninger, G.Forbes
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5 blade, Bill Coors was on the number 7 slide, right behind Captain and stroke, Phil Le Boutillier. The trio held these posts throughout the season with the exception of the Carnegie Cup Regatta when Coors changed places with Charley Dennison at number 2. The rest of the boat included John Coffey, bow; Charley Dennison, No. 2; Jo-Jo Fischer, No. 3; Guy Rutherfurd, No. 4; Jack Pitney, No. 6; and Ken Dalzell, cox. The Tiger slashed out at a 42 in search of an early lead, but the Navy stuck at 38 and by the first dozen strokes had pulled out in front and were never to be headed. Rowing at a consistently lower beat the Middies sloughed to the finish through the heavy seas against a head wind two and a half lengths in front of the Bengal boat. Times for the mile and three quarters were 10:25.5 and 10:34.7. Sandwiched between the Navy Race and the Compton Cup Regatta was the encounter with the Rutgers which resulted in the first of Princetons three victories of the year. The Scarlet rowed valiantly and comparatively well considering that this was the second year of crew at the New Brunswick school. But she bowed to her traditional New Jersey rival and over a Henley course.
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1938 FRESHMEN
Class of 1941
D.D.Dayton, A.M.Joost, H.B.Keep, T.C.J.Whedbee, R.C.Edwards, A.Ely, P.M.Dean, A.D.Duke, W.Elfers (Cox)
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150-POUND CREW
The best percentage record of the year was turned by the 150s who competed against nine boats and beat four of them for .444. A victory over the M.I.T. boat in the first race on May 7 was followed the next week by a
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By Malcolm Roy
Coincident with the celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary at Princeton yesterday of the first Intercollegiate boat race on Lake Carnegie comes the explanation of why Princeton alone among all the rowing colleges has crews that are stroked from the starboard side. The orthodox rig provides for the stroke oar on the port side, a custom dating back, it is said, to the early days of rowing on the English Thames when it was found easier for a port-stroked crew to negotiate the twists and bends than one stroked from starboard. Why Princeton should have
track for town. This writer would insert here an additional recollection. The shore that we reached was a mere thin strip of ground against the bottom of that cliff that soars high above Cayugas waters. Except for the single railroad track, there was no space at that point to accommodate an eight-oared shell. Accordingly, having stowed the oars, we took our shell (the John Schultz) through a gap in the poison ivy that otherwise lined the slender corridor, onto the railroad track and thereupon marched it southward in search of a more commodious resting place. Presently the raison d etre of the track asserted itself in the form of a steam-powered freight train bearing down from behind, whistling authoritativelybut also decelerating, as its engineer humanely perceived our trapped predicament. And thus continued for a time the bizarre procession of ambulatory shell/crew and train until we came to a break in the poison ivy leading to a few feet of pebbly beach and, providentially, some discarded railroad ties, as in Bill Coors account above, on which to set down the John Schultz. The genial engineer, apparently in no particular hurry, waited out our parking exercise and then, welcoming us aboard the locomotive, continued the journey. This romantic upgrading in our mode of transportation was profoundly exciting, and spirits reached the level of exhilaration as our iron horse whistled past nine hitch-hikers with blue Ys on their white T-shirts. The petty triumph of one-up-man-ship, however, was short-lived, for the engineer left our rivals behind us by just the length of the train, then stopped until they had clambered aboard the caboose. Bill Coors further recalls our arrival at the rail yard: Our coaches and support people had no idea where we were, and we had considerable trouble contacting them for a ride back to the Cornell campus. I learned later to my disgust that they hadnt even gone looking for us. The fun part of the story ends here. The Carnegie Cup race was indeed held, a day late, Cornell participating in their regular shell, rehabilitated by the all-night efforts of Dick Pocock, Yales rigger at the time. The order of the finish was Yale, Cornell, Princeton; and, as Captain-Stroke Phil LeBoutillier 38 observes, judges did not give first place for seamanship. Princeton Rowing Notes
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150-Pound Crew
Under the tutelage of a new Tiger mentor, Delos Schoch, substitute on the University of Washingtons 1936 Olympic crew, the Varsity 150-lb. Crew experienced a none too successful season. Lack of material, and experimenting with definitely superior but none the less different stroke can account for this. Coach Schoch was almost insuperably handicapped by the fact that only four lettermen reported for the sport, and the remaining four positions had to be filled with green material. On April 22, the season unofficially opened as the first Freshman heavies defeated the varsity one-fifties and the Kent School Varsity. The following week a superior Penn outfit won by two lengths over the Henley course on the Schuylkill River.
(continued)
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JUNIOR VARSITY
FRESHMEN
Class of 1942
152
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FRESHMEN
Class of 1943
J.B.Tweedy, J.H.Blake, T.J.Hilliard, H.G.Allyn, R.B.Robbins, J.R.Gardner, J.A.Wilsey, T.Leas (Stroke), C.E.Dodge (Cox)
2ND FRESHMEN
Class of 1943
J.D.Pitney, S.D.Whittaker, H.E.Jones, K.B.Myer, S.C.Voorhees, J.H.LaDage, J.W.Henderson, J.A.Parker, Brauer (Cox)
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155
FRESHMEN
Class of 1943
E.H.Kloman, R.A.Hord, J.L.Heffron, H.G.Wellington, T.W.Bakewell, A.Orr, W.S.Avery, S.E.Slaymaker, L.H.Rogers (Cox)
156
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1942 BRIC-A-BRAC
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157
JUNIOR VARSITY
FRESHMEN
Class of 1944
K.E.Hofammann (Stroke), H.W.Waller, R.J.Wiese, G.F.Odland, R.H.Pratt, J.H.Bragg, A.B.Jones, J.S.Meserole, P.F.Wells (Cox), Dutch Schoch (Coach)
FRESHMAN BRAVADO
Class of 1944
K.E.Hofammann, J.S.Meserole, H.E.Waller, A.B.Jones, J.H.Bragg, C.A.P. vonHemert, R.J.Wiese, ?, T.C.Bolton (Cox)
158
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159
JUNIOR VARSITY
E.J.Burrough 42, R.W.Carton 42, J.K.Williams 42, P.L.Miller 41, P.O.Stearns 40 (Capt.), E.V.Connett 42, W.R.Kesler 41, J.W.Brewer 42, A.Pearre 40 (Cox)
FRESHMEN
Class of 1944
P.Randall, S.Mittnacht, T.M.Rauch, R.Cresswell, J.P.Ware, P.V.Wiese, H.G.Marchant, J.D.Zinc (Stroke), A.C.Van Horne (Cox)
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Freshmen Crew
Coach Dutch Schochs freshman rowing aggregation scored wins in its first two races of the season but then became a consistent also-ran. However, the talent evidenced throughout the season helped several of last years frosh get seats on the Varsity crews in the fall. The season opened against Rutgers on April 12th. Rowing on Lake Carnegie, Princeton breezed in ahead by three easy lengths. Karl Hofammann was in the stroke-seat and Doug Dimond did the piloting. A week later the Tigers took Kent School in their stride and rowed the mile in 5:25. Pete Wells was cox. In a three-way race on May 3rd the Nassau oarsmen succumbed to M.I.T. and Harvard in the Compton Cup race on the Charles River. Returning home for the Childs Cup the next week, the Tigers raced against M.I.T., Pennsylvania, and Columbia. Princeton finished third in this
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1942 CREWS
HEAVYWEIGHT VARSITY
Carnegie Cup
Standing: C.E.Dodge 43 (Cox), F.D.Graham 44, R.H.Pratt 44, G.F.Odland 44, J.V.McKee 42 (Mgr.) Seated: W.Drorbaugh 43, J.A.Wright 45, H.E.Jones 43, T.Leas 43, J.B.Tweedy 43
LIGHTWEIGHT VARSITY
Joseph Wright Cup
R.W.Carton 42, J.R.McCormick 43, F.J.Rue 43, J.D.Zink 44, W.S.Avery 43, J.K.VanOveren 42, E.W.Mason 42, S.E.Slaymaker 43 (Stroke), L.H.Rogers 43 (Cox)
FRESHMEN
Class of 1945
B.K.Graves, D.D.Dodge, L.F.Israel, J.Northrop, R.P.Dilks, W.N.Seymour, M.G.Mayo, J.BAshmun, H.M.Wells (Cox)
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Lightweight Crew
Climaxing their season on May 16th, the Tiger 150-Pound crew avenged earlier defeats inflicted by Harvard and Penn in annexing the Wright Cup and with it the National Championship. By May 16th, Princeton had lost by a length, had beaten M.I.T. decisively, and had rowed second to Harvard, according to custom, in the Goldthwait Cup race with the Crimson and Yale. In their last race for Coach Jim Rathschmidt, the oarsmen of Nassau rose to long wished-for heights and covered the Henley distance for a new course record, nosing out Penn and Harvard in that order. Cornell, Columbia, and M.I.T. brought up the rear.
Freshman Crew
Under Dutch Schoch, the 1945 crew opened their season against Rutgers on April 11, and the frosh won decisively by three lengths. Outstroked on May 2 by Harvard, Princeton took second by three lengths over M.I.T. and by eight lengths over Syracuse. The Tigers put their best foot forward a week later, however, beating Penn and Columbia by 56 seconds on the tricky Harlem. On May 16 in the final race of the season, Cornell defeated the Freshman rowers by four lengths. 1944 BRIC-A-BRAC
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LON F. ISRAEL 45
Captain of 1943 Varsity
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for Annual Competition Between The Varsity 150 lb. Crews of Princeton, Pennsylvania
1941 1942 1943-5 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 Princeton Penn (No Race) Penn Princeton Princeton Princeton Penn Penn Penn Princeton Princeton Princeton Princeton Princeton Princeton Princeton Princeton Princeton Penn 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 Princeton Princeton Princeton Princeton Princeton Princeton Penn Princeton Princeton Princeton Princeton Princeton Penn Penn Penn Penn Princeton Princeton Princeton Princeton 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Princeton Princeton Princeton Princeton Princeton Princeton Princeton Princeton Princeton Princeton Princeton Princeton Princeton Princeton Princeton Princeton Princeton Princeton
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CROCKER NEVIN 46
Contemplating His Oar
JUNIOR VARSITY
EARC Champions
P.R.Brock 49, H.N.Feist 48, T.Seymour 49, H.MacRae 46, J.P.Groton 48 (Cox), C.P.Hunter 48, ?, A.P.Morgan 44, C.Nevin 46
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COACHES
COACH DELOS C. DUTCH SCHOCH
Washington 37 Freshman Heavyweight Crew Varsity Lightweight Crews Varsity Heavyweight Crews 1937-42 1939-40 1946-65
Move the old blade with the legs; get that catch, and youll get em all. . . Traditionally, honeymooning bridegrooms have little room for outside interests. But when Delos Clifton Schoch, head coach of Princeton crew, hit Havana in the summer of 39, Jane had to share her man with the crew of the Biltmore Yacht and Country Club. For two months Dutch coached the Cuban eight, one of the crews which competes annually in the government-sponsored National Regatta, racking up the undefeated season which was to become a tradition and gain him the title of El Majo de los Remos (The Magician of the Oars). . . . work those arms and legs; relax on that recovery . . . In high school at Everett, Wash., Dutch captained the football team, but the combination of a twice-injured ankle and an unfortunate taping job in his freshman year at the University of Washington finished his gridiron career. In an attempt to find a sport where a tackle with one sound ankle could compete, he went down to the boathouse late in the fall to get introduced to crew. Four months later he was holding down number five on the first Freshman boat, then skippered by present Harvard coach Tom Bolles, whose Cuban crew Dutch was to defeat thirteen years later in Havana. In 1936, his junior year, when he won the first of his varsity letters, Schoch encountered Princeton for the first time as an alternate on the near-legendary Huskie crew that swept all Olympic tryouts on Lake Carnegie and went on that summer to annex the Olympic eight-oared championship at Berlin. After the races Dutch and a friend hiked all over Europe. enjoying continental life so much that they delayed their return to the states until October. In his senior year Dutch again worked on the jayvees behind all the returning members of the victorious Olympic varsity. In four years of crew at Washington, he never rowed on a losing boat. Today Schoch feels that climate is a major factor in the acknowledged superiority of Western over Eastern crew. Because of the uninterrupted rowing year out West, the crews can put in as much rowing mileage before their first race as a crew here pulls all year. Dutchs four years in Washington have convinced him that an Eastern coach is bound to choose his men before they have rowed enough to work out all their kinks. . . . row, swing the hips. . . Fred Spuhn, Princeton crew coach, was looking around for an assistant as Schoch got out of school, and, through George Pocock, internationally famous shell-builder, Dutch made the contact with Spuhn which resulted in his appointment as Assistant Coach. In this capacity he worked four years with Princetons varsity, freshmen, and 150-pound eights. The war found him in the Navy, serving at Hawaii and the West Coast, first as ensign and later as lieutenant. Participating in the Navys Physical Training Program gave him new methods of conditioning to apply to his candidates at Princeton. After being discharged, Dutch returned to take over the vacated Head Crew Coach slot in January 1946. Thirty-three years of age, Schoch was one of the youngest major sport coaches in the history of Princeton athletics. in his attempt to return crew to its pre-war status, Dutch found it necessary to upset Princeton rowing tradition. Since time immemorial the Tiger stroke had pulled his oar from the starboard side of the boat, while almost every other college in the country had adopted the port stroke. Thus, during the last years of the war, when lack of transportation forced the crew to use their opponents portstroke shells on away races, Princeton eights found themselves at a decided disadvantage. With typical Schoch energy Dutch shifted the strokes position from starboard to port, a bigger job than most people realize, since the eight riggers (the iron bars supporting the oars) in each of twelve boats had to be unbolted, fitted, and readjusted. You guys look like the 46 crew, pretty as hell and slow as . . . Schoch in the crew launch is action incarnate. Wearing his Washington letter sweater, Dutch stands, sits, grins, and talks, nervously tapping his megaphone when he isnt shouting to the crews. For some two hours the eights labor up and down Lake Carnegie, stopping for correction at the command of the coach. A crew is like a chorus line; one off motion by any performer can stop the show. Each man must catch the water, pull through, remove the oar from the water, recover, and slide forward to dip the oar again in perfect unison with his teammates. To effect this end, Dutch alternately croons and bellows to his crew, sometimes picturesque, always encouraging. This strain on the vocal chords has worked; perhaps Schochs most satisfying experience here was when in the season of 47, lying in a hospital bed in town with lung trouble, he received a call from Yale notifying him that his varsity, jayvees, and freshman boats had won all their races against Yale and Cornell on the Housatonic that afternoon. (continued)
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Floyd P. Akers
designed by
James H. Mason, IV MD
Class of 1943 June 5, 1993 Model by James H. Mason, V
Gift of
Dutch (continued)
In this initial major sport victory over Yale in four long years, Dutch became the first coach in Princeton history to sweep the river against Yale and Cornell. A year later the Varsity smashed the all-time record for the mile-and-three-quarters distance on Lake Carnegie in a losing effort against Harvard. That same June, the Tigers battled their way to the United States Olympic Tryout Final at Lake Carnegie, won by California with Harvard runner-up. The Bears went on to bring the Olympic title to America that summer. In reaching the final heat, Princeton had shaded Yale in the first photo-finish race in rowing history. Move the BOAT, not the water. Although Dutch spends most of his time at the boathouse, where he works on the shells in the morning and coaches all afternoon, he does find time for some squash and tennis and, in Cuba, a lot of golf. He and his wife Jane put in a lot of time and work on the new Cooperative Nursery School, organized last year. He also somehow finds time to serve as a deacon of the First Presbyterian Church. Dutchs son, Frederick, is too young to appreciate crew (he has gone on to direct the Head of the Charles Regatta), but occasionally Sally, age five, has shown interest in the affairs of the boathouse (much to the distress of her father) in frequent unescorted visits to the locker room. Questioned about his plans for the future, Dutch will settle his huge frame back in a chair, fiddle with a match cover or cigarette, and with a broad grin tell you that his main objectives are an undefeated season in the east, a victory at the Poughkeepsie Regatta (now held at Marietta, Ohio in which weve never finished first), and the defeat of Harvards traditionally powerful eight. He holds that the competitions for football and crew are in direct relation. The tougher the competition for football, the better it is for crew, because more large athletes, their football ambitions thwarted, will gravitate down to the boathouse. And experience is not necessarily a prerequisite most coaches prefer a non-rower over an athlete who has mastered a different type of oarsmanship in school. Always an unusually popular coach, for his devotion to the sport as well as for his achievements at Princeton, Dutch has been commended by a New ,Jersey sports writer for these reasons: For exemplifying the best that intercollegiate sport has to offer in the way of sportsmanship, tradition, and spirit; for inculcating in his squad a sense of values that will prove of inestimable worth to its members in the years ahead; for modestly shrugging off the accolades of well-wishers and giving credit where he feels credit is due. by Leftfield Thomas, The Nassau Sovereign April, 1950
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VARSITY
Carnegie Cup
P.R.Brock 49, H.N.Feist 48, C.P.Hunter 48, H.L.Dillon 47, L.U.Park 44, J.S.Meserole 44, J.B.Ashmun 45, C.Nevin 46 (Stroke), C.C.Allen 45 (Cox)
JUNIOR VARSITY
J.S.Cuniberti 49, G.H.Dexter 45, A.G.Velasco 49, J.P.Shenfield 46, R.E.Thompson 46, R.B.OConnor 50, J.Northrop 45, P.V.W.Gardner 46 (Stroke), F.F.Rosenbaum 48 (Cox)
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Freshman Crew
The freshmen lost their first race of the season to Penn over the Henley distance of a mile and 5/16. In their next race the cubs came off much better, winning by a length over M.I.T., with Harvard third by three-quarters. As the water had smoothed down, the yearlings were able to make the best time of the day over the mile and three quarters course. The clock showed 9:38 3/5. Up at Derby, Conn., the fast Tiger freshmen crew finished in the time of 10:05.2 to trim Yale and Cornell, while down on Lake Carnegie the frosh 150s rushed to win over Columbia by the close margin of four feet, after having caught a crab at the quarter-mile mark. The next contest, with Rutgers, was never in doubt as the freshmen outdistanced their opponents by eight lengths. In the Eastern Rowing Association Regatta on Lake Carnegie the freshmen ended the season by winning the final heat by a length in 6:18 1/5 with Navy beating Yale by a third of a length.
1948 BRIC-A-BRAC
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SHELL CHRISTENINGS 1
THE EARLY DAYS
Gluckman & Henry A. Rentschler 50, son of Walter A. Rentschler 25 Spring 1984
Coach Larry Gluckman, Mrs. Van Olcott, Van Olcott, Jr. 44 Spring 1985
Alan MacKenzie 61, John Bjorkholm 61, Mr. & Mrs. David B. Hinchman 28, James Todd 61: Class Day November 22, 1986
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FRESHMEN
Class of 1950 UNDEFEATED
R.T.Whitlock, J.B.Wren, J.M.Hitzrot, C.E.Lawrence, H.A.Rentschler, J.M.Stone, W.W.Tomlinson, H.L.Bird (Stroke), N.T.Rogers (Cox)
1948 VARSITY
WINNERS OF THAMES CHALLENGE CUP IN 1948 Wood-Hammond Cup
A.P.Morgan 46, C. McLain 47, J.M.Hitzrot 50, B.P.Atterbury 47, C.D.Cole 45, M.W. Huber 49, R.Read 50, J.M.Stone 49, J.P.Eiler 47 (Cox)
174
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