92 THE BADMINTON MAGAZINE

Trial heat of the Grand Challenge, but C. W. Rent (stroke), with L. J. Williams was converted into a four-oared trophy in as cox. 1855. The Thames Cup for eights was Among typical oarsmen who have won added in 1868, which made the programme this trophy may be mentioned E. C. Burton what it is to-day. F. Willan, T. C. Tinne, J. B. Close, W. Local and public races have been added Broughton, W. A. L. Fletcher, C. D. to and taken off the programme from time Burnell, W. Dudley Ward, R. B. Ether- to time, and all have now disappeared ington Smith, A. S. Garton, and a host except the three races for eights, the of others too numerous to mention. Grand, Ladies’, and Thames Challenge Before leaving the subject of this race Cups ; the three for fours, the Stewards’, I should like to mention the fact that Visitors’, and Wyfold ; the Goblets, for shortly before he died the late Sir W. C. pairs ; the Diamond Sculls, for scullers ; Strickland wrote and told me that he and it is a very debatable point whether remembered rowing down to Eton the all these should be kept. day after winning the Grand with the cup It is worthy of note that the premier in the bows of their racing eight, and all four-oared race, that for the Stewards, the crew dined together at the Christopher was made into a coxswainless race in 1873. with great joviality, where they were And here we find, forty years afterwards, joined by several Eton boys, and needless Sweden holding an Olympic Regatta for to say the reception they got all the way presumably the best crews in the world down was immense. Among the best and actually determining on putting the strokes I think most people would include clock back forty years and insisting on a Harcourt Geld, C. W. Rent, J. A. Drake coxswain being carried, degrading the Smith, J. Hasties, F. J. Gulston and race immediately into a second-class F. L. Play ford. event. And all rowing men are sorry to There have been many and excellent see that the Thames four have entered pairs at Henley. Of late years it is patent for this event. Let us hope that wiser to the most superficial observer that the counsels will prevail, and that the Swedes art is at the moment dormant, the reason will not be encouraged in such a melan­ being that men will not practice suffi­ choly blunder. ciently in pairs. Two men get together The Grand Challenge Cup has been and manage to plug along at a fair pace ; competed for during 73 consecutive years, but it is not pair-oared rowing. A real and the Leander Club have won it 15 pair could paddle down the river for fifty times, the London Rowing Club 12 times, miles without touching the water on the and the O.U.B.C. seven times; clubs feather, and without looking round, and who have won it more than once are the be perfectly fresh to race at the end of Etonian Club, Oxford, on six occasions ; their journey. A tremendous lot of time First Trinity, Cambridge, and Thames must be given to pair-oared rowing. Good Rowing Club, four times each ; the men in pairs were A. de L. Long and W. B. C.U.B.C., Trinity Hall, and Belgium, Woodgate, and one has hardly ever seen thrice each ; the Cambridge Subscription better than D. Muttlebury and C. T. Rooms, Kingston Rowing Club, Jesus Barclay or J. Hastie and W. H. Eyre. (Cambridge), and Magdalen College (Ox­ Of scullers at Henley it is difficult to ford) clubs twice each. chat. As a general rule the best scullers The Leander crew of 1891 created the have likewise been fine oarsmen, although record for the course, and their time of there are many exceptions to this rule. 6 min. 51 secs, has never to this day been And necessarily as a good oarsman a beaten. The crew consisted of W. F. C. rowing club has first call on his services Holland (bow), J. A. Ford (2), V. Nickalls in eights and fours, so that probably the (3), Lord Ampthill (4), Guy Nickalls (5), best scullers the world has ever known W. A. L. Fletcher (6), R. P. P. Rowe (7), have left the Diamonds as their third or