Excerpt from Rowing: Complete Manual, With Illustrations and Valuable Advice; Laws of Boat Racing
Tried by such tests, rowing stands exceptionally high, particularly when we consider it under the aspect of its use in racing; for where success has to be striven for in vigorous and excited competition, not only are strength and endurance needed, but also plenty of that high moral quality known as "pluck," and a correct and delicate appreciation of the best time and method of applying, utilizing to their utmost, and perfectly controlling the forces employed. Modern improvements in racing boats have reduced the rowing of the present day to a finer art than ever, rendering it less than formerly the rude conflict of force it was in the early days of racing boats, when such contests were commonly mere exhibitions of uncultivated powers, propelling heavy bulks by main strength.
The standard of rowing is maintained by the universities and colleges of Yale, Harvard, Pennsylvania and Cornell; by the preparatory schools - St. Paul"s in particular - and by the principal rowing and athletic clubs - New York A.C., Atlanta, Nassau, Dauntless, and many others too numerous to mention. Of course, club matches - in which the generic term may be included college and other races at the universities - tend to uphold it. That it should fluctuate from time to time is a necessity, and that in occasional years it is of an exceptionally good class is only natural, as likewise that in others, it falls to a comparatively low pitch. Speed has increased - of that there is no doubt. The science of "coaching" is more fully known and more readily comprehended than in days gone by; and, when divested of the humbug and bewildering technicalities with which it had been needlessly surrounded, is found a far simpler task than it was believed to be. The art of "training" has been rescued from the depths of empiricism, in which it was too long suffered to dwell, and in which the ignorant prejudices of illiterate professionals, who at one time usurped the coaching of amateurs, purposely kept it. At the present time it is conducted on the principles of common sense and hygiene, and so far from being involved in mystery, is now nothing more or less than an adhesion to a few simple rules of bathing, diet, exercise and rest.
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