Last Saturday the Boat Race was won by Cambridge in
a runaway manner such as has been seen only once before. The critics as a whole had greatly underrated the merit of the Cambridge crew, who showed themselves to be not only one of the most stylish but one of the most powerful crews that have appeared since the War. Some people would go so far as to say that they were quite the best post-War crew. Oxford plugged away bravely in the wake of Cambridge, who were nearly all the time playing with them, but they never looked like a combina- tion. This sad performance has become the text of new, but familiar, allegations in many newspapers about the athletic decadence of Oxford. These allegations are mostly nonsense, though Oxford has, of course, struck a bad vein in the last few years. In rowing more than in any other sport, there is apt to be a succession of victories for one side or the other. Oxford, for instance, had a long succession in the 'nineties. The reason is that a good oarsman is made by rowing with good oars- men. Three or four first-rate men remaining in either University after a Boat Race provide a very strong probability that there will be a first-rate crew for that University in the next year. The rhythm of good rowing is in itself a revelation ; a thing which has never been felt and can hardly be understood or acquired except by those who have rowed in a good crew.
* *
Previous page
