Nature of Rowing

Sweep oared rowing and in particular rowing in fours dominated rowing at Friends’ from 1905 until 1959. In 1959 sweep oared eights were introduced to competition. It was not until 1987 that sculling is mentioned in Echoes as being introduced by the then Master of Rowing, Ray Trousselot.

Now single, double and quad sculls are rowed, together with fours and eights. Rowing technique and style was of course the prerogative of successive coaches and Friends’ rowing was not untouched by developments in this area.

In 1936 Mr R L Marsh, the then coach, introduced the “fairburn method” into rowing. Fairbairn was an Australian at Cambridge University in 1881 who challenged the Orthodox “English stroke”. He upset tradition by winning races with a stroke that emphasized leg drive and arm pull. Friends’ came second in the Head of the River in 1936.

The “Ratzburger” style was introduced by the coach of the 1965 Head of the River crew David Rattray-Smith. Again it did not lead to success, with the Echoes recording: –
“….unfortunately on the day of the Head of the River we struck rough conditions in which this style is ineffective. However we floundered through the course, and managed to come third in the “eights’ race”.

Ratzburger is in Germany where Karl Adam was a rowing coach. He had never rowed or sculled before he started coaching and cut across previous training methods by transposing methods based on “speed play” and internal training. (short sprints alternating with long paddles) from athletics to rowing.

The 1978 Echoes notes that the coach for that year, Duncan Thain, introduced a new style of rowing “which will be taught to all crews in future” but there are no details about the new style.