The guiding spirit in the revival of rowing at the Naval Academy was America's Winston Churchill. That was sixty years ago, when Naval Cadet Churchill, later to become one of the nation's outstanding novelists, was employing his energy and his facile pen at the Academy. In the 1894 edition of the year-book, The Lucky Bag, he wrote the following article on "The Crew":
"I have heard it said, somewhere, that lo the Army sports it is the Cavalry man who generally wins the hundred yard dash, while some of the best riders are found in the infantry. Perhaps it was the !ear of our inability to make our reputation lo the rowing line what it should be that prevented the revival of boating interest after the flood of 1870.
"It may be stated, as an historical fact that has come down to us, that there was a crew at the Naval Academy before the flood. In 1869 this crew held the rowing championship of the United States. They even inspired Admiral Porter, then Superintendent, to challenge the world, in the hope that an English crew might be induced to come across. But the next year a defeat by the University of Pennsylvania, followed by the flood which carried away both boats and boat-houses, killed boating interest effectually, so that no attempt was made to revive it until the Spring of 1892.
"In that year it occurred to some members of the class of '94 to take up the matter. As an experiment they tried a class four, with the idea of organizing an eight should its practicability be insured. Rowing had now attained such a high standard at the colleges that it was feared that with us the necessary time could not be given to it, nor could the proper amount of instruction be obtained.
"It was found that by carefully utilizing our available time, which is about three-fourths of that of college crews, a sufficient amount of practice could be had. Add to this our natural advantages for training—for, with us, men have little or no chance to get out of condition—there seems to be no reason why, in time, our crews should not compare favourably with those of the colleges. It is not a hard matter for a captain to keep his men in training. In fact there are few things within the reach of a naval cadet that will disagree with him. He is appealed to most forcibly through his alimentary canal, and there are few who will not think twice before giving up the beefsteak of the training table for the hash of the mess-hall. It has been said by a Yale man of great athletic prominence, one who had had ample opportunity for judging, that he has never seen the equal of the training powers of our men, of the amount of hard knocks they could stand, or of the physical condition they ultimately attained.
"The instruction, of course, is more or less of a financial matter, and must be treated as such. But a good coach at the beginning and end of each season would be sufficient. This we hope to obtain.
"The writer has spent much time since the organization of that class crew in learning the details of the 'Cook' stroke. Throughout the Fall of '92 candidates were coached on the rowing machines in the armory (the gymnasium not being finished).
"When the regular training began for the season of '93, January third, the boating outlook was anything but bright. Eight machines in the armory and a racing pair-oar is not much of an equipment. So the training was divided between the track and the machines, with an occasional cross-country run. Much credit must be given to the candidates for the way in which they stuck to training, in spite of the fact that there was little hope at this time, of getting a boat.
"Late in February the ice broke. Practical instruction was at once begun in the pair-oar, with infinite labor, and at a risk of the writer's chance of a crown of glory. This will appeal to anyone who has ever seen a racing pair-oar, or who has ever tried to get into one without some previous knowledge of rowing. Most of the candidates had never seen one, and their previous knowledge was confined to rowing machines. The stabilities of a rowing machine and of a racing pair-oar not being comparable the trouble which followed arose largely from a want of realization of this fact.
"In the meantime the corps of cadets had subscribed between eight and nine hundred dollars for the purchase of boats and it then became possible to order an eight-oar from Waters. For a while our chances for an eight in the season of '93 hung in the balance; it is unnecessary to dwell on the details of this doubtful period. Suffice it to say that all had acquired the rudiments of the stroke when, at last, the eight arrived, the first week in May.
"Mr. Pete Lahens, formerly of Columbia, happened to be in Annapolis at the time. He became interested and generously offered his services as a coach. The untiring efforts of this gentleman were not without effect; and the successful race at the end of the season, with the Neptunes of Baltimore, testified to his ability to coach and to ours to learn.
"The season of '94 promises well. A barge is to be ordered at once, the number of candidates is large and a race has been arranged with our old rivals—the University of Pennsylvania."
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As a plebe I had my seat in the mess-hall at the table with Churchill who, as a second classman, rated the head of the table; and, in the fall of '92 when, as Churchill stated in his article, he was planning his revival of rowing at the Academy, he spotted me down in the middle of the table as one of the victims of his nebulous idea. When a second classman "suggests" that a plebe listen to him, if the latter is wise, he listens! And, regardless of the subject, the plebe gets his "orders." Because I had been a substitute on the football team Churchill apparently thought I might be possible crew timber. Anyway, I was told to appear in the armory for trial on the machines. Other plebes were also given the same treatment; and, as evidence of the difficulty Churchill had in arousing interest in crew work, it is significant that his first eight-oared crew included four plebes.
Churchill made only casual reference to finances for rowing equipment and other facilities for a crew; but I remember well the work and pleading he did to raise the "eight or nine hundred dollars" among the midshipmen for the first eight-oared shell, which was not a new one. It had seen better days; and, if my memory is correct, it had a warp in the bow. However, there was joy in the camp when it arrived.
It was unlawful to charge admission to the grounds of the Naval Academy for any purpose; therefore the only funds available for any athletic developments were those subscribed by Navy personnel, including midshipmen. Such funds were very limited sixty years ago, and they had to be spread very thin to support several athletic activities. Consequently, on the basis of "last up—worst dressed" there was very little money available when Churchill started his ambitious program.
The earliest and most vivid recollection of our early training on the water is a picture of Churchill running along the seawall of the Severn River in a snow storm—yelling to "Dutchy" Karns and me in the pair-oar, telling us how bad we were and how to row the "Cook" stroke which he had "studied" but had not rowed. This performance created quite a lot of amusement among the cadets who were curious enough to watch the proceedings.
The first Navy eight was made up without regard to height, weight, or other qualifications which experience has dictated to be necessary to constitute a balanced crew. In 1893 the roster of all four classes at the Naval Academy numbered about 230 midshipmen, offering no such opportunity for selection of crew members as is now possible with about 3500 midshipmen from whom to choose those best fitted for the purpose.
There is a real thrill in being a member of a smooth-working eight-oared crew; and, regardless of the roughness of the first "Navy eight" and the absence of an experienced coach until Lahens arrived, we did well enough to become more and more interested as we improved, under the not-too-economical use of language to which Churchill was addicted in publishing our mistakes for all to hear, regardless of rank or sex.
The first Navy eight which Churchill organized was
#1—C. S. Bookwalter, '94 (bow)
#2—C. L. Poor, '96
#3—L. C. Palmer, '96
#4—K. G. Castleman, '96
#5—F. D. Karns, '95
#6—J. M. Reeves, '94
#7—Winston Churchill, '94 (captain)
#8—H. S. Kimball, '96 (stroke)
Cox.—F. E. Ridgely, '96
Manager—David F. Sellers
Sixty years is a long time to remember many interesting details of this adventure which—inspired by Churchill—resulted in a Navy eight, the successors of which have risen to great heights in competition with the best crews the world has produced.
Pete Lahens was remarkably successful in whipping this first crew of inexperienced "oarsmen" into a semblance of a smooth-working group in the short time he had the men together in the shell before the first and only race rowed by this crew.
On June 3, 1893, over a one and one-half mile course Navy raced against the Neptune Boat Club of Baltimore, Maryland, and won by thirteen lengths. The satisfaction which Churchill received from this race as a reward for his ambition and dogged determination was best expressed to me when, after crossing the finish line, he whacked me on the back and said "this is the happiest day of my life." That we won by such a large margin in a short race was a tribute to the excellent coaching of Lahens. It was unfortunate that he could not have been retained thereafter with proper compensation, for, in my opinion, he would have become one of the best crew coaches in the country. He knew a lot about rowing, how to teach it, and how to get the best from each man in the boat.
Thus was rowing at the Naval Academy revived by Winston Churchill's efforts, for which all credit is due to him.
Several members of this first crew continued the following season. Others who had viewed the early efforts with misgivings but, being human, liked the idea of being on a winning team, became candidates, displacing four of the original members. However, there was no coach, and the next two years were hard work without the compensating joy of winning. For short periods Josh Hartwell and Jack Goetchius—both prominent Yale oarsmen—gave the crew voluntary assistance and valuable help.
In 1894 the green crew reached for glory beyond its ability and lost to a seasoned Pennsylvania crew by seven lengths in a three mile race. Navy rowed hard enough, however, by maintaining a high stroke for the entire distance, to cause several Pennsylvania men to topple over at the finish. Some observers said Navy rowed a "crazy" forty strokes per minute all the way, without a "flop" in our boat. We had the endurance without the skill. We also lost the one race in 1895 by a slight margin, over a one and one-half mile course, against the Potomac Boat Club.
Of all types of athletics the ones requiring sustained effort, without rest periods, are long distance running, long distance swimming, and rowing. Of the three probably the most taxing is rowing under racing conditions, where maximum effort is usually applied. For many years the traditional length of intercollegiate races was four miles. Depending on conditions of water and wind that length of race may require from 18 to 21 minutes, which is a severe strain on the young men who compose the crews. Shorter sprint races and more of them each season are much less exhausting. It was the latter racing program which was the policy governing rowing by Navy crews until Navy joined the annual intercollegiate race at Poughkeepsie. It was perhaps significant of this Policy that on the 40th reunion of the 1893 Navy crew, held at Poughkeepsie on the day of the race in 1933, six men in that crew were present except Admiral Reeves who was at anchor in the North River with the Atlantic Fleet of which he was in command. Poor died in 1926. I realize that the subject has been controversial for a great many years, but it has always been my opinion that four mile races are too long for young men of the average age of college crews.
In the publication issued by the class of 1896, in connection with its 50th anniversary after graduation from the Naval Academy, the following summary (quoted in part) of the period intended to be covered herein, while I was connected with the Navy crew, tells succinctly the results of Churchill's successful revival of rowing by the Navy which he outlined as his objective in his quoted statement at the beginning of this retrospective article:
"After three years of hard work the crew is firmly established. It is gratifying to see the change since 1893 when the first efforts were put forth to place the Naval Cadets where they ought to be in aquatic sports.
"Our first captain was called a crank on the subject of rowing. He was a crank, and the very kind of a crank we needed to push boating to the front. January '93 saw four sliding seats and as many fresh candidates as the nucleus on which was to be built the future crew. Two months later, a pair-oar was bought, and in this we learned all our watermanship, until the new eight arrived just a week before the race. All that we remembered of the first year's training was that daily five mile run cross-country, snow or rain, and the captain's one cheering word—"rotten"—whenever we got in the shell. The spin before reveille, the wet feet from the rickety float, and cold dishes accompanied by "Tisn't any more" are vivid recollections of some of the old members. It was uphill work; but the crew was started; and from that time boating took a brace."
It is a gratifying feeling to have had a small part in this undertaking, sixty years ago; and it is a great satisfaction to read of the present prowess of the Navy Olympic crew. There have been other great Navy crews during the last fifty years, and I hope to live to see many more of them.
Graduated from the Naval Academy in the Class of 1896 and permitted to resign in June of that year, Mr. Kimball has been active in industrial affairs continuously, holding high positions in several nationally known companies—among them being president of American Zinc, Lead & Smelting Company and Remington Arms Company, Inc. He was also active in government affairs connected with the Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II and Korea.