WILL NOT GRADE CREWS TILL LATE AS POSSIBLE

The following article was written for the Crimson by E. J. Brown '96, head coach of the University crew:

Crew work this year is being conducted on a plan somewhat different from that of previous years. The underlying idea is to give every man every possible opportunity to demonstrate his ability. With this in mind, there was no effort made last fall to grade the crews. There were some fourteen crews on the University squad at the beginning of fall rowing. These crews had several races of various distances in which every man had an opportunity to show what he could do. Towards the end of the season, a very indefinite ranking of the crews was attempted. Then followed a series of conditioning races. Three such races were rowed, the start being at Watertown and the finish opposite the Newell Boathouse. On the Friday before the Brown game, the last of these races was rowed with six crews competing. This completed the fall activities except for occasional work on the river and tank. This work was merely optional. There has been no rowing for University men since Christmas.

No Grading Until Necessary

Work this spring will be conducted along the same lines as prevailed this fall. There will be no attempt to grade University crews until absolutely necessary. This will probably be a few weeks before the first race. As has been said the purpose of this is to give every man a chance to prove his ability. He will also give the coaches an opportunity to pick up a man here and there who might conceivably be overlooked if a University squad were chosen when crew first begins.

Such a system ought to work to the advantage of any inexperienced men who came out for rowing this spring. Crew is a sport in which the man who has never rowed before should concede no advantage to the veteran. Many specific incidents could be cited of men who had never rowed before coming to college making University crews. Any inexperienced oarsman will be welcomed at the Boathouse this spring. Under the system outlined above, such men will be insured of all possible opportunity to make good in rowing. The coaches will watch them as carefully as the veterans, for they will be put in boats with the latter. This applies to Freshmen and 150 pound crews as well as University candidates. I cannot emphasize too much the opportunity which crew affords the inexperienced man of getting somewhere even after the late start