Back in the Oxford Boat

20 February 2020

By Gavin Jamieson

Here Gavin Jamieson continues his story about Jumbo Edwards from yesterday.

Throughout 1928 and 1929, Jumbo continued his role as assistant schoolmaster whilst travelling to London each weekend to row. His passion for rowing was as intense as ever, but a new love was developing. In 1927 his brother Sphinx, along with Sir James Croft as cox, raced once more in the Boat Race. It was not to be third time lucky for Sphinx as Oxford lost again to Cambridge, this time by three lengths and overhauled at that all too familiar point at Chiswick Steps. On graduation, Sphinx opted to join the fledgling Royal Air Force and Jumbo was to fall in love with flying planes. Jumbo decided that the life of a schoolmaster held little appeal when compared to the thrills of taking to the skies in the biplanes of the day. He learnt to fly and wished to follow his brother into the RAF. The only problem was that, in those days, to obtain a permanent commission in the RAF as a pilot you had to get a University degree and a University Commission. There was only one option for Jumbo, to return to Oxford and his studies.

To even be considered by Oxford, Jumbo had to pass his entrance exams and with a lot of effort and long hours he achieved just that. However, there was the issue of the letter that Jumbo had written to the Senior Proctor three years ago. The College Informed Jumbo that he would have to formally apologise before acceptance back into the scholastic confines of Christ Church. A letter of apology was carefully worded by Jumbo and he found himself once more back in Oxford.

The Oxford University Boat Club, which had followed Jumbo’s rowing progress over the past couple of years and realising that rowing was not going to kill him, invited him back into the varsity boat to once again take on the near invincibility of Cambridge in the 1930 Boat Race. Having become a dedicated disciple to Fairbairnism and still rowing for London, Jumbo did not want to go back into the Oxford boat and row in the orthodox coaching method. He also did not want to waste his time with the demands of the intensive practice; his new aim in life was to obtain his degree to allow him to join the RAF.

The President of the Christ Church boat club would also not take no as an answer and wanted Jumbo back in their eight. “In the end I explained that having rowed under Steve Fairbairn for a few years I could not now go back to the orthodox style and row with fixed oarlocks. I finished up by saying that I would row in the crew only if I could have a swivel rowlock. This impossible condition would, I thought, put an end to the President’s importuning. He said, ‘That’s splendid. We will fix you up with swivel straight away’. I found myself in the crew”.

This led to Jumbo’s inclusion in the varsity boat for the 1930 Boat Race. Dr Pat Mallam, one of the Oxford coaches, approached Jumbo to return to the boat in his usual position of number 5. “It was in vain that I told him I not only wanted to work for my degree, but I also wished to fly with the Air Squadron. He continued to plead with me until finally in desperation I said ‘To tell you the truth, Pat, I can’t row because I am only just recovering from a nasty dose of syphilis’. Pat replied sharply, ‘Balls Jumbo, I am the VD doctor for Oxford and I know you are not’. I had no more ammunition and so found myself in the boat, but I was not very happy about it because it had been such a joy to me rowing under Steve Fairbairn for London Rowing Club, under the leadership of that incomparable stroke, Terence O’Brien”.

At number 6 in the varsity crew was a fellow Christ Church rower and Etonian, Lewis Clive. This was the first time that Jumbo and Lewis rowed together, and it was the start of a partnership that would develop into one of the most formidable and successful coxless pairs that the country had produced. This partnership within the Dark Blue eight was to no avail. Cambridge, for the seventh year in a row, won the Boat Race. The 1930 Boat Race was a lot closer than when Jumbo collapsed in 1926, but despite Oxford leading past the ill-fated Chiswick Steps, Cambridge proved the stronger of the two and won by two lengths in a time of 19 minutes 9 seconds. Once more Stanley Baldwin, now leader of opposition, watched on in satisfaction – puffing on his cherry wood pipe – as his favoured Light Blues crossed the line.

The disappointment of losing was intense for Jumbo, but unlike four years previously there was to be no feeling of humiliation or personal disaster.

The rowing correspondent of The Times was not prepared to provide any redemptive words to ease the pain of Jumbo’s loss: “Edwards is not at his best again even now, and his form suffered at the end of Saturday’s long row. His finish when he is tired is the worst in the crew. He snatches his blade home with his elbows out, a heritage of Metropolitan rowing”.

Jumbo returned to his beloved London Rowing Club crew, and once again embraced the Fairbairn methodology. However, the partnership with Lewis Clive evolved into a devastatingly effective pair and the two continued to row together with the aim of participating at Henley in the Goblets. Initially, Jumbo had his doubts. “Lewis Clive asked me to row in a pair with him. I was not terribly keen because, although he had a valiant heart and the strength of a horse, he was a little bit clumsy – surprising in an Eton boy.”

Four months after the defeat in the Boat Race, it was the Henley Regatta. London had entered their eight for the Grand and the four for the Stewards. Jumbo was selected for both boats, and also entered for Christ Church with Lewis Clive in the pairs to compete for the Goblets. It was a gruelling task for any rower to compete in three world-class events but at the age of 23 and having rowed extensively over the past four years Jumbo was in the best form of his life.

As Jumbo recounted, “For most of the oarsman the two weeks of Henley was not merely the Mecca of their ambitions; it was their annual holiday as well. These two mutually antagonistic aims had to be very carefully blended by the coach. We worked to a very strict daily routine”.

0715:     Get up. Cup of milk and a biscuit
0720:     Run up Remenham Hill
0800:     Breakfast
1000:     Answering nature’s call in the Pink Palace (Leander Boathouse)
1045:     Afloat! Practice on the course
1200:     Stewards IV afloat for practice
1300:     Lunch
1415:     Bed
1545:     Tea
1715:     Afloat for practice
1830:     Stewards IV afloat for practice
2000:     Dinner
2215:     Bed

The answering of nature’s call in Leander was symbolic of what the London crew intended to do to their rival crew in the regatta.

The London crew progressed easily through the heats and made the final of both the Stewards’ and the Grand. Their opponents in both were Leander.

The Grand Challenge Cup was the prize that London valued the most. It had been 40 years, in 1890, that London had last won this prestigious trophy, and now it was only Leander between them and a vindication of their ‘Metropolitan’ training methods under Fairbairn. “We had been waiting for this opportunity for years”, recalled Jumbo. “This year there was no doubt about our superiority, but we had to think of the years to come. We had to demonstrate, to all the rowing community, our complete supremacy”. It was pointed out to Jumbo prior to the race that, once again, Stanley Baldwin was in the enclosure.

London’s plan was row as fast as possible to the Barrier (a point reached in two minutes) and then put in a mighty spurt of 20 strokes. “All went absolutely to plan; we romped away from Leander and were two lengths up at the end of the spurt”. However, this is not the way to win a race. A lead of two lengths in two minutes resulted in the London eight skimming down the river one foot per second faster than Leander. The drag of eight increases as the square of the speed, so London had to expend an incredible amount of power to achieve that speed. London had burnt themselves up to purely demonstrate their supremacy over Leander. Jumbo recalled “We were unable to continue that pace and dropped down to a rate that we could only just manage. To the onlooker (including my nemesis Stanley Baldwin) it looked, no doubt, as though we were playing with Leander, dropping to a paddle and allowing them to come back at us. If so we attained our aim”. The London crew won by a full length and a half. London Rowing Club had finally regained the Grand trophy, 40 years from the date that they were last triumphant.

Later that same day, Jumbo rowed to another victory in the London four and the Stewards’ trophy was captured to go with the Grand. Once again, the vanquished crew was Leander, and the victory a length and a half. Fairbairnism had triumphed over Orthodox.

The Times rowing correspondent at last praised Jumbo: “The outstanding individuals in the Regatta were H. R. A. Edwards, the number 5 of the London crew, and A. Graham, number 7 in the Leander crew. For power, skill, and smoothness combined Edwards stands alone among the heavyweights of today, and it is a pleasure to be able to pay such a tribute to one who had earned it in the face of considerable difficulty.” Redemption was sweet.

With such success in July 1930, the London crew had hoped to relax away from the river, but this was not to be. The eight and four were selected to represent England in the 1930 British Empire Games, to be held in Hamilton, Ontario. This was the very first British Empire Games, later to become known as the Commonwealth Games. Jumbo would arrive for practice by flying his Avro Baby airplane to Molesey, in Surrey, and land on the nearby race course and amble along the couple of hundred yards to the boathouse.

At the beginning of August 1930, the London Rowing Club crew boarded the Empress of Australia and crossed the Atlantic to Hamilton. The London crew kept themselves fit by running around the deck and exercising in the first-class swimming pool and gymnasium. Despite the long voyage, the crew were again triumphant – winning two gold medals in the regatta. A triumphant Jumbo recalled that “We won the eights and the coxless fours, and the New Zealanders were terribly surprised and most upset that they had not won. The stroke of our eight was Terence O’Brien, the most magnificent stroke it has ever been my privilege to follow”.

In 1931, the London crew continued their supremacy on water. In the Spring of that year, Lewis Clive had approached Jumbo to row in the coxless pairs with the aim of winning the Goblets at Henley and selection for the following year’s Olympic Games in Los Angeles. It was the start of a talented, and ultimately successful, partnership. However, Jumbo was now devoting much of his time to this partnership and was fearful that London would not select him for the eights or fours at Henley. His fear was unfounded, and, at Henley, he was back competing in the Grand, the Stewards’ and the Goblets.

“For me, it meant six sessions per day, in the morning first the eights and then the fours and finally the pair, and the same thing in the evening”. In the eight, London had lost one, vital, member of the crew: “Our eight was not as good as the previous year, because we had lost our stroke Terry O’Brien who had got himself married. Kitty had given Terry an ultimatum, to choose ‘between me or rowing’. Terry chose Kitty”.

After defeating the challenge of two American crews, the semi-final of the Grand was against the German rowing club, Berliner RC. This turned out to be one of the finest races that Henley had witnesses for many a year. At the Mile Post, Berlin were up by a quarter of a length. Edgar Howitt, the replacement at stroke for O’Brien, increased the stroke rate of the London boat to 40. This had the desired effect and the crew raced up to the enclosures with the Germans a canvas ahead, but London could not get level. “One hundred yards from the finish the Germans faltered, slightly, for one stroke but still remained a few feet ahead. Two lengths from the finishing post they blew up and we went past, ourselves blowing up one length short of the post and drifting over the line. I doubt if ever such an extraordinary scene had been witnessed at Henley. The crowds were beside themselves with excitement and joy”. In retelling this victory, Jumbo omits to mention if Stanley Baldwin was looking on.

London progressed to the final and met a familiar rival, though this time it was Thames Rowing Club and not Leander. In a punishing race, London were pushed all the way by Thames but managed to hold off a final spurt from their rivals and win by a third of a length.

1931 Henley Royal Regatta, Pathé footage of the spectators and the eights.

In the Stewards’, London defeated the Italian challenge of Piacenza. With Lewis Clive, Jumbo completed a Henley hat-trick with victory in the Goblets against Kingston Rowing Club. This feat was almost unprecedented. “Nobody had won three open events at Henley since Claude Taylor had achieved the feat in 1907, and nobody has achieved it since. Though for me it was quite a strenuous day, I have never before felt quite so fit”.

The Henley prizes were presented by the Duchess of Kent. The third time Jumbo came up to the dais to receive the Silver Goblets and the Nickalls Challenge Cup, she smiled and proclaimed “Fancy seeing you again. Very many congratulations”.

In five years, Jumbo Edwards had scaled the heights of rowing from the depths of despair and humiliation. By this point, in the Summer of 1931, the national press had finally recognised and acknowledged that Jumbo was one of the finest rowers that the country had produced.

As well as finding redemption in the newspapers, Jumbo also received a compliment from the redoubtable Guy Nickalls. “I felt I was now in a position to forgive Guy and his talk of ‘baby fat’, and that regatta of 1931 saw the end of my resentment to the aftermath of 1926”.

One year later, in 1932, though it was the end of London dominance in the eights and fours, Jumbo and Lewis Clive regained the Goblets at Henley. Jumbo was serving in the Royal Air Force, having successfully graduated from Oxford, and on Saturday 13th August he stood proudly on the rostrum in Los Angeles to accept his two Olympic gold medals for the coxless pairs and the fours.

Many years late the notable journalist, Sir Charles Wheeler, recalled that famous London victory over Berlin in the Henley semi-final of the Grand: “As an 8-year-old after seeing that race against the Germans in 1931, I knew we should win the Second World War and that Jumbo Edwards would play a part”.

Monday: November 22nd 1943
0630 hours

The bright yellow life raft continued on its ponderous journey. Hours had passed and the oppressive darkness and cold continued to press down. In November, in that part of the seas, sunrise would not be until 0730. Edwards’s first task was to stay awake until the sun rise, in the hope that visibility would have improved, and that daylight would reveal on the horizon an outline of land.

By 0630, Edwards was too tired to row. The motion of the waves and the exhaustion were too much to stay awake. For an hour he drifted into and out of sleep. At this point, although he was unaware of his exact position, the life raft had travelled 17 nautical miles in a little over 14 hours. Edwards efforts had guided that inflatable towards the Scilly Isles. The helpful currents had actually swept the lifeboat south, and around, the Isles.

With the sun beginning to rise, the inky blackness of the Atlantic was returning to a wintry white-flecked grey expanse. At 0730, HMS Lincolnshire, a converted fishing trawler, was continuing its operation off the Scilly Isles to search for German U-boats. Suddenly a shout went up from the lookout who had spotted a bright yellow speck in the distance, rising and falling with the waves. Captain Samuel L Larner changed course and piloted his boat towards the yellow object. At 0745 Wing Commander Edwards was rescued. The crew of HMS Lincolnshire managed to bring the injured Olympian on board and returned him to the safety of land.

For Jumbo, that was the end of his flying missions for the RAF. After six months recuperating from his collapsed lung and broken ribs and, having written to the families of those air crew who perished in the Liberator, Edwards returned to active service for 53 Squadron. He was promoted to Group Captain and for acts of valour, courage and devotion he was awarded both the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Force Cross.

His love of rowing, and Oxford, never deserted him. In 1949, Jumbo accepted the position of rowing coach for the Dark Blues and in 1959, with his son David rowing at number six, Oxford won the Boat Race – defeating Cambridge by the largest margin in 47 years.

“Looking back, it is clear that I should never have achieved what I did had it not been for my collapse in the 1926 Boat Race”.

Gavin Jamieson would be delighted to receive anecdotes from readers that may have been coached by Jumbo Edwards or had relatives that handed down stories of Edwards’s time in a boat, on the tow path or in the air. He would also be pleased to hear from anyone who expresses an interest in a book dedicated to the exploits of Jumbo Edwards. Gavin can be contacted at gmbjamieson@gmail.com or on Twitter @gmbjamieson

21 February 2020

During Monday to Thursday this week, HTBS published an article in four installments about the famous oarsman, coach and RAF pilot H. R. A. Edwards, also known as Jumbo Edwards (1906–1972) by Gavin Jamieson, who is married to Jumbo’s granddaughter Melissa.

Gavin has access to Jumbo Edwards’s family archives, which among other things includes Jumbo’s unpublished memoir. It’s Gavin’s intention to publish a biography of the extraordinary life of Jumbo, but he would like your help. Gavin would be grateful to receive anecdotes from rowers who were coached by Jumbo or had relatives who might have handed down stories of Jumbo’s time in a boat, on the tow path or in the air.

Gavin would also be pleased to hear from anyone who expresses an interest in a book dedicated to the exploits of Jumbo Edwards. Please contact Gavin at gmbjamieson@gmail.com or on Twitter @gmbjamieson

Did you miss any of Gavin’s chapters on Jumbo’s life? Don’t worry, you will find them all here.

22 February 2020

Yesterday, USRowing announced that the organisation had entered a partnership with Rowing Blazers to become the Official Supplier of Blazers and Heritage Apparel for USRowing.

In a press release Jack Carlson, founder of Rowing Blazers, said: ‘I’m so proud that Rowing Blazers has partnered with USRowing.’ Carlson, who is a three-time national team member and 2015 World Rowing Championships bronze medalist, continued, ‘We’re proud to support the current crop of athletes training for the world championships and Olympics. Our capsule collection is inspired by the history and heritage of USRowing – from the Boys in the Boat who won gold at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and their uniforms to the present day.’

Rowing Blazers was founded in New York City in 2017 by Carlson and his girlfriend, national champion oarswoman Keziah Beall. The brand began as a book, which Carlson researched and wrote while studying at Oxford University. Rowing Blazers the book is about the colorful and eccentric traditions, myths, and rituals related to the blazer at rowing clubs around the world.

‘We’re thrilled to be partnering with Rowing Blazers as the Official Supplier of Blazers and Heritage Apparel to USRowing,’ said USRowing Chief Domestic Officer and Interim CEO Susan Smith. ‘We’re excited to be working with Jack and his team to create an inspiring and fun collection for our members and the rowing community. At its core, Rowing Blazers celebrates the history and heritage of our sport. Many folks don’t know that blazers actually originated with our sport as a type of “warm-up jacket” for Oxford and Cambridge oarsmen and grew in popularity from there to become the sports jacket that blazers are known for today.’

To see USRowing Collection, click here.

23 February 2020

By Philip Kuepper

‘Ice shivered, sussed
against my shell.
In the night, the river
had been made cold love to.’

(3 January 2020)

24 February 2020

Golden Bears featured in new rowing film by Nick Trojan.

In early February, HTBS’s friends over at RowingRelated (RR) published an interesting interview with Nick Trojan, lightweight oarsman who turned filmmaker. Trojan’s first film, which was released last year, was about Harvard rowing. Out with his second film now, he moves us to the American west coast to take a look at the rowing programme at Cal.

Both the interview and Trojan’s film are not to be missed. You will find both here.

25 February 2020

By Tim Koch

Tim Koch on some living history.

I am sure that HTBS Types will have enjoyed Gavin Jamieson’s articles on Jumbo Edwards that we ran last week. However, some readers may have missed a comment posted after part four by Adrian Stokes. Adrian is a regular reader and an occasional contributor, particularly commenting on Oxford rowing in the 1950s, a time and place that he is particularly familiar with as he was President of Oxford University Boat Club in 1952 and rowed in the Boat Races of 1951 (lost) and 1952 (won). He was part of the Oxford coaching team in 1957, 1958, 1960 and 1961. I reproduce Adrian’s comment in full below as it is always worth hearing from someone who was there when history was made:

1952 was a key year for Jumbo. Oxford coaching had for ever been dominated by the “orthodox” style, but Oxford had only won 4 of the 22 races since WW1 and only one of the 6 since WW2. I was elected President of OUBC for 1952 with a mandate to make a difference. I had stroked the very successful New College crew of 1950 which was coached by hugely experienced members of Thames Rowing Club, arch rivals of the London Club on the Tideway. We went Head of the River, and won the Ladies Plate at Henley, and the Reading Grand. This crew should have formed the basis of the 1951 Oxford Boat, but the President was Christopher Davidge (Eton and Trinity); though one of the greatest strokes of all time, his presidency was disastrous. The coaching was strictly “Orthodox” (even fixed pins were retained) and humiliation was total. In the race, Oxford sank within a couple of minutes and lost the re-row by 12 lengths. So I called in Jumbo out of the cold, and to cut a very long story short (including Jumbo’s own novel design of swivel-riggers), Oxford won after an epic race in a snowstorm. Orthodoxy was dead. Cambridge’s dominance was broken. The Boat Race came to life again.

Adrian has, in his own words, ‘cut a very long story short’, but I am sure that we would all like to hear the uncut version. As an encouragement, below I have posted edited summaries of Wikipedia’s descriptions of the Boat Races of 1951 and 1952 – two very different races for Adrian and Oxford.

1951: ‘Anti-climax following disaster’

According to Wiki, in 1951:

(There was) a strong wind blowing against the tide, creating ‘sizeable waves’. Oxford had already taken on board a considerable amount of water from their row to the stake boats…. The Light Blues took an early lead and appeared to be coping with the conditions better than Oxford, and were over a length ahead by the time they passed London Rowing Club. The Dark Blues shipped more water until they became entirely submerged, and were rescued by spectators on the Oxford launch… 

Since the umpire declared a ‘no row’ and because the reason for the sinking was deemed to be ‘equipment failure before the end of the Fulham Wall’, it was agreed that a re-row be arranged (for two days later)…

(In the re-row, the) Light Blues were clear by the end of Fulham Wall…. passing the Mile Post more than two lengths clear, and Harrods three lengths up… (By) the time Cambridge passed below Hammersmith Bridge, they were four and a half lengths clear and seven ahead by Chiswick Steps…. By Barnes Bridge, the lead was 11 lengths.

Cambridge won by a margin of 12 lengths in a time of 20 minutes 50 seconds, securing their fifth consecutive victory. It was the largest winning margin since the 1900 race and the slowest winning time since 1947… The rowing correspondent of ‘The Manchester Guardian’ suggested that ‘the 1951 race, with anti-climax following disaster, is best forgotten as quickly as may be.’

Below is newsreel film of 1951 from British Pathe. The re-row (the final race) is shown first. At 1 minute 24 seconds, the film suddenly cuts to the first (abandoned) race.

1952: ‘One of the most exciting races ever rowed’

Wiki’s full piece on the 1952 Race is here.

The weather was inclement, with gale-force winds and snow disrupting the race and limiting the number of spectators lining the banks of the Thames to a few thousand…. Cambridge made the cleaner start in the rough conditions, and held a quarter-length lead at the Dukes’ Head pub. Despite making a number of spurts, the Light Blues could not pull away from Oxford, the Dark Blues’ stroke maintaining a higher rate to keep in touch. Keeping to more sheltered conditions yet in slower water, Cambridge passed the Mile Post with a lead of half a length.

With the bend in the river beginning to favour Oxford, the lead was slowly eroded until both boats passed nearly level below Hammersmith Bridge. Alongside Chiswick Eyot, the Dark Blues were almost half-a-length ahead but not gaining further… (At) Barnes Bridge the Dark Blue lead was down to less than a quarter of a length. 

Oxford won by a canvas… in a time of 20 minutes 23 seconds…. and their first win in six attempts. At no point during the course of the race did either boat have a clear water advantage over their opponent.

The rowing correspondent for ‘The Manchester Guardian’ described the race as ‘one of the closest fought of all time’, while Ian Thomson, writing in ‘The Observer’, suggested it was ‘one of the most exciting races ever rowed’.

British Pathe produced a particularly good record of the event.

Raising the standard of Oxford rowing

British Pathe made a wonderful newsreel of the Leviathan. The film includes a piece to camera by Adrian and nice shots of the Isis in 1951, a time when college barges still outnumbered land based boathouses.

British Pathe rivals, British Movietone, also produced a report on the ‘sixteen-oared coaching punt’. Twenty years later, Jumbo Edwards had made a version half the size of the ‘Leviathan’, the eight-oared ‘Octolog’. The film is a good chance to see Jumbo in action, probably trying to resist the urge to tell the students of 1970 to ‘get their bloody hair cut’ (he once told his mildly hirsute son, David, ‘You can’t expect to go fast in a boat with hair that long.’)

26 February 2020

By Göran R Buckhorn

Some years ago, playwright Ed Waugh was a household name on these pages with his play Hadaway Harry about the Tyneside professional oarsman Harry Clasper. HTBS readers and writers flocked to the play that was performed at, among other places, the Theatre Royal in Newcastle and London Rowing Club by the Thames. HTBS’s Chris Dodd wrote about actor Jamie Brown who played Clasper:

Jamie Brown is Harry in Ed Waugh’s roisterous drama. He is a solo tour-de-force, bringing the rawness of the working class life in Newcastle and the relentless training round the clock to life. When it comes to racing the London Championship Course of 4 1/4 miles from Putney to Mortlake, he has you on the edge of your seat while attached to an oar by your fingernails for every stroke.

In April, in London, it’s time for another play from Ed Waugh’s hand, Carrying David. In this play, Waugh has moved to another sport, boxing. Carrying David is the dramatic story of how the terminally ill David McCrory inspired his bother Glenn to become the cruiserweight champion of the world.

Carrying David stars Micky Cochrane and was directed by former EastEnders star Russell Floyd, who also directed Hadaway Harry. The play premiered on Tyneside and toured the North East in June last year. It was so successful it transferred to Northern Ireland in November for a number of dates including Belfast’s Lyric Theatre, where it was an instant hit.

Playwright Ed Waugh said: ‘Glenn McCrory’s story is funny, dramatic and heartbreaking. He was a working-class lad from County Durham with huge talent but at every stage he was ripped off and badly mismanaged. Thanks to David’s inspiration, who was diagnosed with the neurological condition Friedreich’s Ataxia (FDRA) in his teens, Glenn was able to overcome what appeared to be insurmountable obstacles to be crowned world champion in 1989.’

Ed Waugh continued: ‘Carrying David is like Rocky, but with brotherly love, humor and emotion! It has been given a standing ovation at every venue it has played.’

After Glenn McCrory’s boxing career was over, he went on to work as a well-respected Sky Sports boxing commentator for 28 years.

Now Carrying David is coming to Canal Cafe Theatre in London.

‘We are delighted to be hosting Carrying David. The reports we’ve had and the reviews from the shows have been incredible,’ Canal Café Theatre Artistic Director Emma Taylor said.

Carrying David plays at the Canal Café Theatre on Friday, April 3 (6.30 p.m.), Saturday 4 (2 p.m. & 6:30 p.m.) and Sunday 5 (6 p.m.) before transferring to Newcastle Theatre Royal (April 9 & 10).

Please note, there are only four performances at Canal Café Theatre!

Canal Café Theatre, 13 Westbourne Terrace Rd, London W2 6NG, UK,
Phone: +44-20-7289-6054.

 Tickets: £18 (plus a 50p booking fee)

Running time: 120 mins (2 hours)

You will find more information and reviews – here.

Here is a trailer of Carrying David:

Members of a boxing club in Antrim, Northern Ireland, went to see Carrying David in November. They had never been to the theatre before but got so inspired by the show, they produced their own brief video:

27 February 2020

Due to the spreading of the Coronavirus in Asia, FISA, World Rowing, is cancelling events, the organization announced in a press release this morning.

Following the outbreak of COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus) in China and the high number of cases now reported across Asia and other parts of the world, the FISA Executive Committee has been evaluating the impact of this situation on the upcoming World Rowing events. In this context, the Executive Committee has noted significant difficulties which would affect the staging of the 2020 Asia and Oceania FISA / Olympic Solidarity Training Camp and 2020 FISA Asia and Oceania Continental Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Regatta in Chungju, KOR from 27 to 30 April 2020.

– South Korea has nearly 1,600 cases of the virus as of today and the World Health Organisation has assessed the risk in the country to be high.

– A number of airlines have temporarily suspended air service to South Korea

– A number of countries will not allow residents to travel to South Korea

– A number of countries have imposed mandatory isolation periods for residents returning from travels to South Korea

Considering the situation described above, and after consultation with key stakeholders, it has been agreed that this regatta in Chungju, South Korea is cancelled.

The FISA / Olympic Solidarity training camp, planned to take place before the regatta in Chungju, is now also cancelled. Discussions on arranging an alternative training camp or camps are currently taking place with the relevant stakeholders and will be announced when and if possible.

FISA has looked at alternative options for this event to be staged in the Asian or Oceanian regions. A full evaluation was made of all possible international standard regattas and venues; however, it was deduced that the most pragmatic option is to combine this event with existing qualification events.

• Asian and Oceania Continental Paralympic Qualification (PR1M1x and PR1W1x) will now take place as part of the Final Paralympic Qualification Regatta in Gavirate, Italy (8 to 10 May).
• Asian and Oceania Continental Olympic Qualification (M1x, W1x, LM2x, LW2x) will now take place as part of the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland (17 to 19 May).

The number of qualification places attributed to the Asia and Oceania Qualification Regattas will not change and will be allocated based on results in the respective Final Qualification Regatta for the relevant boat classes to the eligible NFs/NOCs.

Full details, including updated regatta programmes for both qualification regattas in Gavirate and Lucerne, and updated Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Guides, will be issued by 15 March 2020, following confirmation from the IOC and IPC. Any queries regarding Olympic and Paralympic Qualification should be directed to Cameron.Allen@fisa.org.

As a result of the cancellation of the Asia and Oceania Continental Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Regatta, athletes who require classification prior to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games can be classified at one of the following opportunities:

– World Rowing Cup II (Varese, Italy)
Classification dates are 29 to 30 April 2020

– Final Paralympic Qualification Regatta (Gavirate, Italy)
Classification dates are 6 to 7 May 2020

Requests should be made no later than 16 March 2020 by National Federations to classification@fisa.org.

There are four major events scheduled to take place in Italy during April and May: World Rowing Cup I in Sabaudia (10 to 12 April 2020), European Continental Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Regatta (27 to 29 April 2020) and World Rowing Cup II (1 to 3 May 2020) in Varese, and the Final Paralympic Qualification Regatta (8 to 10 May 2020) in Gavirate.

The situation in Italy is evolving each day with very determined efforts by the government authorities to contain the outbreak in Northern Italy. The situation in the cities of Sabaudia, Varese, and Gavirate is presently considered to be low risk as the outbreak has taken place in other cities in Northern Italy and containment efforts are focused on these cities. We are not aware of any travel restrictions at this time. These FISA events will continue as planned. However, as the situation is evolving quickly, FISA continues to monitor the situation on a daily basis.

The FISA Sports Medicine Commission has developed an advisory document for rowers and coaches’ health and safety during this period of global health uncertainty. This document can be found on our website, http://www.worldrowing.com/

28 February 2020

By Tim Koch

Tim Koch finds challenging conditions on the Thames Tideway.

The Pre-Boat Race Fixtures, when top British and foreign crews race potential Oxford and Cambridge Blue and reserve crews over the Putney to Mortlake course, are key dates in the Boat Race training period. They are both a selection test and a provider of important race practice. The Fixtures provide the valuable experience of competing against top-class opposition and they also give opportunities for the rowers to simulate race day as much as possible and allow coaches to see how their charges react under pressure. Further, coxes and crews get to know the Championship Course better by practising routines, racing the Surrey and Middlesex stations and being officially umpired.

British readers will not need telling that, in the last few weeks, Storm Ciara followed by Storm Dennis have caused havoc throughout the country. Storm Dennis is one of the deepest low-pressure centres to have formed in recent years. Ciara brought the stronger winds while Dennis produced more rain –  though rivers were already full and the ground saturated before Dennis’s arrival. As far as rowing is concerned, many events have been cancelled and, with the men’s and women’s Eights Heads only a short time away, much training has been disrupted. While London and the South have not been the worst affected, the Port of London Authority has, at times, put the tidal Thames on a ‘red flag’ status for ‘small recreational vessels’ advising them not to go afloat, particularly on an ebb tide. Historically, this has been rare for the Tideway.

Ciara caused the cancellation of the first of the Fixtures planned for 2020, that between the Oxford men’s reserves, Isis, and the University of London on 9 February. The races between the Cambridge women and the Dutch student club, Nerus, on 16 February went ahead after careful consideration of the conditions (which eventually turned out to be rather mild).

The plan was to do three pieces in total: the start to mile post, Harrods to Chiswick Eyot and finally Chiswick Pier to the Finish. I was not there but the official race report said:

Cambridge received several warnings during the early stages of the first piece but had taken a ¼ length lead by the Town Buoy (aka The Black Buoy). Shortly after (this), both crews seemed to be impacted by a cross wind pushing them over to the Middlesex side of the river. Cambridge extended their lead to ¾ length by Fulham Football Club and then continued to row away, reaching clear water and a lead of 2 lengths by the end of the first piece. 

The crews paddled to Harrods Depository where the second piece began with a rolling start. Cambridge received several warnings to hold their station and not to turn in too early, as they tried to minimise Nereus’s advantage on the long Hammersmith bend. Despite the long advantage, Nereus only very briefly had their bow in front, with Cambridge holding on to them all of the way. As the advantage began to run out, Cambridge made their move and eked out a ½ length lead by the top of Chiswick Eyot where the second piece finished. 

Unfortunately, an injury flaring up in the Nereus crew meant that they withdrew from the third and final piece. Cambridge raced the piece against the clock from Chiswick Pier to The Boat Race finish under the watchful eye of Umpire Phelps who kept them on course with warnings where necessary.

The Cambridge crew is listed here.

On 22 February, I was in the stern of the umpire’s launch following the fixture between the Brookes and Oxford men’s first boats. The advantage of photographing from such a position is that it is easier to judge which boat is in the lead as there are none of the problems of ‘parallax error’ that occur when taking pictures of two boats from one side. The disadvantage is that the umpire may sometimes unavoidably block the view of those seated behind them, especially when the racing crews are close together and are almost dead ahead of the launch. As usual, I cannot photograph and take notes at the same time so the italicised bold text below is taken from the official race report on theboatrace.org

The first Brookes – Oxford piece.

Oxford Brookes won the coin toss (and) elected to take the Middlesex station for the first of two pieces, both scheduled to take place between the Start and St Paul’s School Boat Club, utilising a limited section of the Championship Course due to the high winds and resulting challenging conditions beyond Hammersmith Bridge.

Ten strokes into the first piece, the boats were level; however, Brookes then encountered some rough water as the crews became exposed to the wind. This allowed OUBC to pull out to a ¾ of a length lead over Brookes by the Town Buoy. However, a big effort from Brookes allowed them to get back almost level with OUBC before opening out to ¼ of a length by Barn Elms, albeit due to the Fulham corner being to their favour.

To the milepost, this ¼ of a length margin was constant, however Umpire Sarah Winckless warned OUBC repeatedly for their line, although no incident ensued.

By Harrods, OUBC had managed to draw level, which put Brookes under pressure from Umpire Winckless, and although there was no significant contact, if any, this was the closest these two crews came in this piece.

Just before Hammersmith Bridge, OUBC put in a push, and this was just as their advantage, due to the shelter of the Surrey station, allowed them to pull out to a 6-seat lead by Hammersmith Bridge.

Between Hammersmith and St Paul’s, OUBC pulled out to a 1.25 length lead to seal the victory in the first piece, marking the first time Brookes have been defeated on British Water in 3 years. It appeared that Brookes struggled in the rough water, and the early push they put in meant they had no card to play after OUBC’s trump move.

The second Brookes – Oxford piece.

Between the finish of the first piece and the start of the second, the wind had picked up considerably, which moved the start to in front of London Rowing Club, where the boats would be considerably more sheltered….

With the crews switching stations, it was all at stake. Again, the crews were level off the start, with Brookes sneaking a canvas lead by the Town Buoy.

By Barn Elms, Brookes had managed to increase this lead to about 3 seats, but with incredibly choppy water…. OUBC (moved) back around Fulham. To maximise (his advantage there was) some aggressive steering from OUBC cox, Perry, attracting warnings from Umpire Winckless.

Just before the Mile Post, OUBC were warned, then as the crews pulled level, both crews were warned. Neither crew reacted with enough vigour which resulted in a clash of blades but with no major repercussions. 

Post clash, Brookes carried forward their momentum, and continued to move on OUBC, advancing this lead to half a length by Harrods. The conditions by this point had become significantly more challenging than during the first piece with a big wave knocking OUBC back at Harrods before a subsequent wave swamped the boat. The Surrey station (had) a clear advantage, which allowed Brookes to pull out to clear water by Hammersmith, which prompted OUBC to move over and gain shelter from the Surrey station. 

By St Paul’s, Brookes had two lengths of clear water winning the second piece.

Commenting on the fixture, Sean Bowden, OUBC Head Coach said: ‘In tough conditions I was pleased that we put together some sections of competitive rowing against a very good Brookes crew. Mistakes by both boats at different times were costly but contributed to some intense racing with plenty of cut and thrust. The conditions in the second piece were awful and with a swamped boat we were not able to hold on to a fast moving Brookes who no doubt had problems of their own in the big rolling waves that crashed over the bows on a number of occasions.’

Both crews are listed here.

The day after the Brookes men took on Oxford, the women raced CUWBC. Again, the report comes from theboatrace.org.

The first piece took place from the Boat Race finish to Chiswick Steps, which represented excellent preparation for both crews ahead of the upcoming Women’s Head of the River on 7th March…. 

(Brookes) made the most of the advantage from the Middlesex bend and took an early one length lead in the first few minutes. Both crews were warned coming into Barnes Bridge, after which the Brookes crew pushed on to take clear water over the Light Blues. By the bandstand there was significant wash from passing river traffic, which created challenging conditions for both crews. However, Brookes’ rhythm proved resilient and the crew from Oxford continued to press ahead. The final verdict at Chiswick steps was 4 lengths to Brookes.

In the second piece, Brookes once again took an early lead on Middlesex and by the end of the Eyot had a one length advantage, which stretched to two lengths by St Paul’s. Despite having the benefit of the Surrey bend, CUWBC continued to succumb to the Brookes charge which resulted in a three length lead by Harrods wall. This stretched out to a decisive five-length victory to Brookes by the Town Buoy (aka The Black Buoy).

The Brookes women’s 2nd VIII beat the Cambridge women’s reserves, Blondie, but their 3rd VIII lost to the CUWBC Lightweights.

Weather and river conditions allowing, the remaining fixtures for 2020 are:

1 March – Goldie v Brookes and CUBC v Brookes
8 March – OUWBC v Nerus
15 March – OUWBC v University of London

The Brookes – Cambridge fixture on 1 March will allow comparisons between it and the Brookes – Oxford races. Similarly, the OUWBC – Nerus fixture on the 8 March will be held up against how CUWBC performed against the Dutch students.

On 13 February there was another private fixture on the Tideway, albeit a non-Oxbridge one. Eton College raced Westminster School in the second year of an intended annual contest that has been rowed sporadically in the past. Famously, the two schools first raced each other in 1829.

In the late 18th century, schoolboys from Eton and Westminster were almost certainly among the first ‘gentlemen’ who rowed for pleasure and sport, using the boats and skills of the working men whose trade was to row goods and people on the river. Perhaps this is proof that teenagers do not always lack good ideas.

29 February 2020

By Philip Kuepper

Evening nears.
I walk hunched against the chill.
A flock of geese flies low as the treetops.
Their calling haunts the air of my soul,
as they call evening ever closer.

This is the tenuous hour,
where day begins to end,
night begin.

I walk hunched against the hour’s chill.
The minutes go through me to the bone.
Time gnaws at my bones, time worried
it won’t get to bury me as its own.

A dog has appeared, out of nowhere,
to walk at my side.
‘Hi, boy,’
or is it girl?
Who is to know what spirits accompany us.
or in what form,
through what time is given us?

The dog ambles off
up an alley I do not take.
Nearer the river now,
brine colognes the air.
And, there, in the water, like a whisper,
evening unfurls its sail of grey
to cover the world with a tenderness
even a kiss would scar.

(12 October 2019)

1 March 2020

By Sarah Risser

On March 1, 1870, ten young men organized the Minnesota Boat Club (MBC). They wanted to row small boats on the Mississippi River in St. Paul, Minnesota, and needed a place to store their shells. Over the ensuing years, the club grew in size and stature to become an elite social and athletic institution. To have been a member during the club’s Victorian heyday was a coveted honor, considered ‘…a distinction highly prized and not easily won…not only a badge of social distinction, but of real manhood—a recognition of the manly quality in a man by other men who were competent to judge…’, according to Leavitt Corning in “The Minnesota Boat Club,” The Razoo, Vol 1 No 3, Feb 1903 p 10.

The founding members of MBC were almost all in their early 20s with the exception of Stanford Newell, who was an ancient 31, and J Dock Dean who, at 17, was the club’s kid brother. Almost all of them had recently arrived in St. Paul with wide-eyed enthusiasm, knowing that Minnesota’s abundant natural resources and expanding rail network would offer rich business opportunities. Their futures were as bright as their boathouse was crude.

MBC’s early members rowed singles, doubles, and, eventually a four out of a covered-over and leaky scow. Their cramped ‘boathouse’ forced membership to be capped at 20. The young oarsmen refined their technique on the Mississippi River, issuing the occasional single scull challenge and engaging the scrappy clubs of Faribault, Red Wing and Stillwater to race in paper four-oared shells. Even after the Minnesotas acquired land and a boat house on Raspberry Island in 1874, their closest established rivals in Wisconsin and Chicago were too inconveniently distant to race.

It wasn’t until 1877 that the men of MBC enthused to compete ‘abroad’ against teams from Wisconsin and Chicago at Devil’s Lake, Wisconsin. MBC sent its six strongest oars (W. H. Hyndman, H. M. Butler, C. P. Marvin, Norman Wright, E. C. Bell and L. W. Rundlett) to test their mettle against the Mitchells, the Riverdales, the Niles, the Northwestern Rowing Association, and the Farraguts of Chicago. When C. P. Marvin and Norman Wright raced the double against the Downs Brothers of the Farragut club and Barnard and Curtis from the Northwestern Rowing Association, they established an early lead which they steadily increased over the course. They reached the turning stake a gaping 30 seconds ahead of the other crews. The Chicago Tribune praised Minnesota’s ability to maintain 36 strokes-per-minute throughout the race and attributed the cheers from shore to their superb oarsmanship (in Chicago Tribune, June 22, 1877). ‘Hunt’ Butler then prevailed in the single scull, after which the Minnesota four trounced the Mitchells and Farraguts, crossing the finish line several lengths ahead. MBC exceeded all expectations with their outright winning streak at Devil’s Lake. When declared the clear victors, they were emboldened to take on competitive rowing in a more formal, intentional, manner.

It was at the Devil’s Lake regatta that ‘Hunt’ Butler formulated and articulated a specific ‘club spirit’ that has since been attributed to the club’s many successes. Butler described a unique MBC spirit which wins through wholesome zest, clean living, hard work, untainted good fellowship, and the husbanding of reserve power for the calls of crises. Hunt Butler articulated it well: ‘Remember that no matter how nearly exhausted you may feel physically the other fellows are probably just as badly off, and if you have the head, the nerve, the will, to put forth an extra effort at the finish you are almost certain to win (in P. Kirkwood, “The Minnesota Boat Club,” The Bellman, July 31, 1909 p 910).

Throughout the late 1870s and 1880s, the men of MBC embraced this club spirit as they competed in the more formal and organized regattas of the Mississippi Valley Amateur Rowing Association and the Northwestern Amateur Rowing Association. They complemented their athletic successes by routinely issuing exclusive invitations to regattas and fetes at their country-club-like venue on Raspberry Island that were visual feasts of Victorian pomp.

After returning from the 1881 Mississippi Valley Amateur Rowing Association Regatta, the men of MBC were met at the station and paraded to the island, which was packed with ladies in flounced skirts edged with lace and men in formal attire. The Mayor and other city leaders gave speeches lauding the victorious oarsman. On June 27, the St. Paul Daily Globe described the scene on Raspberry Island as a sylvan, charming, and fairy-like affair with Chinese lanterns–like fire flies–that cast light that danced and shimmered on the water. It hardly mattered if one had an invitation. The scene was best enjoyed by looking down upon it from the Wabasha Street Bridge.

The Minnesota Boat Club, its members, and its venue on Raspberry Island have changed a lot over its 150 years. Yet the club continues to put boats on the water and throw the occasional party in its now-historic boathouse. Given the importance of this date, I may look over the rails of the Wabasha Street Bridge tonight to see if I can catch a glimpse of a celebration that will almost certainly be in full swing to celebrate 150 years of tradition and rowing in Minnesota.

Happy Birthday, Minnesota Boat Club!

2 March 2020

By Göran R Buckhorn

The Regatta Director of the 2020 Sarasota Invitational Regatta says that two blind and deaf rowers in a double sculls had an ‘unfair advantage’ using Bob Berry’s Remote Coxswain racing against able-bodied athletes. Göran R Buckhorn disagrees.

Linda and James Mumford might not be familiar names in the American rowing community.

They married in 2005, when they were 52 years old. James had rowed since 2001, while Linda had never touched an oar. Everything changed when they decided to spend their honeymoon at the rowing camp in Craftsbury Common, Vermont.

Rowing didn’t come easy for Linda and James. They are both born with Usher’s syndrome. This is a condition which is characterized by partial or total hearing and vision loss that get worse over time. Both of them have limited hearing: Linda has cochlear implants and James has duel hearing aids.

Being blind meant that while rowing, they needed someone to steer their boat or row in a boat with other crew members. But with no sight and limited hearing, it’s not easy to follow another person’s stroke.

Everything changed when they met Bob Berry, whom the HTBS readers will remember is a rowing coach in Connecticut and the innovator of the Remote Coxswain. Bob has been featured on these pages before when we told the story of how he had coached the teenager Sofia Priebe, who is diagnosed with Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) at a very young age. LCA is a rare eye disease that can appear at birth or in an early stage of a child’s life and leads to a total loss of vision. Bob developed a ‘remote coxswain’ device, which allowed him to remotely steer Sofia’s single scull from a launch that followed her boat. The device also allowed her to race in a single scull at regattas in New England and in the same boat class as able-bodied athletes.

Last year, Linda and James met Bob at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Florida. Bob installed a Remote Coxswain on a double sculls that Harvard coach Harry Parker once gave him. ‘Once Harry learned I was coaching adaptive rowing, he was generous with used equipment and gave me the boat,’ Bob Berry told HTBS in a telephone interview from Sarasota. ‘I wish he was here to see the steering system at work.’

Bob let the Mumfords use the double sculls and began coaching them from a launch. Bob has a microphone with which he is in contact with James, who in turn has a microphone with which he is in contact with Linda.

They made great progress and their efforts caught the eye of several media outlets in Florida, which ran features on them, especially since Linda and James, now both in their mid-60s, decided to take part in the 11th annual Sarasota Invitational Regatta (SIR) on 21-23 February. The regatta is hosted by the Sarasota County Rowing Club with support from Benderson Development and Suncoast Aquatic Nature Center Associates, Inc. (SANCA).

In time for the regatta, more than 1,600 rowers – youth, masters and adaptive crews from the Northeast, South and Midwest – had gathered to take part in this three-day event at this state-of-the-art rowing venue with an eight-lane course.

A couple of months before the regatta, a friend of Bob Berry, Bob Whitford, who is the director of facilities and operation at Nathan Benderson Park and an old rower and rowing advocate, contacted Norm Thetford, SIR’s director, to ask if Linda and James could race in the able-bodied mixed double event using Bob’s remote-controlled steering system. Thetford said yes.

However, then there was a fly in the ointment.

On the morning of Linda and James’s 1,500-metre race, Thetford had changed his mind. He contacted Whitford to tell him that he was under the impression that only one in the Linda/James crew was blind and that they would race in the so-called inclusive event where one rower is blind and the other is sighted. Thetford added that he had never heard of the Remote Coxswain system. Thetford said that if Linda and James decided to race in the able-bodied mixed double event with the Remote Coxswain, ‘they would not be able to medal due to them having an “unfair advantage”,’ Bob said. ‘I can’t understand his judgement call that morning,’ he added.

Thetford gave the Mumfords the option to race later in the inclusion double sculls, which had all male entries, where they would be able to medal. ‘Linda and James opted to row in the mixed doubles to prove my steering system and prove that blind people can compete against others with vision,’ Bob said.

‘The disadvantage for Linda and James is they are hearing impaired. Linda can only hear James through a microphone that transmits to her cochlear implants and James can only hear me through a microphone attached to my collar. If anything, they have a real disadvantage of being blind, and any use of the rudder will technically slow them down. So where is the “unfair advantage” here?’ Bob asked.

‘It was very windy, and they got a bad start. When it was time to start rowing, James thought he was hearing “don’t row”. They lost approximately 15 seconds at the start. This was a real disadvantage,’ Bob said with frustration in his voice.

Strangely enough, the top modern speaker system with a loudspeaker at every start ponton was not used for the Mumfords’ race.

‘If the race starting official had used the speaker system instead of one single megaphone, Linda and James would have heard the “sit ready” and “row” commands,’ Bob said. ‘These are all lessons we need to pay close attention to – because while we take these senses for granted, Linda and James can’t do that.’

For an event which would like to see itself as, ‘one of the premier regattas to kick off the outdoor sprint racing season and is designated as a U.S. Rowing Nationally Designated Regatta’, the snafu with the speaker system and Regatta Director Norm Thetford’s unexpected U-turn regarding the use of Bob’s remote device for the Mumfords’ race would call that claim into question.

On top of that, the regatta organising club, Sarasota County RC, a masters-only rowing club located at Blackburn Point in Osprey, Florida, is also home to the Sarasota Adaptive Rowing Program (SARP), which mission, according to the programme’s website, ‘is to provide disabled veterans and other disabled athletes with year ‘round opportunities to build physical fitness, self-esteem and community connections through rowing’.

Furthermore, one of SARP’s two primary strategic goals is to ‘provide disabled athletes with the opportunity to learn, practice and compete in the sport of rowing in a safe, supportive and accessible environment with professional coaching and appropriate equipment and facilities.’

The only way to see how SIR acted in the case of Linda and James Mumford is that the regatta miserably failed to support these two blind and deaf master rowers in their endevour to race on equal terms against fellow able-bodied rowers. SIR Director Norm Thetford showed both lack of good judgment and tact. What a shame.

3 March 2020

By Greg Denieffe

My collection of rowing books can be split into four sections: Irish, Professional rowing and sculling, English, and Other (American and Australian with a few Dutch and German). They are mainly history related, with a few on the technical aspect of the sport. One day I hope to have read them all. I recently updated my bibliography of books on Irish rowing and as well as the main list of books/booklets, it now includes a list of books that contain substantial chapters on the topic and a separate section of articles published in local historical journals. You can find the lists on the Irish Rowing Archive website under the heading ‘List of Books on Irish Rowing’ or follow these links: Books and Booklets and Journal Articles.

The 2010s have seen a significant number of publications on Irish rowing roll of the presses; 12 of the 39 books/booklets on the main list have been published in the last 10 years, nearly as many as were published between 1893 and 1992.

Last October, Mercier Press published an Irish rowing book that became a bestseller. Kieran McCarthy’s book, Something in the Water, tells the story of Skibbereen Rowing Club, which at less than 50 years in existence (founded 1970) has become the most successful rowing club in the country, producing Olympic medallists and world champions and rising to the top of the league table of Irish Championship winners.

As Mercier Press says in their release publicity: “It is the characters involved in the club, the coaches, members and the athletes themselves, who come together to make Skibbereen Rowing Club what it is.

Something in the Water reveals what goes on behind the scenes to create an environment that allows locals to excel on the national and international stages. The story is told through the people and families involved, showing how relatable they are to people around the country.”

The book was one of six shortlisted for the Bord Gáis Energy Sports Book of the Year at the 2019 An Post Irish Book Awards and it is easy to see why. It has been reviewed across all platforms of the MSM, but I particularly like this short piece from Cathal Dennehy of the Irish Independent on 21 December:

“A book that simply had to be written about a tiny pocket of our country that can outperform many large nations – this journey through the inner workings of Skibbereen Rowing Club was always going to be worth the admission fee.

That’s especially true here due to McCarthy’s top-class writing, which weaves together the stories of head coach Dominic Casey, the O’Donovan brothers and various others whose names don’t ring as familiar a bell.

This is the definitive word – and a delightful read – on one of Ireland’s great sporting institutions.”

I found the near 300-page experience a delight and quite understand that a book of this sort, written for rowers and non-rowers alike, has to include some housekeeping on the semantics of the sport. Like all good reads, as I neared the end, I wished that it could continue for a few more chapters. I read fewer pages each night trying to prolong the experience of looking forward to my bedtime story. And, then one night between Christmas and New Year, I landed on the final chapter, ‘Coach Casey’, and that sent me scurrying back in time. Back to 1981 in particular and the early 80s in general. For not only does this chapter deal with Casey the coach, but it also deals with Casey the rower and how our paths crossed as Skibbereen took a major step to recognition by the more established clubs.

In his youth, Dominic Casey played a bit of Gaelic football, but that changed in 1977 when he called into Skibbereen Rowing Club on his way home from GAA training and got bitten by the rowing bug. By 1980, he was in a settled crew, a novice four, that also contained his brother Stephen, Teddy O’Donovan (father and early coach to Garry and Paul), Lar Harrington and coxed by Liam Lupton. They had a good season, winning their Novice Pot at Cork and finishing fourth at the Irish Championships. The following year, they raced Senior C, and so did I for Carlow. I was 19 years old, and, at 60 kilos, the second heaviest in the crew. We were fast starters and loved a tailwind.

There were several competitive Senior C fours around in ’81. We won our home Head of the River, The Barrow Fours, in February, beating a Queen’s University, Belfast, crew by four seconds. The following week they beat us on the Lagan in Belfast. At our first regatta, Clonmel, we rowed Senior B and beat the Skibb boys, losing to the hosts in the final. In May, we all headed to Dublin’s Islandbridge to race at Trinity Regatta. And so, to chapter 22 of Something in the Water:

“Dominic was still out of breath. He was sitting in the boat, his heart thumping in his chest and his mind struggling to comprehend what had just happened. A man on the bank helped join the dots.

I never thought I’d see the day that Skibbereen would beat Queen’s, he shouted.

It clicked. We won. WE WON!

This was their highlight.

The Trinity Regatta is a special day in the calendar, an annual regatta first held in 1886 at Islandbridge, on the Liffey River. It’s two-lane racing at its finest. One boat against another.

In the opening heat of the Senior C fours in May 1981 Skibbereen were two lengths down on UCD [University College, Dublin] early on and by the halfway mark they were still one and a half lengths back. But they dragged themselves back into contention and came up with a stunning three-quarter-length win. In their next race Carlow built up a one-length lead, but a powerful last 200 metres pushed Skibb over the line first.

It was a battle with the mighty Queen’s University, one of the country’s established powers in the final. The aristocrats against the farmers. Skibb won by three lengths. That was a big win. Up to then, they had no idea of where they stood. It showed them that they were good enough. Back home in Skibb, Nuala [Lupton, Liam’s mother and winner of Skibbereen’s first Irish championship in 1976] invited them all around to her home for a celebratory dinner. This win was worth savouring.”

At the end of the 1981 season, Dominic Casey turned to sculling and once he mastered the technique, he rose through the ranks, winning eight Irish Championships between 1983 and 1988. Along the way, he developed a rivalry with my fellow Carlovian, Seamus Keating. Over three pages, McCarthy tells the story of their relationship – fierce on the water but friendly off it. Both were in the Intermediate grade in 1983 and the championship final was a typical fly-and-die by Keating who knew that to stand a chance of beating Casey he would need clear water coming into the final 500m. With Casey two lengths astern at that point, the race looked done and dusted. Not so. A huge effort, physically and mentally, by the Skibb sculler saw him catch and then pass Keating to take the ‘pot’, Skibbereen’s second Irish Championship.

I contacted Seamus, AKA ‘Buster’, to see if he knew about his new-found fame and he gave me his version of Casey v Keating – 1983 Intermediate (combined Senior B and C) Championship final and beyond:

“I could always hold him off to the 1,500m mark; then would come the same finish that he gave the boys [the O’Donovan brothers]. The Intermediate Championships in Athlone were over 1,800m, and I was a complete underdog. I was at my fittest and after getting to the final, I thought I was in with a chance. It was the last race of the day and all the safety launches were coming down behind the race. Every one of them was shouting for Buster. But again, he got me in the last 500m.

Two weeks later, we did the end of season trip to Killarney/Bantry/Skibbereen; Whitney, Shaw [RIP], Stix Hurley and me. On day one, we had a piss-up in Killarney. I hammered Casey over 500m in Bantry followed by a bigger piss-up. I woke up the next morning and drank a large bottle of Smithwick’s Ale that I found outside the tent. We drove to Skibbereen where we managed to get into a pub at 11 A.M. and drank two pints of lager before making our way down to the regatta. I was yahooing on the way to the start; I had Casey on one side and another pretty fast Skibbereen sculler on the other. I intended to give it hell with the expectation of not getting far before capsizing. To my amazement, I got three lengths off the start and kept going; with it being 1,200m I managed to win. Stix was heard to say: Is Buster winning, no way, I think I’ll go back sculling myself.  We then headed to the nearest pub and continued to get blotto. Eventually getting thrown out for yahooing too much about beating Casey.”

We had a great mutual respect and friendship over our years of rivalry. That’s a true version.”

You can read an extract (prologue and chapter 1) of Something in the Water by following this link and buy a copy on Rowing Ireland’s shop page, ‘Green Blades’.

4 March 2020

By William O’Chee

The recent King’s Cup event at the 2019 Henley Royal Regatta was a reminder of the many rowers who served in the armed forces of Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand, America, and Germany.

With no First World War veterans still living, many of their stories have sadly been lost. However, a letter has recently been uncovered in an archive in Oxford University which sheds light on the life of one such man, Herbert Thompson.

Joseph Herbert Thompson was one of the first intakes of discharged servicemen to enter Brasenose College at Oxford after the First World War. He had gone straight from Manchester Grammar School to the Royal Navy in 1916, serving as a fighter pilot with the Royal Naval Air Service.

Rowing came to a complete halt in Oxford in the First World War. Many of its past oarsmen were also killed, depriving the University and its constituent colleges of the continuity needed to restart their rowing programmes. Brasenose College was one of these.

The year after returning to England, Thompson was elected Captain of the Brasenose College Boat Club, and did much to restore its prowess by enlisting legendary 1890s stroke, C.W. “Bill” Wace to coach. Kent was a four time winner of the Grand and also a winner of the Stewards’.

In a letter to the College in 1967, he recounted how his squadron were seconded to assist the Royal Flying Corps in their battles with Baron von Richthofen’s “Travelling Circus” in 1917. He also told how he shot down one of its aces, Hans Waldhausen.

The letter reads:

…Robert S[hackleton] flattered me by telling me he’d heard a broadcast on 27th September when the BBC got me to do a 3 1⁄2 min in “Today” on the 50th anniversary of the evening when, as a boy of 19, I shot down a German “ace (horrid word). The man, Waldhausen, might well have been the prototype of the “hero” of the recent popular reconstruction of World War I air combat, the film “Blue Max” – for his case was an exact parallel of that “hero”.

 …I belonged to a Naval Squadron of fighter pilots who had been lent lock, stock and barrel to assist the RFC, who were hard pressed by Richtofen [Richthofen]. Waldhausen had recently belonged to Richtofen’s [Richthofen’s] Travelling Circus, hence his eminence.…

After leaving Oxford, Herbert Thompson was initially employed as a teacher at the Imperial College School, before joining the Indian Civil Service. He was a member of the I.C.S. until Indian Independence, rising to be Resident in Lahore and becoming Sir Herbert Thompson CIE.

Upon his return to England, Thompson immediately volunteered to coach the Brasenose College Boat Club alongside the renowned Gully Nickalls. He was also recruited by H.V. Hodson, who had also come out of the I.C.S., to become the rowing correspondent for The Sunday Times.

True to the ethos of his College, he was without affectation despite his considerable achievements, and was known to all in the College Boat Club as ‘Tommo’ or ‘Tommy’.

Fighter pilot, passionate rower, colonial administrator, newspaper correspondent and genial friend, Sir Herbert Thompson CIE exemplified how to live an extraordinary life. More than 100 years after his encounter in the skies above France, his story is none the worse for the passage of time.

The author would like to acknowledge the generous assistance of Helen Sumping and Laura Hackett at the archives of Brasenose College, Oxford. A version of this article was originally published on the blog of the Brasenose College archives.

5 Mars 2020

By Tim Koch

On the weekend of 29 February – 1 March, rowers from Cambridge University were busy on the Thames and on the Cam. Tim Koch’s view of all of this was restricted to the area around Hammersmith Bridge but, fortunately, the internet has a wider reach.

Apparently, the cities of Oxford and Cambridge are each homes to institutions of higher education of some kind. However, HTBS thinks that they are more famous for their rowing. The popularity of the sport at both places is strange as the Cam at Cambridge and the Isis at Oxford are both narrow and winding rivers and are particularly unsuitable for side-by-side boat racing. Fortunately, necessity is the mother, father and, occasionally, mad uncle of invention and some long since graduated students (probably with Thirds) turned this negative into a positive when they invented ‘bump’ racing.

In ‘bumps’, run over four or five days, divisions of crews of similar ability chase each other in single file, each trying to catch the boat in front without being caught by the boat behind. Once there is physical contact or overlap, usually both boats withdraw from the race and pull into the side. For the next day’s race they will then swap places in the starting order. At Oxford and Cambridge, there are two sets of intra-university ‘bumping races’ for eights every year, one in early spring and one in early summer. At Cambridge, these are called ‘Lents’ and ‘Mays’ respectively, while at Oxford they are known as ‘Torpids’ and ‘Summer Eights’ or ‘Eights Week’. See my report from Eights Week 2016 for a fuller explanation.

Spring’s Torpids and Lents are both more low key than their summer equivalents; firstly because the weather is often not conducive to spectating, secondly because exams are not yet over, and thirdly because the standard is lower as many of the best rowers not taking part because they are busy training with the university boat clubs in an attempt to earn a place in a Blue Boat for Boat Race Day.

This year, Oxford’s Torpids were due to be run from 26 to 29 February but, because of the recent prolonged heavy rainfall, they have been rescheduled as a 2-day event for 12-13 March. The Cam is less prone to flooding than the Isis so Cambridge’s Lents took place as planned on 25 – 29 February.

The above shows the results for Men’s Division 1 in the 2020 Lents. On the left is the finishing order for 2019, on the right is the finishing order for 2020. Thus, Caius finished ‘Head of the River’ last year but this year were ‘bumped’ on day one by Lady Margaret, did not get bumped or make a bump on days two and three (‘rowed over’), and were bumped by Pembroke on day four. Lady Margaret bumped Caius on day one and rowed over for the remaining three days, thus finishing ‘Head’. It was a bad Lents for Christ’s who started 9th and finishing 13th as they were bumped every day, earning ‘spoons’. Conversely, Magdalene had a good time, bumping every day to rise from 14th to 10th, earning ‘blades’. The full men’s results are here.

At the top of Women’s Division One, Downing did exceptionally well to raise three places, bumping Emmanuel, Jesus and Newnham to go ‘Head’. It was ‘spoons’ for First and Third (Trinity College) and for Girton, while it was ‘blades’ for Caius and for Churchill. Full women’s results are here.

The Cambridge student newspaper Varsity produced a daily summary of the racing. Links to their reports are below, together with a highlight of each day’s weather.

Day 1: Hail. https://www.varsity.co.uk/sport/18829

Day 2: Sunshine. https://www.varsity.co.uk/sport/18839

Day 3: Snow. https://www.varsity.co.uk/sport/18853

Day 4: Rain. https://www.varsity.co.uk/sport/18859

Day 5: 45mph winds. https://www.varsity.co.uk/sport/18864

During the time that the members of the college boat clubs had been battling it out on the Cam, those in the University Boat Club were 70 miles away, training for Boat Race Day on the Thames Tideway. On Sunday, 1 March, the probable Cambridge crew raced Oxford Brookes (OBUBC) in one of the pre-Boat Race fixtures, races when top British and foreign crews go against potential Oxford and Cambridge crews over parts of the Putney to Mortlake course. I was not able to follow last Sunday’s events on the water but an edited official report is below in bold italics and the Cambridge crew is listed here.

Brookes won the coin toss and chose to race on the Surrey station… By the time the crews reached the Town Buoy (aka The Black Buoy), both crews had received several warnings, and there had been multiple blade clashes. Brookes had come out of the clashes better off and taken a 1/3 length lead. Cambridge closed this gap by Fulham Football Club and were starting to draw level with Umpire Winckless ordering both crews to hold their lines. Following another blade clash just before the Milepost, Brookes took advantage again taking ½ length lead which they extended to clear water by Hammersmith Bridge and continued to move away to a 2-length margin when the first piece ended at Chiswick Steps.

In between the two pieces, the coaches and Umpire Winckless assessed the unusual tidal conditions and agreed to proceed with the second piece with the two crews remaining on their same stations….

The crews spun round to start the second piece at Chiswick Steps and….  Cambridge went off the start much more aggressively. Brookes intrusive steering earned them multiple stern warnings from the Umpire whilst they maintained ½ length lead on the approach to Barnes Bridge. However, Cambridge’s obvious determination to get revenge paid off as they took the lead under the bridge.

With Winckless continuing to warn both crews, it was all to play for in the final stages of the race and Cambridge’s lead was reduced to just a canvas by Dukes Meadow. Brookes put on a final push which Cambridge just could not match, and moved away to a victory of just 1/4 length at the Boat Race finish line just before Chiswick Bridge.

Unfortunately, it is difficult to compare the Brookes – Cambridge fixtures of 1 March with the Brookes – Oxford fixtures of 22 February.

The two OBUBC – OUBC races were run from the start (or near to it) to St Paul’s School in ‘challenging conditions’ that favoured the Surrey station. Thus, Oxford on Surrey won the first piece by 1 1/4 lengths, Brookes on Surrey won the second piece by 2 lengths.

The two OBUBC – CUBC races over the first and second halves of the full course were a fairer test of abilities. Brookes won both but it would be reasonable to judge Cambridge by their best race, the second one, which they lost by 1/4 length.

Brookes would probably be the victor in a fair race against either Blue Boat but both Oxford and Cambridge would quite possibly still be overlapping the boys in burgundy at the finish. It could be concluded from all this that the two Oxbridge crews are fairly evenly matched. This bodes well for a good race on the day that counts, 29 March, an event that may prove the old adage that a boat race is when two crews compete against each other until one decides that it cannot win.

6 March 2020

By Chris Dodd

 Chris Dodd has some ‘randan’ thoughts…

Tunnel vision
To the Putney Society for an evening on how rowing took root (and route) here in the 19th century. It was worth attending for two revelations – that is, revelations to me.

The first came from Philip Evison who was once employed in an engineering works in Brewhouse Lane, downstream of Putney Bridge. Thirty years ago he wrote a history of the lane and tuned into rumours that there was once a nunnery, a women’s prison or a treadmill on the site, or perhaps all three. He cites G W C Green’s book, The Story of Wandsworth and Putney, as alleging that the nunnery may have been connected to the bishop’s palace across the river by a tunnel under the Thames. Another rumour connected the brewery to St Mary’s Church by a passage for thirsty clergy or prayer-full brewers.

Evison called for corroborative evidence at the time, to no avail. However, Putney is now a huge construction site for London’s new sewer, so perhaps the Tideway tunnel will lead to some long forgotten secrets. And a reminder to the tunnel borers – don’t forget to put the University Stone back when you have finished, otherwise the Boat Race won’t know where to start.

Diamonds forever
My second revelation came from Chris Baillieu, who told of his surprise after winning the Diamond Sculls at Henley in 1981. The prizes were given by the film star Princess Grace of Monaco whose brother Jack ‘Kell’ Kelly won the Diamonds in 1947 and 1949 and whose father Jack Senior was refused entry for the Diamonds in 1920. She was accompanied at the regatta by her brother and his wife, and her two younger children.

In the 1940s, as today, winners were presented with a pineapple cup, but from 1975 to 1989 the regatta stopped awarding pineapples. Instead, Chris received a replica of the brooch in the regatta’s the trophy box, being a pair of crossed silver oars with a wreath at the centre, but minus the single small diamond that hangs from the centre of the wreath.

In 1981, Chris noticed that Kell’s wife Sandra was wearing a Diamonds brooch – a replica of the one in the box. She had inherited it from Kell’s mother Margaret who was given it by Jack Senior to commemorate Jack Junior’s wins in the 1940s. But the difference between the brooch in the box and the Kelly brooch was that Sandra’s diamond is as big as the Ritz.

Lords and faggots
To the All-Party Parliamentary Rowing Group charity dinner at the Cholmondeley Room and the House of Lords Terrace, where the Rt Hon Lord Thomas of Gresford OBE QC was mein host, the Row UK Foundation of Leeds the charity, and Jess Eddie and Paul Bennett among the speakers. Jess scored a hit by identifying 10 things Lords and Rowers enjoy in common, examples being the River Thames, exercising leadership and small shouty people who maintain discipline. And, she added, you can’t set foot around Caversham Lake or the Palace of Westminster without tripping over a species too numerous – yes, those blessed Etonians. I went home with an empty pocket but a stomach-full of excellent pork faggot and Black Forest cherry compote, and the wit of Jess in my ears.

Janousek on the medal podium
To the Rumour Mill, where wild talk has it that the River & Rowing Museum is staging a pre-Olympic forum on how GB rowing returned to the medal podium after the post-1948 doldrums, starring Bob Janousek and Sir George Cox. Mark the afternoon of Sunday 19 July in your diary, and watch this space.

A nifty load of cock
To the Intelligencer, where I read that the Seattle rowing twins Duncan and Griffin have sold their start-up Nifty Gateway to Gemini, a company owned by rowing twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (the Winklevi) who were briefly mates with Mark Zuckerberg at Harvard before suing him over Facebook (see The Social Network, the movie) and becoming Bitcoin billionaires.

Dunc and Griff trade in nifties. The twins started Nifty Gateway to mainstream what had been a highly technical subculture by, among other things, allowing civilians to buy nifties (on the Nifty Gateway website) with credit cards. A nifty, according to Dunc, is a ‘fundamentally better digital good’ – helpful if you know what a digital good is. A digital good is a virtual object made of ones and zeros that you can see only when it’s rendered onscreen. Based on the same blockchain technology as cryptocurrency, nifties are a departure from that. Short for NFTs (non-fungible tokens), they are unique digital objects you can buy, own, and sell.

So that’s all clear, then.

When they sold their one-year-old company to Gemini last summer, the twins’ lives underwent a dizzying change. They moved from a small apartment in San Francisco to a spacious two-bedroom in Manhattan. ‘It’s a canonical Soho loft,’ Dunc told the Intelligencer, gesturing at the high ceilings, scuffed wide-plank floors, and dangling Edison bulbs in the living room. ‘I love the word canonical,’ he added.

I hope the boys will find happiness there in their Nifty Gateway apartment that they have christened ‘Cockfosters’ after their family name, Cock Foster. But I have news for Dunc and Griff. Their New York pad gets its name from the un-nifty and un-canonical Tube station at the end of the Piccadilly line in the hinterland of north London.

7 March 2020

By Göran R Buckhorn

Last week, HTBS wrote that playwright Ed Waugh – on these pages renowned for his play Hadaway Harry about the Tyneside professional oarsman Harry Clasper – has a new play coming to London in April. Also this play, Carrying David, is about a sport, boxing. Carrying David is the dramatic story of how the terminally ill David McCrory inspired his bother Glenn to become the cruiserweight champion of the world.

However, the theatre world is not yet done with Harry Clasper and Hadaway Harry. The other day, HTBS was reached by the news that Hadaway Harry is coming back to London this summer. And again, it’s London Rowing Club, which set up two performances of the play in February 2017, who will host Jamie Brown as Harry Clasper. About actor Brown, Chris Dodd wrote: ‘He is a solo tour-de-force, bringing the rawness of the working class life in Newcastle and the relentless training round the clock to life. When it comes to racing the London Championship Course of 4 1/4 miles from Putney to Mortlake, he has you on the edge of your seat…’

Hadaway Harry will be performed at London RC on Tuesday, 16 June, at 7:30 p.m. and Wednesday, 17 June, at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Book your tickets here.

8 March 2020

By Tim Koch

Tim Koch suspends patriarchal power structures and gender norms for 24 hours (you’re welcome) to mark International Women’s Day 2020 on 8 March with a selection of appropriate rowing pictures from the online photo archive of the State Library of South Australia (SLSA).

2020 is to be marked as the centenary of women’s rowing in Australia. As some of the above pictures prove, women’s rowing in the country has been thriving for much longer than just a hundred years, but the Australian Ladies’ Rowing Council was established in 1920, the same year that the prestigious Interstate Championships put on its first event for women, the coxed fours.

The Wikipedia page, Women’s rowing in Australia, holds that:

During the 1890s, cricket and rowing two of the most popular competitive sports for women in Australia… The first recorded (Australian) women’s rowing club was the Albert Park Ladies’ Rowing Club, formed in 1907 (in Melbourne), with similar clubs formed in Brisbane in 1908 (the Brisbane LRC), Sydney in 1909 (the Western Suburbs LRC), and Tasmania in 1912 (the Buckingham LRC and the Sandy Bay LRC). 

Referencing Marion K. Stell, Half the Race, A History of Australian Women in Sport (1991), the page continues:

During that time period, rowing was considered an acceptable sport for women to participate in, and was one of the first sports in which women were required to practise daily in order to excel at it.

Rebecca Caroe has marked the Centenary with one of her RowingChat podcasts, talking to Australian Olympian, Margot Foster.

The timestamps to the above programme are:

03:00 Background and history.
05:00 The Centenary and the Interstate Rowing Regatta.
09:00 The Queens Cup
12:20 Women in Sport in Australia.
16:00 History book by Judy Buckrich.
17:50 The Seoul Olympics.
19:15 Margot’s story of injustice in selection.

*Apologies to ‘Men At Work’.

9 March 2020

By Göran R Buckhorn

The other day, it was announced that renowned American actor – but less known as a director – George Clooney has signed up to direct the film The Boys in the Boat. The film is based on Daniel James Brown’s famous book with the same title. The book was published in 2013 and made a real splash in the publishing world when it became a must-read book not only for rowers but also among non-rowers.

The website Observer.com received the news about Clooney directly from MGM, which is partnering with Lantern Entertainment to make the movie. Lantern acquired the assets of The Weinstein Company which went bankrupt.

‘The themes, characterizations and settings make it a story meant to be experienced on the big screen, and we are honored to be part of bringing it to audiences around the world,’ MGM Motion Picture Group president Jonathan Glickman said when the partnership between the two studios was first announced in 2018.

Clooney, who has six films under his belt as a director, will also produce The Boys in the Boat together with Andy Mitchell, Milos Brajovic, Kerry Roster and Grant Heslov.

‘Collaborating with MGM on Lantern Entertainment’s first production reinforces our commitment to foster productive partnerships anchored by powerful stories we are passionate about,’ Lantern co-presidents Mitchell and Brajovic told Observer.

The screenplay has been written by Mark L. Smith.

The film has been longtime in the making. The Weinstein Company bought the film rights even before the book about The Boys was printed. At an early stage, the Weinstein Company got the British actor and director Kenneth Branagh to agree to direct the movie. Branagh later decided not to direct The Boys.

At this point, there is no word on when the film will be released.

10 March 2020

By Philip Kuepper

The rowers rose
with the waves,
then settled in the slough,
their blades held midair,
positioned to meet
the next wave.
How like mixing spoons they appeared,
folding, over and over, the batter
of water, the froth
like egg whites, so airy a foundation,
to hold together the souffle of the moment.

(18 February 2020)