The Oxford and Cambridge Boat-Race, which was won by Oxford
last Saturday by three and a half lengths, was a memorable contest. It is seldom that the boats are level when more than throe-quarters of the course has been covered. The Cambridge crew were favourites, but in the last ten days of practice Oxford had improved out of all knowledge. Experts will always look back to their success as an example of extra- ordinary skill in coaching. They were the heaviest crew who have ever rowed, in the race, and it was a delicate matter to choose a stroke who would get all that was possible ont of the heavy men behind him and prevent them from falling into the , faults to which heavy men are peculiarly liable. This stroke was found in Mr. Bourne, a son of the well-known old Oxford Blue, Mr. G. C. Bourne. Mr. Stuart, the Cambridge stroke, has always made a point of rowing down his opponents at the start, and though these tactics have never succeeded at Henley, they have enabled him to win three races at Putney. This time, however, the Oxford crew were not to be caught in this way, and as they had a rather longer swing and greater lasting. power, those who followed the race knew which crew would win at the end of the first few minutes. Oxford had the particularly hard beginning to their stroke which has been traditionally required in English oarsmanship, and we suspect that Cambridge will have to cultivate it more carefully when they depend more on principles than on the exceptional personality of Mr. Stuart.
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