With the successful completion of the rowing infrastructure at Princeton, the PURA set about to establish what has become a tradition of support for the program that continues today. The Graduate Advisory Committee of the PURA (now the PURA Trustees) sought, and the Princeton Alumni Weekly heartily endorsed in the April 30, 1913 issue, dues from "loyal alumni" to support the annual expenses of the program so that "this sport at Princeton shall be conducted on an absolutely amateur basis."
The successes of Princeton rowing were immediate. The April 9, 1913 Princeton Alumni Weekly reported that a training table was established for freshmen and sophomores.
A training table for the freshman crew and for the sophomores who are rowing on the first and second varsity eights has been started at the University Dining Halls. The regular training table will start on April 16th at the Kenilworth, for all members of the first and second varsity eights. At that time the sophomores will change from the University Dining Halls to the Kenilworth, but the freshmen will continue at the commons for the rest of the season.On May 7, 1913, the Princeton Alumni Weekly noted the community support of the Princeton crew in its big race in Cambridge with Harvard and Penn and commented that the hospitality shown the crews was "a happy omen for the future of intercollegiate athletics."
The best wishes of all Princeton go with the varsity crew, who leave this Wednesday for their triangular race with Harvard and Pennsylvania on the Charles River at Cambridge. They will row over the course on Thursday and Friday, and the race will start at four o'clock Saturday. On Friday night the Princeton Alumni Association of New England will give its annual dinner, at which Dr. Spaeth, Director of Rowing, will speak, and Dr. Raycroft, Director of the Department of Physical Education, will also be a guest. It is especially gratifying to learn that the Princeton crew will be entertained in one of the Harvard dormitories,--a courtesy which Princeton has extended to its rowing guests since the sport was revived here. This will be the first time, we believe,--at least since college athletics became so strenuous,--that another college has treated its visiting rivals as real guests. It is a happy omen for the future of intercollegiate athletics.Perhaps inspired by the strong support of the program, and notwithstanding the loss of Theodore Clement Briggs 1914, Princeton's "best oar," Princeton prevailed over Harvard and Penn at Cambridge, and the 1913 rowing season was a "glorious success" as reported in the May 14, 1913 issue of the Princeton Alumni Weekly.Since generous hospitality is of course not at all inconsistent with a very keen desire to win,--and Princeton is mighty eager to win this race on the Charles. Our chances, however, whatever they were, are somewhat decreased by the loss of the best oar in the boat,--Briggs at No. 5, who had the misfortune to develop a sore palm. As soon as this was discovered, Dr. Spaeth, whose solicitude for the good condition of the oarsmen is well known, would not allow Briggs to continue rowing, and his hand, which is slightly improved…
Princeton's year of revival was summarized in a Philadelphia Public Ledger article entitled "Princeton's Wonderful Rise in the Rowing World," which was reprinted in the May 28, 1913 issue of the Princeton Alumni Weekly. Coach Spaeth, a professor of English and "one of the most learned men of the Tiger faculty," is described as the "best embodiment of the amateur rowing coach." Harvard is also praised for its hospitality in providing dorm rooms, a coaching launch, and other courtesies for the Princeton crew: "It would be a fine thing if the example set by Harvard were followed through the college world, not only in rowing, but in other sports as well."
Reunion: Class of 1910 in 1955
[1955 Photo - Seeley G. Mudd Library Archives]
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Additional Photo Circa 1910's
[1918 Photo - View along Dock]
[Seeley G. Mudd Library Archives]
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Additional Photo Circa 1910's
[1918 Photo - View across lake]
[Seeley G. Mudd Library Archives]
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Boathouse Renewal and the Shea Rowing Center
Thanks to the contributions of more than 800 rowing alumni, the boathouse is being entirely renovated in 1999-2000 and will be a part of the Shea Rowing Center for the use of Princeton rowers in the next millenium.
Related Articles: [Butler Papers] [PAW: 04/30/1913] [PAW: 05/14/1913] [PAW: 05/28/1913]
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