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March 9, 2022 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Crew

The canoe was a principal means of travel in ancient Hawaiʻi.  Canoes were used for inter-village coastal and interisland travel, while trails within the ahupuaʻa provided access between the uplands and the coast.

The ancient Hawaiians also participated in canoe racing. When they wished to indulge this passion (including betting on the races,) people selected a strong crew of men to pull their racing canoes.

If the canoe was of the kind called the kioloa (a sharp and narrow canoe, made expressly for racing) there might be only one man to paddle it, but if it was a large canoe, there might be two, three or a large number of paddlers, according to the size of the canoe.

“The racing canoes paddled far out to sea – some, however, stayed close to the land (to act as judges, or merely perhaps as spectators), and then they pulled for the land, and if they touched the beach at the same time it was a dead heat; but if a canoe reached the shore first it was the victor, and great would be the exultation of the men who won, and the sorrow of those who lost their property.” (Malo)

Today, canoe racing continues.  “Canoe paddling is one of the things that our ancestors did, and a lot of people look at it as something they can do that is truly Hawaiian,” says Oʻahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association president Luana Froiseth.

During races, canoes are manned by six paddlers at a time, each with a specific duty. Practices are designed for the novice paddler to understand the fundamentals of paddle form and stroke cadence.  Races seasons include sprint and long distance. (Honolulu)

But this story is not about paddling; this is about rowing.

Here, a handful of Hawaiʻi high schoolers had hopes of representing Hawaiʻi and the US in the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

Their boat (called a ‘shell’) was long, narrow and broadly semi-circular in cross-section in order to reduce drag to a minimum. In the rear is the coxswain (cox,) and ahead of him are four sweep rowers (different races have different numbers in the crew.)

The sweep rower sits facing toward the stern; each rower has one oar fixed in an oarlock, held with both hands (as opposed to sculling where each rower has two oars (or sculls,) one in each hand.)

In sweep or sweep-oar rowing, each rower is referred to either as port or starboard, depending on which side of the boat the rower’s oar extends to; sometimes the port side is referred to as stroke side and the starboard side as bow side.

Back in the 1960s, four Hawaiʻi high schools — ʻIolani, Punahou, Kaimuki and McKinley — had crew teams. The expense of the shell, lack of coaches and other obstacles deterred most schools from rowing. (Today, no Hawaii high school offers crew as a competitive sport.)  (ʻIolani)

The ʻIolani Red Raiders (today it’s just Raiders) captured the ILH rowing crown in both heavy- and lightweight divisions for four consecutive years (1962 to 1965.)

Once, ʻIolani practiced with a visiting team from New Zealand, which had stopped in Hawaiʻi on its way to the Royal Henley Regatta in England. The New Zealanders were humbled after ʻIolani beat them soundly in some practice races.

New Zealand was so shaken by their defeat they considered abandoning Henley and returning home. But they journeyed on to England and won the four-oared event, spreading the word about those boys in Hawaii. (ʻIolani)

Then, the fateful day …

ʻIolani received an official invitation to compete in the 1964 Olympic Trials and was encouraged to participate.  The event was held at Orchard Beach Lagoon, adjacent to the New York Athletic Club boathouse.

Their shell was badly handled during shipping and arrived in poor shape. In addition, the crew also arrived with problems.

Several contracted upper respiratory infections immediately upon arrival.  They had to slack off on their training to give the crew a chance to recover and the boat repairs a chance to set. (It is hard to row and bail!) Things were not looking good.  (Rizzuto)

“To reach the finals, we had to win a trial race (known in rowing as a “repechage.”) To do that, we had to beat the New York Athletic Club and the Penn Athletic Club. Those were all former college oarsmen and several had competed in the Olympics in the past. One of the boats was stroked by a former Olympic gold medalist.” (Rizzuto)

“Needless to say, we made it to the finals after a very hard-fought race.”  (Rizzuto)

Rowing for ʻIolani and representing Hawaiʻi were: Bow Oar – Ric Vogelsang ’64; Number 2 Oar – David Mather; Number 3 Oar – Donald MacKay ’64; Stroke – Charles Frazer ’64; Coxswain Ronald Reynolds ’64 and Alternates Bruce Facer ’64 and John Leeper ’65.  (ʻIolani)

“We stayed competitive in the finals for the first mile. With a quarter mile to go, all of the outside crews ran into eddies and back currents and it was like hitting a wall. Lanes three and four jumped way out in front and the rest of us were left to battle for respect.”  (Rizzuto)

Their coach was Jim Rizzuto, member of the varsity crew at Rutgers University from 1957 to 1960. (He later taught at Hawaiʻi Preparatory Academy and was one of my Math teachers, there.)

ʻIolani became the first high school crew to reach the finals in US Olympic Rowing competition. ʻIolani failed to win the Olympic berth, finishing sixth with a time of 6:55.4 in the Trials finals, which were won by Harvard, perennial powerhouse in crew, in 6:30.5.  (ʻIolani)

Here’s a link to the 1964 Olympic Eights Trials (not ʻIolani and not their crew size – but a race in the same place at the same time:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpdOP-k6PUU

In 1986 the State of Hawaiʻi designated outrigger canoe paddling as the State’s official team sport.  Outrigger canoe paddling became a State-sanctioned high school sport in 2002.

© 2022 Hoʻokuleana LLC

 

Filed Under: General, Schools Tagged With: Hawaii, Oahu, Ala Wai, Crew, Olympics

April 13, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Myrtle Boat Club

Throughout the years of late-prehistory, AD 1400s – 1700s, and through much of the 1800s, the canoe was a principal means of travel in ancient Hawaiʻi. Canoes were used for interisland and inter-village coastal travel.

Most permanent villages initially were near the ocean and at sheltered beaches, which provided access to good fishing grounds, as well as facilitating convenient canoe travel.

The ancient Hawaiians also participated in canoe racing. When they wished to indulge this passion (including betting on the races,) people selected a strong crew of men to pull their racing canoes.

If the canoe was of the kind called the kioloa (a sharp and narrow canoe, made expressly for racing) there might be only one man to paddle it, but if it was a large canoe, there might be two, three or a large number of paddlers, according to the size of the canoe.

“The racing canoes paddled far out to sea – some, however, stayed close to the land (to act as judges, or merely perhaps as spectators), and then they pulled for the land, and if they touched the beach at the same time it was a dead heat; …”

“… but if a canoe reached the shore first it was the victor, and great would be the exultation of the men who won, and the sorrow of those who lost their property.” (Malo)

Then, another form of racing, rowing, debuted in Hawai‘i in the late-1860s. (Honolulu Rowing Club)

An early account of competitive rowing appeared in the December 16, 1871, issue of the Pacific Commercial Advertiser: “There was a race between two-oared boats, of which four were entered, Young America the winner … there was splendid rowing exhibited, and the winners became such by purely hard work.”

King Kalākaua’s birthday on November 16th, 1875 marked Hawai‘i’s first regatta with extensive rowing competition. The King, a rowing buff, viewed the event from his yacht along with other members of his royal family.

There were aquatic sports, including five-oared whaleboat races, canoe races, yacht races, and swimming. Capping the day were spectators who climbed greased poles extending over the water. (Honolulu Rowing Club)

“The Myrtle Rowing Club is the first boat club ever organized in this city, we believe. Last February some of the most energetic young gentlemen in town entered into the project of getting up the club, and it is now in a thriving condition.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 7, 1883)

“At present they number only ten, their ages vary from 16 to 22 years, yet, being very fond of boating they have built a boat house and purchased a four-oared barge, and a pair-oared shell. Unfortunately they have contracted a little debt, which it is at present out of their means to pay.”

“They are not starting their club with too much enthusiasm, and intention of letting their ardor cool down, for they intend to stick to it; but they want a little public encouragement and some pecuniary assistance to enable them to purchase better boats, either here or on the Coast, a good four-oared racing boat and a good shell.”

“They cordially invite people down to their bout-house that they may see for themselves what sort of a start has been made; and, knowing the generous support that is always given in Honolulu to encourage young men in athletic exercises, I hope that my appeal in their behalf may not be in vain. I am Old Oarsman.” (Letter to Editor, Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 7, 1883)

“Every evening the members practice in the harbor, and a laudable spirit of enterprise is manifested in the manly sport of rowing. The club owns two boats, one of which was donated to the organization by Mr. George Ashley. They also have a neat boat house down on the Esplanade, with racks for oars and other necessaries. “

“The club deserves encouragement. There is not enough life and enterprising activity among the young men in sporting matters, as a general thing, in Honolulu, but the members of this club have taken the matter of rowing in hand with the evident intention of making the sport popular, and we are confident they wili succeed.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 7, 1883)

“It would be well if another rowing club could be organized to compete generously with the Myrtle Rowing Club. Competition in sporting matters, as well as in matters of business, always promotes and invigorates, when it is entered into with a friendly desire to excel. But whether another club is organized or not, the Myrtle Rowing Club is bound to succeed, for it is very judiciously managed and has the best wishes of the whole community. (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 7, 1883)

Other clubs formed; in 1890 the Healani Boat Club, with president WE Wall, and the Leilani Boat Club, headed by David Kawānanakoa, were formed. Two years later the first regatta at Pearl Harbor was held, all three clubs raced at Pearl Harbor. (Honolulu Rowing Club)

“Rowing is very popular, especially at Honolulu, where the Myrtle and the Healani Boat Clubs have for more than twenty years been rivals in four-oared shell, six-oared and pair-oared sliding seat barge rowing contests.”

“Regatta Day, the third Saturday in September, a legal holiday, is the important rowing carnival day, but races are also held on July 4, and at other times. Occasionally crews from the other islands or from the Pacific Coast participate in these races.” (Aloha Guide, 1915)

In the 1920s, there were five rowing clubs in Hawai‘i. The men’s clubs were Myrtle and Healani from Oahu and Hilo from the Big Island. The Oahu-based Kunalu and Honolulu were the two women’s clubs. Kunalu was coached by Healani, while the Honolulu Girls were affiliated with Myrtle. (Honolulu Rowing Club)

In 1957, the Interscholastic League of Honolulu added rowing to its list of sports. Five schools competed for the inaugural ILH title: ʻIolani, Kaimuki, Mid-Pacific, McKinley and Punahou.

In 1964, ʻIolani became the first high school team in the nation to race in the finals of the Olympic Trials. “To reach the finals, we had to win a trial race (known in rowing as a “repechage.”) To do that, we had to beat the New York Athletic Club and the Penn Athletic Club. Those were all former college oarsmen and several had competed in the Olympics in the past. One of the boats was stroked by a former Olympic gold medalist.” (Rizzuto)

“Needless to say, we made it to the finals after a very hard-fought race.” (Rizzuto) The Red Raiders four-man crew finished a respectable sixth place behind winner Harvard. Despite ʻIolani’s success, the ILH dropped rowing in 1966 due to a lack of teams. ʻIolani continued their program another nine years before the sport was dropped in 1975. (Honolulu Rowing Club)

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Healani Boat Club-formed in 1890 and was the only active rowing club during World War II
Healani Boat Club-formed in 1890 and was the only active rowing club during World War II

Filed Under: Economy, General, Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Hawaiian Traditions Tagged With: Hawaii, Kalakaua, Crew, King Kalakaua, Rowing, Myrtle Boat Club, Healani Boat Club, Leilani Boat Club

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