January 2, 1923: Boat Club announces Coach Ten Eyck’s departure

On this day in 1923, the Christian Science Monitor reported that “For the first time in 12 years, the rowing crews of the Duluth Boat Club next season will not be coached by a Ten Eyck.” According to Duluth author Mike Cochran, Julius Barnes recruited James A. Ten Eyck to coach the Duluth Boat Club’s rowing squads in 1911, pulling him away from the University of Wisconsin in Madison; he had previously coached for Syracuse University—just as his father James E. Ten Eyck had done. His brother Edward H. “Ned” Ten Eyck was the first American to win the Diamond Sculls championship. Before Ten Eyck’s arrival, the Boat Club—active since 1886—had only achieved four rowing victories at junior events. Under Ten Eyck’s leadership—and with the assistance of his father and brother for some of the way—the Duluth Boat Club was phenomenal. According to Cochran, the Duluth squads “dominated the North-Western Rowing Association every year, with the exception of 1911 and 1920. Duluth won 43 national championship races and won the grand aggregate championship…five times. The Duluth Boat Club, at one time, held the record time for every event in the National Regatta. Some of the records are still unsurpassed.” While Duluth had a good year without a Ten Eyck at the helm in 1923, by 1926 the Club had dissolved. Read more about the Duluth Boat Club here.

Legendary rowing coach James A. Ten Eyck. (Image: Syracuse University)