THIS WEEK IN BADGER HISTORY
1874
A tradition on the water
Men's crew (shown here in 1929) is the oldest sport at the University of Wisconsin, originating with the intramural rowing team in 1874.
Here are some other things you may not know about UW's crew team:
• The first boat house was completed in 1893, with building supported by the sale of $5 shares.
• Also in 1893, Fred Pabst made a large donation to help secure the University's first eight-oared paper
shell. Pabst, a former Great Lakes steamboat captain, eventually took over ownership of his father-in-law's
brewery, changing the name to the Pabst Brewery.
• An 1899 race became legendary when Wisconsin, which had been leading Penn for 3 ½ of the 4 miles of
the race course, was forced at the end of the race to swerve off-course to avoid hitting a strawberry crate
that had floated into its path. Wisconsin ended up losing the race by about five feet. The Badgers lost to
Penn in the same race the following year as well and were greeted at the end by the victors, who were
wearing strawberry crates on their heads.
• During the summer of 1914, UW's medical faculty and athletic council banned crew, declaring its fourmile races dangerous to the athletes' health. Discussion continued in the following years, with a three-mile
race proposed as a compromise. After World War I, when all athletics were discontinued, the athletic
council lifted the ban in 1921 and crew resumed.
• The crew team flew to Annapolis for a race in 1946, representing the first time a Badgers athletic team
had flown by plane.
74 » VARSITY
MAY 16, 2013
