The Rives Boat Club’s fifth race was held on July 5, 1881 in Richmond, Virginia. Five crews competed: the Rives, the Appomattox Boat Club (average crew weight of 154 1/5 pounds) and the Cockade City Boat Club (“weight was not given”), both of Petersburg, the Olympic Boat Club of Richmond (average crew weight of 153 pounds) and the Rappahannock Boat Club of Fredericksburg (average crew weight of 133 4/5 pounds). The course raced was one and half miles long. The prize was the “French Challenge Cup” and four individual silver cups.
“This race did not come off until about 8 o’clock, and it was then so dark that the finish could not be witnessed by those who had borne the heat of the afternoon and remained until the end. After a false start at 7:45 P.M. the five crews got off finely at 7:58, the Rives crew leading, with the other four struggling for the second position. This state of affairs was maintained during the first two thirds of the race. In passing the mile stake the Rives were several lengths in advance of the other crews, while the Olympics showed themselves about two lengths ahead of the Cockade City crew, with the Appomattox a good fourth and the Rappahannocks trailing in the rear. The positions were held until the end, the Rives winning the race easily in 8:571/2, Olympics second, Cockade City third, Appomattox fourth, and Rappahannocks last. The winners were lustily cheered by their friends, while the Olympics, who had surpassed all expectations, were warmly applauded for their credible work.”
“This, I think, was the finest race the University crew ever rowed, for they drew the worst position on the river, and had to overcome the outside of a bend in the course about a half a mile from the start. The boat, however, was going so well at the bend that Mr. Redwood took his crew to the middle of the river, and his men had the satisfaction of seeing a very pretty race for the second place for the mile down to the finish. The Olympic crew had George Falconer, who coached Harvard’s varsity crew for many years, with them for nine weeks prior to this race; but the race turned out to be a fox chase so far as the University crew was concerned.” (Coach J. Redwood, Corks and Curls)
The Rives came in first with a time of 8:571/2, followed by the Olympic, the Cockade, the Appomattox, and the Rappahannock. The University crew beat second place Olympic by eight lengths.
The Crew: (average: 164 pounds)
Bow: Davies Coxe of Huntsville, Ala. (152 pounds)
No. 2: Patrick Cabell Massie of Massie’s Mills, Va. (170 pounds)
No. 3: George C. Graddy of Versailles, Ky. (184 pounds)
Stroke: Charles Lee Andrews, captain, of Baltimore, Md. (150 pounds)
Steering: John Redwood, coach, of Baltimore, Md. (123 pounds)
Newsletters, Programs, & Press
The Virginia Spectator Volume XXI | Abbreviated Pages about Rowing| Full Version via UVA and HathiTrust| October 1881