It was interesting and gratifying to read Mike Smith's article on the refurbishment of the rowing Tank in the 2005 Newsletter, particularly as its installation and construction in early 1960 was one of several new ideas which as 1st VIII coach in 1960 and 1961 I was responsible for initiating.

It was somewhat saddening on one of my infrequent visits to Monkton a few years ago to see the Tank in a state of disrepair leading to the conclusion that it was long past its sell-by-date, a gimmick of an earlier era that was no longer of any use to the modern generation.

At the time it was built it was the latest technological innovation, not my design of course, but a smaller replica of a similar design which had been installed at Oxford University Boat Club and which I had used along with others in training for the 1958 Boat Race.

It was certainly a great all-weather addition to the clubs training facilities at the time, as I wrote in the April 1960 Monktonian (page 449): "Initial training as well as the more advanced has been much eased by the provision of the new rowing tank ... there is little doubt that once we have overcome such teething troubles, this tank will prove invaluable."

My personal congratulations therefore go to Mike Smith and all his helpers who have worked so hard to bring this forty-five year old technology back into use as a top class training facility.

The tank was given a thorough overhaul by Brian Mawer and Adrian Gayner some years ago, and their work on the slide-beds remains in place to-day. The tank was certainly heavily used in the 1970's and '80's; Rodney Musters coached Novices there faithfully when he could no longer get to the river. Many will remember BSM's expert technical coaching, when he was often armed with sticks torn from the tree to emphasise points being made. JMB thought the tank so useful that he urged that the new Sports Hall should include a tank in the basement. This could have been an important, if expensive, facility for all the rowing clubs in the region. But, well done Mike et al, at least some of the weather is kept out of the tank now!

Turning the page and seeing the photograph of the 1st VIII with their dark blue spade (or whatever they are called these days!) blades reminds me of several other innovations which as a young new broom straight from university I was responsible for making.

The first of these was the changing of the colour and design of the blades from narrow blades of older design with a white and blue stripe across the blades to a much wider spade blade which was painted overall in Monkton blue with a single fleur-de-lis on the forward face. The practical reason for the colour change was to enable the coach more clearly to see both in action and in photographs which blades were not being covered at the finish!

Another innovation was the replacement of the old inboard-engined launch with a new fiberglass craft with outboard engine of which I wrote in the Monktonian of April 1961(page 618) "Both eights had the benefit of far closer supervision by their coaches than heretofore owing to the use of the new fiberglass outboard-motor launch, Aurora which, lifted in and out of the water every day, has followed either the first or both eights every outing this term whatever the weather and whatever the state of the river. This has been an invaluable coaching aid."

To generations of Monktonian oarsman since then the availability of inflatable outboard-engined craft has become an essential tool for their coaches. At the time it was quite a novelty and worthy of a photograph in the same Monktonian (opp. page 623) with the tongue-in-cheek caption provided by Dick Hole, the Master-in-charge of Rowing "Zephyr with Aurora playing", Aurora being the name I gave to this new toy of the young 1st VIII coach signifying the new dawn in Monkton rowing which was beginning. Such is the vision and arrogance of youth!

These and other innovations, such as withdrawing members of the first and second eights from coaching other crews (so that more time could be spent in training) which they had always done up till that time. Such ideas were understandably not always welcomed by older members of staff , as Dick Hole expressed in his book on the Boat Club 1878 - 1978 "A big break with the Club's traditions was made when members of the 1st VIII were taken off coaching junior crews. Hitherto they had always coached in addition to their own outings, an arrangement that had something to be said for it as it brought a good sense of cohesion and unity to the club, though sometimes it was possible to hear advice being passed on to relatively novice crews that had had just been given to the VIII ..." In spite of their reservations however other members of the rowing staff gave me their gracious and unqualified support.

In these days of computerisation when lists can be produced by typing names into a keyboard and producing the most complex lists and calculations at the touch of a button, it is difficuclt to remember what was involved in producing the Boat Clubs list of crews and their coaches on four afternoons a week for over 100 boys. Prior to my arrival on the scene this task was Dick Hole's responsibility. It took him upwards of an hour on each occasion involving as it did writing laboriously by hand every boy's name, what crew he was to be in, what boat was being used by that crew, who was to coach that crew and at what time, not to mention that each boat would probably be used twice in the afternoon.

Unknown to myself at that time was the concept of a spreadsheet now such a widely used computer tool where each space or cell is used to represent a figure or a name. But such in effect was what, in retrospect, I invented to make this daily chore of producing the Boat Club's list a much less time-consuming and more efficient task. Every persons name, boys and coaches, was inscribed on a marker pin, colour coded to represent the boy's House as also was the name of each boat and the time of each outing. A large board, about two feet wide and four feet long, covered with a large sheet of paper into which these pins could be stuck was mounted at break time on the noticeboard of the Judgment Hall. The large sheet of paper had a list of all the crews and spaces alongside to represent each place in the crew followed by a space for the coach, the boat to be used and the time of the outing. After the introduction of this novelty it would take me only a matter of some minutes each morning, often in break time, to produce the list for the whole club.

No doubt in these days of computerisation this particular adminstrative chore has long been consigned to the pages of history, but it is gratifying to see that some of the other ideas so novel at the time are still in use, albeit in a different form, forty-five years later.

J.H. Ducker (Monkton 1st VIII Coach 1960-61, Oxford 1958, Monkton 1st VIII 1951-52-53-54)