Stephen Fairbairn (25 August 1862 – 16 May 1938) was a rower and an influential rowing coach at Jesus College Boat Club,

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, Thames Rowing Club and

London Rowing Club London Rowing Club (LRC, or colloquially, 'London') is the second-oldest of the non-academic active rowing clubs on the Thames in London, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1856 by members of the long-disbanded Argonauts Club wishing to compete ...

in the early decades of the 20th century, and founded the prestigious Head of the River Race in 1925.

Early life

Fairbairn was born on 25 August 1862 in

Toorak, Victoria Toorak () is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington Local government areas of Victoria, ...

. He was the son of Virginia () and George Fairbairn. His father, born in Scotland, was a wealthy grazier with significant pastoral holdings and married the daughter of his business partner George Armytage. Fairbairn was educated at

Wesley College, Melbourne Wesley College is a co-educational, open-entry private school in Melbourne, Australia. Established in 1866, the college is the only school in Victoria to offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) from early childhood to Year 12. The college ...

, and

Geelong Grammar School Geelong Grammar School is a private Anglican co-educational boarding and day school. The school's main campus is located in Corio on the northern outskirts of Geelong, Victoria, Australia, overlooking Corio Bay and Limeburners Bay. Establ ...

, where he took up rowing and was regarded a good

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er and

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er. He topped his leaving year in mathematics and was a senior school prefect. Five of Fairbairn's brothers, including future Australian MP George, had attended

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Jesus College was established in 1496 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund's Priory, Cambridge, St ...

, and Steve followed them to read Law from 1882. Patterson, Scott (2019) ''The Oarsmen'', Hardie Grant Books

Rowing career

Fairbairn rowed for Jesus College Boat Club, like his brothers and six of his cousins had done. In Jesus College crews, he rowed to success in the Cambridge University

bumps race A bumps race is a form of rowing (sport), rowing race in which a number of boats chase each other in single file, each crew attempting to catch and 'bump' the boat in front without being caught by the boat behind. The form is mainly used in C ...

s and

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a Rowing (sport), rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It diffe ...

, where they won the 1885

Grand Challenge Cup The Grand Challenge Cup is a rowing (sport), rowing competition for men's eight (rowing), eights. It is the oldest and best-known event at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male cr ...

. He also won the hammer throwing and putting the weight at the Freshmen's sports for Jesus College. He rowed for

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

in the Boat Race, in 1882 and

1883 Events January * January 4 – ''Life'' magazine is founded in Los Angeles, California, United States. * January 10 – A fire at the Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, kills 73 people. * January 16 – ...

and later while conducting post-graduate studies in

1886 Events January * January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British rule in Burma, British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. * January 5–January 9, 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson ...

and

1887 Events January * January 11 – Louis Pasteur's anti-rabies treatment is defended in the Académie Nationale de Médecine, by Dr. Joseph Grancher. * January 20 ** The United States Senate allows the United States Navy to lease Pearl Har ...

. After university Fairbairn's senior club rowing was from the Thames Rowing Club in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Coaching career

Philosophy

Fairbairn was an early proponent of training his crews to slide in their seats to facilitate leg-drive. He had realised that the secret to world-champion sculler Ned Hanlan's uncanny successes was not that he rowed a longer stroke, but rather that he used his legs to great effect during the stroke. He was also an advocate of fitting longer slides into boats to better allow the use of the legs. Fairbairn's observations led him to develop a revolutionary rowing style featuring concurrent use of the legs, back and arms at the catch. He also coached that crews should not focus unduly on positioning their bodies according to rigid rules but should instead concentrate on the movement of the blade, creating an easy, flowing movement. His philosophy was that rowing, when done well, should be a sublimely enjoyable experience. All of these features of his coaching are referred to as "Fairbairnism". There is continuing debate among rowing coaches and historians as to whether Fairbairnism better describes a style of rowing or philosophy of coaching.

Influence

Fairbairn was an

iconoclast Iconoclasm ()From . ''Iconoclasm'' may also be considered as a back-formation from ''iconoclast'' (Greek: εἰκοκλάστης). The corresponding Greek word for iconoclasm is εἰκονοκλασία, ''eikonoklasia''. is the social belie ...

with strong views and great charisma. Opinions of him and his methods tended to be extreme. Fairbairn corresponded widely and wrote four volumes on coaching, and his views were therefore adopted by many coaches across the globe. In the 1920s and 1930s, many coaches followed his lead completely. However, others felt Fairbairnism to be anathema to the principles of the "English Orthodox" style. To those observers, Fairbairn's crews rowed sloppily. The schism between "Orthodoxy" and "Fairbairnism" had largely disappeared from rowing by the 1940s. Fairbairn's books were collected, and reprinted in 1951 and again in 1990.

Training methodology

Fairbairn was a strong believer in the benefits of distance training; part of his philosophy was that "mileage makes champions". As such he developed the concept of the head race, a long-distance race against the clock to mark the end of winter training, thus encouraging crews to train over longer distances. In 1926 he founded the Head of the River Race, for men's eights held annually since on

The Championship Course The Championship Course is a stretch of the River Thames between Mortlake and Putney in London, England. It is a well-established course for rowing races, particularly the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. The course is on the tidal reaches of t ...

on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

. Similarly he donated a trophy for a head race to be held annually on the

River Cam The River Cam () is the main river flowing through Cambridge in eastern England. After leaving Cambridge, it flows north and east before joining the River Great Ouse to the south of Ely, Cambridgeshire, Ely, at Pope's Corner. The total distanc ...

. " The Fairbairn Cup" (known colloquially as "Fairbairns") is the annual race held on the first Thursday and Friday after the end of the University of Cambridge's Michaelmas Full Term (typically early in December). The race is organised by Jesus College Boat Club in Cambridge.

Memorial

Fairbairn died in

, 16 May 1938. His ashes rest beneath the shadow of Jesus College chapel. A portrait by James Quinn hangs in the college. A duplicate of the Quinn portrait hangs in Thames Rowing Club's Putney clubhouse. A memorial to Fairbairn is situated on the southern bank of the Thames between

Putney Putney () is an affluent district in southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ...

and

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

. This memorial, a stone obelisk popularly known as the Mile Post, is exactly one mile from the

end of the Championship Course. In

the Boat Race The Boat Race is an annual set of rowing races between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club, traditionally rowed between open-weight eights on the River Thames in London, England. It is also known as the U ...

and

Wingfield Sculls The Wingfield Sculls is a Rowing (sport), rowing race held annually on the River Thames in London, England, on the The Championship Course, Championship Course from Putney to Mortlake. The race is between single scullers and is usually on the ...

, the Mile Post is a formal intermediate timing point, and it marks one mile from the finish of the Head of the River Race. A bronze bust of Fairbairn by George Drinkwater is the winner's trophy for the Head of the River Race. In 2010 Fairbairn was inducted into the Rowing Victoria Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Fairbairn married Eleanor Sharwood daughter of Sydney Sharwood, on 18 November 1891 at Toorak, Melbourne, Victoria. Their eldest son Ian Fairbairn competed as a rower in the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad () and officially branded as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The opening ceremony was held on 5 July, but some competitions had al ...

and was a financier who originated the

unit trust A unit trust is a form of collective investment constituted under a trust deed. A unit trust pools investors' money into a single fund, which is managed by a fund manager. Unit trusts offer access to a wide range of investments, and depending on ...

. Their second son, Sydney Fairbairn, was a cricketer and British Army officer. Steve Fairbairn's nephew George Eric Fairbairn won a silver medal in the 1908 Summer Olympics.

Bibliography

* ''Rowing Notes'', 1926. * ''Slowly Forward'', 1929. * ''Some Secrets of Successful Rowing'', 1930. * ''Fairbairn of Jesus'' (autobiography), 1931. * ''Chats on Rowing'', 1934.

References

Additional sources listed by the ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'': :F. Brittain and H. B. Playford, ''The Jesus College Boat Club, Cambridge'' (Cambridge, 1928), and ''The Jesus College, Cambridge, Boat Club'', 1827-1962 (Cambridge, 1962); ''Dictionary of National Biography'', 1931–40; A. Gray and F. Brittain, ''A History of Jesus College, Cambridge'' (Lond, 1960); Geelong Grammar School (1) ''Annual'', 1875–76, and (2) ''Quarterly'', 1877–80, and (3) ''Corian'', May 1921, May 1926, Dec 1932, Aug 1938, Oct 1974, June 1975; Jesus College Cambridge, ''Chanticlere'', Easter 1925; 'Obituary', Times (London), 17 May 1938, p 18; Geelong Grammar School Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Fairbairn, Steve 1862 births 1938 deaths Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge Cambridge University Boat Club rowers British male rowers Australian male rowers Rowing coaches Stewards of Henley Royal Regatta People educated at Geelong Grammar School

Steve Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form ( hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen. Notable people A–D * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Abel (born 1970), New Zealand politician * Steve Adams (disambiguation) ...

Rowers from Melbourne Sportsmen from Victoria (state)