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  • Ned Hanlan's Book of Rowing: The Rise and Fall of Canada's Little Giant by Jonathan Seiling book cover
  • Ned Hanlan's Book of Rowing: The Rise and Fall of Canada's Little Giant by Jonathan Seiling book cover
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Ned Hanlan's Book of Rowing: The Rise and Fall of Canada's Little Giant

by Jonathan Seiling

Ned Hanlan through the voices of his era

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AlbakiReads Editorial

Ned Hanlan through the voices of his era

Although Hanlan never authored a rowing book, this volume assembles contemporary documents to examine his rise, reputation, and contested record. An introductory overview and detailed chronology frame accounts from varied perspectives, including critics concerned about the money and gambling surrounding races. The collection also brings attention to some of Hanlan’s losses, complicating the perception that he won nearly every contest. His career connects the development of modern rowing technique with the expanding public spectacle of international sport in the late nineteenth century.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Rowing enthusiasts interested in the sport’s history and technique.
  • Readers exploring Canadian sporting figures and nineteenth-century athletic competition.
  • Those interested in historical documents about sports betting and the public culture surrounding races.

Themes

Rowing history and techniqueNed Hanlan’s public reputationSports betting and competitionCanadian sporting history

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

Edward (Ned) Hanlan never wrote a book on rowing, but in an era when the sport was developing and gaining mass popularity worldwide, he was an innovator. People wrote constantly about Ned Hanlan, because of his dramatic impact on the sport. He was a character. He was of small stature but had a giant-sized personality and appeal, to all except his handful of sworn rivals.

In this collection of documents from the years when Ned Hanlan rose to prominence, we find a diversity of voices and perspectives on who he was and what made him so special. There are some skeptics and critics as well, who sensed there was too much money at stake for anyone to be honest about winning and losing such matches, at a time when sports gambling was growing to the point that it needed to be more regulated. Part of Ned's story is the story of sports betting in the British Empire.

With an introductory overview and a detailed chronology, the sources in this collection will be appealing to all who love rowing and enjoy a good showman!

 

Ned Hanlan was controversial, both in his lifetime and today. Widely regarded as the founder of modern rowing technique, he was the first to master the sliding seat.

He gained rowing titles in Toronto (1873), Ontario (1874), Canada (1877), America (1878), England (1879), World Champion (1880), which he held until 1884. After losing to challengers he regained some of the titles.

From 1874 to 1893, he went on to compete in over 300 races and there has been a perception that he won all but a few of them. How many races did he lose? In this collection of documents, the details of some races he lost are made available.

While his success was astonishing, Ned was "humbled" as one of the later articles stated, and some took quite a bit of pleasure in that, given the humiliation Hanlan had served up to his earlier rivals.

Edward (Ned) Hanlan (1855-1908) was Canada's first World Champion in an individual sport and put Canada on the map in an era when global excitement about athletic competition increased, leading up to the founding of the modern Olympics. Ned's career ended just as the Olympics began.

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