Robert Arthur Cummings (19 May 1899 – 26 May 1969) was an Australian rowing

coxswain The coxswain ( , or ) is the person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering. The etymology of the word gives a literal meaning of "boat servant" since it comes from ''cock'', referring to the cockboat, a type of ship's boat ...

. He was a three-time national champion who represented

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The op ...

in the stern of the men's eight.

Club and state rowing

Cummings was employed as a Postal Assistant and his senior rowing was from the

Murray Bridge Murray Bridge may refer to. *Murray Bridge, South Australia, a city and locality *Rural City of Murray Bridge, a local government area in South Australia *Corporate Town of Murray Bridge, a former local government area in South Australia See also ...

Rowing Club. The Murray Bridge Rowing Club men's eight was the dominant Australian club eight of the 1920s. They won the South Australian state championship from 1920 to 1923 and in 1921 by a margin of ten lengths. For the four years from 1920 to 1923 they were selected in-toto as the South Australian men's eight to contest the

King's Cup __NOTOC__ King's Cup (incl. translations), may refer to: Sports Football * Copa del Rey, Spanish for "King's Cup," the main national knockout tournament in men's football * King Cup (sometimes named King's Cup), Saudi Arabian men's football nati ...

at the Australian Interstate Regatta. Cummings was coxswain in each of those crews and steered the 1920, 1922 and 1923, South Australian eights to victory. In 1921, 1922 and 1923 he was in those crews with his older brother Frank Cummings.

International representative rowing

The South Australian media pushed for the victorious 1920 King's Cup eight to be sent to the

1920 Antwerp Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1920; nl, Olympische Zomerspelen van 1920; german: Olympische Sommerspiele 1920), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIe olympiade; nl, Spelen van ...

but with the Victorian and New South Wales Rowing Association in control of selections and funding, there wasn't sufficient support for their campaign. By 1924 with South Australia continuing to dominate Australian eights rowing, their claim could not be denied and after winning a test event raced on Port Adelaide in March 1924, Cummings and the South Australian crew including his brother Frank, were selected in-toto to represent Australia as an

eight 8 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 8 or eight may also refer to: Years * AD 8, the eighth year of the AD era * 8 BC, the eighth year before the AD era Art *The Eight (Ashcan School), a group of twentieth century painters associated with the As ...

at the

. Funding was raised from the Murray Bridge Rowing Club, the South Australian Rowing Association and the general public of South Australia. The crew were nicknamed "the Murray Cods". Unlike the 1912 Olympic eight, the Murray Cods were not invited to race in lead-up at the

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

and in 2000 Ted Thomas jnr a crew member's son, asserted that this was because the eight was crewed by working class men other than the stroke Bill Sladden2000 speech remembering the Murray Cods
/ref> It's undisputed that tour funds were scarce and on arrival in France, the crew had to row their shell 60 km to their training base; that on tour a number of the crew (including Cummings) busked as musicians to raise pocket money; and that on race day they first rowed their shell 26 miles from their boatshed to the Olympic course. Their equipment was also sub-par as they rowed with their oars turning in out-rigged poppets rather than in swivelling gates as had become the norm. In the Olympic regatta, with Cummings in the stern the Australian eight finished second behind Italy in their heat, then finished third in the repechage and didn't advance to the final. Bob Cummings continued on as a first-class coxswain after the Olympics. He coxed South Australian representative eights in the King's Cup campaigns of 1925 (fourth) and 1926 (second).1926 Interstate Regatta
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cummings, Robert 1899 births 1969 deaths Australian male rowers Olympic rowers for Australia Rowers at the 1924 Summer Olympics 20th-century Australian sportspeople People from Murray Bridge, South Australia Sportsmen from South Australia