Talk:Charles Spencer Francis

world record in intercollegiate single scull
What does "setting the world record in intercollegiate single scull competition in 1876" mean? The DYK hook says "set the world record for intercollegiate single-scull rowing in 1876". The source for that is behind a paywall. jnestorius(talk) 15:32, 17 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Does it mean the fastest time to row a certain distance? If so, the distance should be stated, otherwise it's "a world record", not "the world record".
 * Did he set an absolute world record or a world record for college students or a world record for intercollegiate events? How much international competition and record-keeping was there in 1876? Or was it retrospectively recogfnised as a record by a later generation of international record-keepers? Maybe he just set a US intercollegiate record that was faster than the contemporary Oxbridge record and so promoted unilaterally to the status of world record.
 * Hello, jnestorius. I've taken the liberty of copying my response from Main Page/Errors: 'To be clear, the source for this claim, from 1924, says the following: "In 1876 he [Francis] won the intercollegiate sculling championship at Saratoga Lake and established a world's college record of 13:42 that still stands." I admit, I may have simplified it a bit. As for the substantive questions, I'm afraid I don't know enough about rowing to answer them. Please let me know if you have any further questions or corrections.' To add a bit to it: I'm afraid it does need clarification. &mdash; Javert2113 (Siarad.&#124;&#164;) 16:00, 17 April 2020 (UTC)