French Verbs and Javelin Throws

Javelin thrower Skip Cummins couldn't understand why he was one of the biggest things to hit Bourges since it was the capital of France during the Hundred Years' War. Throughout his stay in Bourges while participating in the Dartmouth Foreign Language Program, Cummins attracted large crowds and a battalion of newsmen and photographers every time he practiced his javelin throwing. "I can't figure these people out," admitted Cummins. "I'm just a kid from Grove City, Pa., and they treated me like some kind of celebrity." Bourges sports fans were simply awed by Cummins prodigious throws which covered distances that would make him the French junior national champion.

Cummins, a sophomore who was also a starting linebacker on Dartmouth's 1973 Ivy League championship football team, hoped to improve his performance in the javelin as well as his skill in the French language during his three-month stay in Bourges. Like all of the 27 Dartmouth students in this ancient city of 80,000 in the heartland of France, he lived with a family; and shortly after arriving, he asked his French "mother" to help him find a place where he could work out. "She searched for days," Cummins said, "and finally got in touch with the local athletic club." When the club president learned that Cummins' best throw was 245'—2" and that he was only 20 years old, he was astonished - and interested.

"When I talked to the members of the club, they were talking French faster than I've ever heard it spoken before," said Cummins. "I couldn't understand a word." When he went to the club facilities for the first time, a photographer was waiting. When he walked into the stadium to throw for the first time, more than 50 people had gathered to watch him perform. "The javelin they gave me was old and dirty, probably the worst I've ever seen," said Cummins. "I took a couple of snaps with only three steps and they were amazed at very average results. There was a soccer game being played at the other end of the field and I kept interrupting the game. I felt like a Martian. I didn't know what was going to happen next."

His exploits were reported in the local paper and when Cummins began to work out at the local gymnasium, a group of youngsters gathered rapidly. "They couldn't believe how big I was,'' said the 6'-2", 205-pound Cummins. "Those kids watched every move I made and spent the whole time mimicking my exercises. What a head inflator."

Cummins was invited to dinner by several local track coaches and was asked to participate in a local competition. "They wanted me to throw the shot or run the hurdles, but I just went to watch," he said. "I didn't want to be embarrassed and I didn't want any questions raised about my amateur eligibility at home.

Cummins' only goals during his stay in France were correct verb conjugations and preparation for Dartmouth's spring track season which began at the Florida Relays on March 22-23 at-Gainesville, Fla. Last spring, during the Florida Relays, Cummins, then a freshman, set a Dartmouth record in the javelin with his 245'-2" throw-Presuming he can break away from his French admirers, Cummins will try to improve on that record. "I came to Bourges on the language study program because knew it might be my only chance to visit Europe," said Cummins. "I didn't expect to get people excited in the process.

David Shribman and Skip Cummins spent the winter term studying in Bourge