ROWING.

NZ Truth, Issue 79, 22 December 1906, Page 3

ROWING.

CHAT WITH DURNAN About Sport m Canada. The Canadian's Career. Eddie Durnan, the Canadian sculler, now m Sydney, takes an interest m other sports as v.*ell as rowingHe indulges m ice-yachting and sailing, duck-shooting, and other pastimes, but excels at these three particular things. In addition though he has a knowledge of all sports m Canada, and during a chat outlined the progress of each game followed across the Pacific. . Lacrosse and hockey are, he says, the most popular pastimes m Canada, but neither is a game to be followed by ladies. Both are exceedingly rough, and foul play is rife m each game. Referees at lacrosse are paid a salary for each match, and Durnan says they really earn it, for they often have to scramble for their lives when they give an unpopular decision. It is not a rare occurrence for Ihe crowd to jump the fence and "deal it .out"., to him. The_ referee may order __ man off for ..ilye/.-tead, or lo minutes, according to the gravity of, the offence he commits. Similar rules are observed m hockey, which for the.coldest months' of the' year is played on -the ice. Baseball is al-. most as popular as lacrosse, aiid the referee is paid a salary for the season. Pie. too, has the option of penalising the men either by fine or disqualification. football (Rugby) is played to a certain extent m Canada, but it is little better than the grade of Rugby played m the United States; and does not earn much public favor. Football, hockey, and baseball are m full swing for only about two months. Lacrosse runs through four or five months. .Boxing, although the standaxd is good, has not a *big following. Two championships (amateur) are held m each year for all grades, when the best men from the States visit Canada.

Cycling, Durnan relates,', swept all other sports before it m Canada a little while ago. Speedy machines became . a craze. Big crowds of amateurs gradually turned professionals, until amateur racing caved m altogether. The boom is ov-er now though. Cycling has m turn died a natural death. Swimming lasts only <v couple of months m Canada, hence; the opportunities for turning but champions are not. good. ' Icc-yachbinc; has a great crowd of followers, raid at Toronto Bay alone as many as fifty may be seen scuddin<r m oil directions m the season. Durnan is champion skipper of that par,t. ?{o speaks with some authority on the sport. More than a mile a minute is often recorded by these ice-yachts, which never carry a crew nf more ihan six. Ordinary sailing his a creat many participants, but can', of course, only be indulged m m the summer months, on account of the water heing frozen m the winter, the popular classes are 14, 16, and. 18 footers, which are, however, most--1*" of the rater type.

Runninc. walking, jumping, and other athletics, are followed m the colleges mainly, and have not much sunnort outside.

Rowing, of course, Durban talks of at length. In the nmateur ranks the sport is booming. He has seen ten or twelve four-oar crews afloat together but eights are rather few and far between. There are large numbers of doubles, whilst sculling is very popular m Canada now. He mentions that he has seen a dozen . doubles competing at a regatta.

Talking of his career, -Durnan says he was born at Hanlon's Point, Toronto Island, 33 years ago. He was only seven when he first began to paddle a racing boat. That was just before the time of Tricloett's visit to Toronto. He did not begin to race, however, until he was 18, having broken his wrist when 14. He was successful from the outset, notwithstanding that he had good men to beat amongst the amateurs of tfeat time: For a while cycling interfered with the progress of rowing, but the latter soon becahie popular again. As an amateur at sculling and rowing double sculls, he won some ten big races, but was so far above the classes of' amateurs he was then competing against that m 1893 he turned protes* sional, so that he might secure more racing. . Professional four-oared and double sculls racing was" then m vogue, and after being successful with the top-notchers he flew at high game m the sculling world. J. Gaudaur, a brother of the famous Jake, was his first worthy rival, but Durnan allowed him 15sec. m two miles, and. defeated him. He rowed m, /minor matches, awaiting races witli Jas. Wray and Jake Gaudaur, wnich, however, he never secured, and, .after a long wait, during whioh nobody cared to tackle him, he was matched with Tom Sullivan for £200 a side, m 1904, and won easily, notwithstanding that Sullivan is said to have trained harder than ever he did before for a race. This event, of course, caorried with it the championship of America. Durnan, finding there was no further racing for him m America, turned his attention towards the world's championship, which he has been aspiring to for some years, and, under Hanlan's advioe, at last started for Australia. He has thus beaten everyone m Canada who cared to face him, and is here now to . become champion of the world, or return home still champion of America onh-.,