The Sculling Championship of the World.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIII, Issue 102, 30 April 1892, Page 2 (Supplement)

The Sculling Championship of the World.

Staxwjry v. Sullivan. On Monday next, the race for the scullliur championship of the ivorld and £200 a side, between J. Stanbury (the present holder), of New South Wales, and T. Sullivan, of Now Zealand, will be rowed on that celebrated stretch of water on the Paramatta River, Sydney, where so many battles have been iost and won. It is needless to »i\y that, great interest is being taken in the contest throughout the world. ;uui especially in this city, for Sullivan is an Auckland-born boy. The majority of the Australian scribes would incline us to believe that tho raca is almost a foregone conclusion for their man, but in private letters from Sydney, from those who are in tho know, I learn that Sullivan is as cunning as his opponent, and althoughStanbury often cries to draw the Aucklander out when they meet on the river, it is of no avail. By the s.s, YVairaraua on Tuesday I received a short epiatle from a Sydney friend who is a good judge and has been watching both men training. He writes : ' So far Sullivan is going very well, and if all goes well up to the day, he ought to win. Should the water be lumpy, the knowing ones say it is a moral for ."your towney, but if it is smooth, the race will be one of tho best ever seen here, and both men will have to go all the way. Stanbury ia vowiasc thw, J bavo

ever seen him before, and ia in great beart and very confident, but so is Tom* The latter did a wonderful trial over tho course last Monday morning, and the Spencers say it is the besb they ever saw, so any o{ your friends who back Sullivan can depend on getting a big go for their money.' Sullivan and Stanbury are leaving stone unturned to be in the pink of condi* tion ; besides their rowing, both indulge iq long walking exercises. Ab this juncture' perhaps ib would bo interesting to give my readers a few particulars of tho recorda of the contestants. Stanbury first rowed and won a small skiff race ab Nowra in 1885 ; in the follow, ing year ho was very euccesaful at Shoal« haven, whore he annexed four of the events including the local championship outrigger race. In 1887, with 40sec start, ho defeated amongsb others, Peter Kemp and Neil Matherson ab Lake Bathurst, but was de« feated by Chris Neilson during the same month. Hi 3 firsb race for a big stake was with Chris Neilson, when the latter won. In the nexb year, Stanbury defeated Campbell and Wolf, bub the late champion, H, E. Searle, lowered his colours after a good race. The champion then took him in hand, and improved Stansbury wonderfully, co that in 1890 he defeated W. O'Connor, the Canadian oarsman, for the championship and £500 a side. In the same year, however, Stanbury was beaten by J. McLean, bub four months later regained the honour by defeating McLean easily. Stanbury is 34 years of age, and rows ab about 12sb 71b.

Tom Sullivan, well known to all Aucklanders, is 23 years of age. Tom rowod his first race in 1882, when he won the skiff race on the Waitemata for boya under 14. As a member of the North Shore Rowing Club he was chiefly instru* mental in winning for the marine Club many of bheir victories by his plucky rowing. After leaving Auckland, Sullivan went to Wellington, where, amongst other victories, he won the Amateur Sculliug Championship of Now Zealand. He was then persuaded to visit Australia, bub was beaten, in his firsb race by Bubear through illness. Since that time he has rowed and defeated C. Stephenson, Bubear (in a return match), and C. Dutch. In the last race, Sullivan established a record over the Paramatta course. His time of ISmin 41sec has never been beaten anywhere.

From the foregoing it will be seen thab Sullivan has climbed tho rowing ladder at such a rate that there is only one man who stands between him and the coveted and proud title of champion, and that man is J. Stan bury. It really seems too much to expeco thab so young a sculler aa Tom Sullivan (who is eleven years younger than liia opponent) should succeed in his first attempt for the honour, but I am sure all my readers wish Tom every success for Monday next, and I hope that when the Star extra is published on thab evening it will announce the fact that Tom Sullivan ia the champion oarsman of the world. CYCLING. At least 1,000,0001b of rubber are annually used for bicycle tires. A one-legged bicyclist in London recently rode 100 miles in less than nine hours. Thirteen years ago a student in Berlin was mobbed in tho street for appearing on n bicycle. Now the German Union of Bicyclists, which has just held its eighth annual conference at Breslau, has 14,000 members.

A forty-mile bicycle road race from Waipawa to Napier took place on Good Friday, when the following competed : —Paterson and Symonds (oOmin), Norris (25min), Swun and Bell (21min), Dalton (20min), and Howard (12min 20sec). The road was and heavy rain fell. Bell beat Paterson by two yards on the posh in 3hr 36min, being an average of 11 J miles an hour. Howard followed in 40min later. Norris was tha only other to the finish. Paterson claims the race, as he reached the fence of the Courthouse, at which thsy were to finish, first.

At the Ash burton A.A. Club's sports on Easter Monday, the three mile provincial bicycle championship of Canterbury was won by W. J. S. Hayward, who beat: Pither by a foot in Bmin 39sec. Wilmotb also started, but fell. KING. Joe Goddard, the Australian pugilist who passed through Auckland last week en route to America, to fulfil his engagement with Joe McAuliffe, received a very enthusiastic send-off from Sydney, where he is a great favourite. I had a chat with Goddard last Saturday, and found him a very unassuming pug., and one would never know that they were converging with a crack prize fighter unless they knew his identity. There was a marked absence of the tongue blow that boxers as a general rule indulgo in. Goddard has a splendid frame, with massive hands, and he has the orthodox face of a renowned fighter. He is accompanied by his brother Herbert, who will brain him for his engagements. His right with McAuliffe takes place on June 18bb.

The Amateur Athletic Club intend holding a smoke concert as soon as all the prizewinners at their lasb sports select their trophies, when the prizes will be presented. It was generally expected that G. B. Beere would score an easy win over P. J. Hackett in the 600 yarde race to decide tho victoi , , and such proved the case. I fail to see why the Committee arranged such a distance, for it was all in favour of the longdistance man, and was one of the events he won at the recent sports. In my opinion, 440 yards was far enough to ask Hackett; to run, as the event he won at] the Carnival was 150 yards. If the race had been over a 440 yards course, it would have given both men an equal show of winning the victor, and I am euro we would have seen a contest fibbing to tho occasion.