BATTLE OF STYLES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 99, 29 April 1933, Page 10

BATTLE OF STYLES.

" HEAD OF THE RIVER."

SYDNEY COLLEGE OARSMEN.

STEVE FAIR.BAIRN'S METHODS.

(From Our Own Correspondent.)

SYDNEY, April 22,

Next week the sporting enthusiasts of Sydney —and tliis means practically the whole population —will work themselves up to a high pitch of excitement over one of the greatest athletic events of the year, the Head of the River boat races. They provide one of the most impressive spectacles to be seen in Australia at any time or season. This year, though St. Joseph's, who hold the title, seem to have the strongest crew —I am speaking of the eights, as the other races are of inferior interest —there are seven other entries, including the picked athletes of Sydney's public schools.

Every one of these institutions has a strong and loyal following, so that quite irrespective of the prospect of success, thousands of boys and girls, and their fathers and mothers, all wearing the many-coloured ribbons of the various schools, will shout themselves hoarse along the Parramatta River banks next Wednesday and Saturday as they cheer their champions 011. This is as it should be; the vast crowd which attends this great athletic function seems always to be imbued with a fine sporting spirit; and this year there is sufficient room for uncertainty about the result to enhance the general public excitement. Variety of Styles. The average weight of the eight crews engaged ranges from list to 12st —and all the boys are under 20 years of age. They have been training with great assiduity for weeks past and their "form" and the changing prospects of the struggle have been chronicled with the most meticulous care by the Sydney newspapers. This year a feature of special interest has been introduced into the contest by the variety of styles adopted by the competing crews. St. Joseph's, the holders, row what is termed here the orthodox Australian style, and Sydney High School also sticks to the Australian tradition. Shore (Church of England Grammar School) rows on orthodox English lines, and three schools

—Scots, King's and Grammar —have adopted what is known as the Fairbairn etyle—or, as the boys term it, "Steve's stuff"—named from the famous Australian oarsman who developed this special method of rowing during his victorious athletic career at Cambridge. Anyone who has road Stephen Fairbairn's autobiography must be amazed not only at his athletic interests and his extraordinary prowees, but at the remarkable intensity of his enthusiasm for all sport, and especially rowing; and 111 "Fairbairn of Jesus" we see how this vigorous and self-assertive personality dominated those around lvira even in the most conservative circles of the British athletic world, till he was actually able to modify substantially the principles and the practice and even the traditions of university rowing. Difference in Methods. From time to time rowing men who believe in Fairbairn and in "Steve's stuir" appear on the horizon, and K. H. Ashburner, a Rhodes scholar, who came back from Oxford a few years ago, has been largely responsible for the revival of interest in the Fairbairn style in Sydney. He is the official coach for Scots College, and this year King's and Grammar decided to follow his lead as well. For a great variety of reasons — including Aslibunier's temporary illness —the experiment has not been wholly successful, and Grammar, during the last week, seems to have abandoned "Steven's stuff" and fallen back upon a mixture of styles which may not improve its chances, though it is still one of the best crews, in the competition.

It is not easy to describe the Fab-bairn method of rowing, partly because it involves many technicalities, and partly because "Steve" himself is. frequently vague and admonitory rather than practical in his teaching. In "Fairhairn of Jesus" we read that training and practice are of 110 use without "concentration," and that the main object of the rower must be to "concentrate on working the blade" if he is to get the best results out of his efforts. With this purpose in view, Fairbaim offers hints that arc strangely out of keeping with

the orthodox tradition. Perhaps it will help matters if I quote here from one of our local authorities: Whereas the orthodox style lays stress upon "a bright catch and a solid drive," a quick "get away" with the hands and well-timed recovery, and a steady slide, Fairbairn s method "eliminates body lift, driving solely with the legs, and using the slide quickly, corrying the body in a horizontal planing-like fashion." One of the essential features of "Steve's Stuff' is that pace is got out of the boat rather by "leg-drive" than "shoulder-lift"; and however awkward this may sound or look, no doubt the method can be made highly effective. How the Boat Looks. But the natural result of these modifications is to make the boat driven along in Fairbairn style conduct itself in rather an unusual fashion. As the "Sydney Morning Herald" has pointed out rather plaintively: "The new style sacrifices form for power through the blades, and it is difficult to tell when a crew is really together." Another feature of the Fairbairn method is that "every third stroke is .missed" —the blades passing over the water instead of gripping it —the idea being that the "way" of the boat will not be checked and it will be' kept on a perfectly even keel. But whether these modifications represent any material advantage— except in the case of oarsmen of remarkable physical powers like Fairbairn himself—is a question still open to debate.

The crews here that have tried this style have found great difficulty in deciding whether they get better results out of the boat at a'fast or a slow rate of striking, and altogether the test to which the style has been subjected here this year is not a decisive one. The illness of Ashburner and of various members of the crews have militated against the new method; and in any case the general opinion here seems to be that St. Joseph's is the best crew and that Shore and Grammar ehould be runners-up, quite irrespective of the styles that the various boats have adopted. And the scores of thousands who will rend the air with shouts and cheers along Parramatta banks next week will not be thinking of Fairbairn and the conflict of styles, but only of "the old school."