ROWING REVIEW.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18265, 26 December 1924, Page 17

ROWING REVIEW.

INTER-STATE PROSPECTS

The most important rowing event for many seasons Trill the representation of New Zealand in the inter-State competition to be rowed at Sydney on March 14th next. It will be the first time that the Dominion hr.s ever sent an eight to Australia, and only the fourth time that any New Zealand team has competed in races in that country. One of the selectors. Mr H. Avers, gave hie views on tho prospects of the team to a representative of -'The Press' 1 yesterday.

'"Without having fcen 'lie other teams it is rather hard to say.'' lie said, "but judging the crew on paper, with regard for weight and capability, it looks Jiko a well-balanced eisrht, and we may reasonably expect fairly jjor/i results! The idea of some critics who suggest we won't have a chance owing to lr.ck of experience in eight-oar races is not borne out by the facts, for the New Zealand Expeditionary Force crew )ic<J a remarkable reoord in eights, although that was its first experience in eight-a:r racing.'' This crew is a New Zealand representative crew and it deserves the support of the public just as much as the All Black footballers. It is going m) t, to do its host to uphold the sporting reputation oi the country." The president of the Canterbury Rowing Association (Mr l'\ D. Kestevcn) •considered that the project was a mistake. "In the first place," he said, "the t?am is going over on the invitation of the New South Wales Association, and it will not contest the annual inter-State eights, which will be rowed at Brisbane later. It is a fatal error on the part of the selectors to have picked the team lieforo the championship regatta at Hamilton on January 29th. They should not have called for nominations, but they should have seen the condition and form of tho men at that regatta. As it is, Auckland and Wanganui will want to know why they are not represented. We are not used to rowing eights over here, and the prospects of the team doing any good for itself are nil. If a four, made up of, say, the Blenheim men in the team that has just been selected was sent, it should do well. The Council of the Association should oertainly have seen whether it was able to raise the £450 required before it got the crew together." The team of which eight men—C. J. Adams (Blenheim), E. T. Hegglun(Blenheim), "W. Pinkham (Blenheim), F. H. Bouthgate (Blenheim), F. H. Brown (Canterbury), W. Sergison (Canterbury), T. H. Grenfell (Canterbury), and F. Oborn (Wellington)-—havo already been selected, will consist of ten rowers. The men will train at Picton or Wanganui for three weeks prior to the trip, which will begin on February 28th or March 6th. In Australia thev will be the guests of the New South Wales Rowing Association, and it is probable they will visit Queensland and Victoria. No nominations for places in the team were received from Auckland, • and the fact that Wnngaimi is not represented is due to the inability of several local men to make the trip. The boat will lie the one used by the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in England. It lias been lent to the Rowing Association by the Wanganui Union Rowing Club, which now owns it. Rowing revived considerably last year, and it has evidently put the lean war years far behind it. In Canterbury there is a fine lot of promising youngsters, and what is most needed is the ooa>ching by old rowers. The Avon Club has a large number of new members this year, but the Union and Canterbury Club have not added very considerably to their numerical strength. The Avon hnsbeen maintained in fairly good condition, chiefly through the efforts of the Drainage Board, but no drastic steps have been taken to deepen or widen it. The usual regattas were held and pood local entries were made for the championships and inter-provincial fours. Competition for the D.C.L. Cup was exceptionally keen, the issue being in doubt right up to the last race at tne final xegatta, the Avon Rowing Gob winning from the Union Rowing Club by one point. A very gratifying feature of the season was the number of entries made by the local clubs for the championship events, the Canterbury Rowing Club being represented in the Champion Fours, Pairs and Doubles, and the Union Rowing Club in the Champion Pairs and Doubles. A championship event has again been won by a Canterbury crew, the Champion Pairs being won by the Union Rowing Club's crew, E. S. Velvin and T. H. Grenfell, and who were beaten in the Champion Double Sculls by inches only. Although the Canterbury llowing Club's crew were not successful ir. winning the Champion Fours, they gained second place and acquitted themselves well, and the experience gained will no doubt be of great value to them in the coming season. It was hoped to be able to send a New Zealand crew to compete at the Olympic and' Empire Games, but it was found impossible to raise sufficient funds.