ROWING

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21116, 17 March 1934, Page 18

ROWING

CLUB NOTES THE SLIDING SEAT STROKE Except for club races there has been very little activity on the river during the last week. The Union club held races over a quarter mile course for the Gee Cup and some close finishes were seen. The final heat was particularly fine. George Empson rowed splendidly off scratch and was not far behind the winner, T. Hams, to whom he conceded 12 seconds. Harris is a much improved sculler and should' be prominent next season. The following are the results of the race:— First heat-T. Harris U2sec> beat R sSd rl h^W. CJ Blood (7sec) beat E - T S n heat-G. C) V . Empson Cscr) beat G. K. Browne U2sec). E. Toner a bye. T Semi-finals—Harris beat Toner, Empson beat Blood. Final—Harris beat Empson by half The ciub will close the season on Saturday, April 7, w. .n a scries ol short races and the annual smoke concert, and presentation of prizes will be held in the boathouse on April

14 Tho Canterbury Club held races for the Thomas Pairs last Saturday, the rotnlt's beinc as follows: — First heat-McGiffin and Cousins beat Hervey and Spence by a length. Second heat-Hullett and Hampton beat Taylor and Graham by a length ai Thi a rd ha he'at~Rogers and Robertson beat Hervey and Morris by a length an Semi-final-Hullett and Hampton beat McGiffln and Couzins by a length and a half. Rogers and Robertson a b> Fi'nal—Hullctt and Hampton beat Rogers and Robertson by two lengths. The first heats of the Sapsford double sculls were rowed on Wednesday and resulted as follows: Hullctt and Hampton beat Rogers anri Robertson bv a length and a half. East andl Morris beat" McGiffln and Hprvpv bv a foot. , , Tho y first of a series of inter-club visits" was held on Wednesday evenin" when the Union Club entertained members of the Avon Club at its boathouse. Billiards and card competitions were held the former being won by Union by 12 games to eight. The Avon men were successful at cards, winning seven games to Union's five. Mr W. Duggan, on behalf of the Union Club, welcomed the visitors, rnd Mr A. Boot replied for Avon.

The Eight The crew to represent Canterbury at the inter-provinci.nl eight-oar championships at Wellington on March 31 is in camp at Stewart's Gully, and is showing good promise. The course at the gullv is about four miles lons, so that the" crew rows about eight miles every evening. On Sundav, March 2u. an exhibition row will take place on the Cam river, Kaiapoi, about 2.15 p.m., and from the Kaiapoi main bridge an excellent view will be obtainable. For the mtcr-ir!;-.nd eights, which wjll be rowed on the same day as the inter-provincial eights, the Canterbury Association has nominated the following oarsmen:— Messrs D. M. Wright, F. 11. Thompson. C. A. Stiles, and K. Brown. I Details about the crew are:--Age, st. lb. Years. D. M. Wright (sir) . . 12 \ 22 \F. H. Thompson <1) .. V-i 2 24 |C. A. Stiles ifj> .. 12 12 2fl ;K. Rrown '.")) ..12 2 2t C. S. Sutherland (4) .. 11 .'! 22 IW. C. Harper <,' i) . . 12 12 22 : 1.. Patterson >2> 11 2 2ti iC. A. Cooper ibmvl ..114 20 ;L. llamnton ieo:0 u* 4 I i The Sliding Seat Stroke :' Tii<- article on -'le sliding seat stroke | is concluded witli a consideration of ' the actions ol the limbs at the finish: T The shoulders at tlie finish. As the elbows bend and pass the ribs the .'boulders are to bo freely rowed hack so as to open the chest. On no account must they jut up. j U-Tho knees at the finish. While I the- elbows are bending and the 1 shoulders are being rowed back, the : legs are squeezing the last ounce of [power out of the slide until the l:::e.'S i are firmly depressed. The legs are thus braced into a position which th".'. I have to maintain until the recovery i ha:; been completed and the r.wing i forward has started. V--The elbows at the fmi--h. T'-.o (ordinary instruction is "row the I elbows close past the s'dc; a! th' I (ini.sh. especially the outside elbow." 1 The inside elbow, of course, puis.' ne I kept close, but some oarsmen, hold

that the instrucl ion applied to the <ui'sirio elbow is not quite cornel. Y.'ilh the leverage of oars now in general ' use for racing craft, the man who in- } skis on passing his outside elbow very : e'ose to his side (and on reiainiiig ■ a rigid grip on the oar-handle wnh ' his outside hand during the whole et the finish and recovery) will alines I ' inevitably cramp his freedom (o lose real power over his car. The hi'.'rous ' contortion of the jaggedly protruding elbow must, of course, be avoidc, but. the oarsman would bj well advised not i.o attempt to cramp klm- | self. Let hi in swing his ci'oow straight back, clear of his ribs by somethree inches, with ike wrist (k:t. At the same time, while the oar is coming home to the chest for ike lust, three or four inches, let him slightly cite: i (lie hold of the outside Stand: in lack ; let hint accommodate it to the position j of the oar-handle without in any wry I I enfeebling it for the practical work jof lite linish. lie will tint; have I greater freedom for the extraction i the car and the recovery. Those who i cranio themselves and endcawnr to ith--c\v the feathering work of the inside vi'i't on to the outside wrist, i almost invariably pull (he bution , away cr.:l lose both .steadiness and | '.marine::?.

. The Hands i W--Hand.* at the finish. The bands i are to cetne home until the roots of the i thumbs touch the chest. It is imi nci'tanl to remember that liu blade. Miaving been covered in tho water :d the beginning, must remain zo covered until the finish. The hands-, ihcrciore. must be maintained at the hi me level I'rcm start to finish. If they rise they bury the oar unduly in the water; :f I hey are pulled down into the stomach they uncover the oar and cause a loss of power. In other words, the oars- ) man "rows light" or "washes out" at | i the finish. I X —Position of body at the finish, i While the finish is being rowed home | the body nv t on no account be pulled | forward" to meet the oi.r. It must, in | | rowing language, "stay on the finish", j | When the knees are down and the | hands are home to the chest the body ■ i ought to occupy a position beyond the [ i perpendicular, but not so ostentatiously i beyond it as to give the impression of i : lyi'ng back in the boat. It must be a I j position from which the recovery will I jbe easy and elastic. There must be Ino collapse in any part of it. The , oarsman should be sitting on the bones which nature has provided for that j | purpose, with his shoumers back, his j chest open, but not artificially expanded, and his s>omach duly supi ; porting his chest. There must not be any wrinkles on the front of his jersey. The head must be erect in ' a line with the body. The whole posi- ■ j tion should be erect, graceful and easy. | Y —The outside hand again. As tlic • inside hand and wrist have the greater share in the work oi feathering the oar and pushing it forward, so the i outside hand has to bear the greater I strain during the water-work right up to its very end. A hard beginning i will have made a firm finish possible; ; but to insist on what is often called } "a hand finish" while neglecting the

beginning, which alone makes it in any wav feasible, is absurd. Z—The finish generally. The textbooks say that slide and swing and bancs ought to finish togetl t. This, no doubt, is the ideal method, but few. if any, oarsmen ever attain it. Swing and slide-yes. But even if the rowing brick of the shoulders is included in the swing, there has always been a very slight but perceptible interval between the conclusion of these movements and the touching of the chest by the hands. To keep that interval short and constantly to make it shorter must be the oarsman's effort. Thus he will have the satisfaction of striving after the I ideal—though he may never be able quite to reach it.