ROWING.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 146, 14 March 1908, Page 9

ROWING.

'/■. . -4 . •:. 03t Mercury.) - ' .' •' COMINI3 EVENTS.'; ' March 23.— N.Z. Championship ■ Regatta; at Xapier. Easter 'Monday—'Waira'uJ.Eegatjt'a;", Zt.'Z",* • Congratulations to.tho Maidon and Youths' crews 011 their, scoop at the Wangariiii Regatta ou Thursday. -The members''of :thi crews competed' in three races; ;the Maiden. Junior' Fours, Maiden Double -Scullspanc succeeded, in winning the' lot.- Other results to hand so far' show .that the Clifton (Waitara) crew succeeded in beating' the present champion - crew (W.anganuiTJuions) in- .thc Senior Four'race, tlnis Repeating'their performance of last season, when they succeedec in. doing this in. a three-quarter mile sprint in clinker boats, shortly, after; the championship'regatta. ■ - ; ' . : ." ! . Green, vWebb's late club-mate and pacer won thri'Semor Sculis, with Marshall second, but. so- far - there >is v nb ; information ,- as tc whether McDonald started-or not. . This wil raise Green's. 'stock considerably, for the , Champion Sculls at Napier ou Monday week, and indicates that he is: capable or giving Whelch, a good run for his title: •=' . "There is the' usual change in the Stat . Club's representative crews to. chronicle this weeki and again the change is in -th'e''-senioi ■ fcur.f. The bow has had anc the intention at timeof/-writing .is .to £1! his place with, W. 11; C: Oswin,'who .occupied this .position' in ■the'. Club's champion crew pf three years, ago: This -necessitates : his retirement-from .tho double sculling, com ; bination, and as. it is possible that ho. wil! no.t bo-available at'all tho-probability's thai neither crew.will go t'oihe post-.; : This.is tin climax'to a. long seric.V-o'f disappointments tc the Club and ; the crew, Which has battled hard face of changes and mishaps all the season. A Marlborough oxcha-ngo has tlio following- paragraph\ on the Pictoii' senior' : fou'r Tho,_ Picton Club, will v: be . represented.'at Napier' by ■ a different crew"'from tho oiie which failed at Wellington. U. Pcrano arid Carrick have taken the' places' of . Smith, and Gestro, and this cliarigo will -no doubt strengthen- tlie ci;ew a great' deal,' but the- stroke will have to lengthen considerably if they wish to keep alongside of a far-reaching cren like Jackson's, especially over; a- two-mile course.-The Jackson referred to is, of course, tho stroke of tho Blenheim four. Tho "Canterbury Times" of this'week contains a tirade from a correspondent on the alleged mismanagement of -the recent Wellington Regatta. ; . His chief cause of complaint th'e -so ; callcd, lack- of boat accommodatiori- on. the'rirain.: Now, tho v e were six long trucks provided, and- to anyone, at ail conversant with the art of boat packing there is rooni on each truck.for' sis-boats.' Jn addition to these was tlie truck on which the Waiiganui boats cariie ;dqwn, and • in all 1 doubt if the total' number'engaged amounted to •'thirty all told. So much for that. Alsc ho complains bitterly that the boats did not arrive. in ,town after the regatta tintil aftci nino o'clock, and had to be unpacked in -tlie dark. Well,' and what, then ?..'' After everj Christchurch regatta the . boats do not. arrive from Lake .Forsyth until after nine, but no. complaints are 'made .by, visiting crews .or that score. In fact, I can distinctly remember tho last occasion on which the Christchurch regatta was held at Stewart's-Gully, and then all the homo crews departed; -'with their boats on -loaving .the ■. Wellington and Star crews on tho river bank with absolutely no accommodation at all. , For all tho arrangements that'were made for theii transportation to Christchurch they • would be there yet, if • they had not eventually managed to flag a passing, goods train, on which they_ arrived *in . town at midnight, without having a bite to. eat since leaving the Cathedral City in tho morning.,. I don't remember, however, . that ' they rushed'illte print over-it,-but I do remember that thej considered tho experience as being all in the game.. Likewise our hypercritical' 'friend is annoyed because'his club's cre'ws were giver outside courses,, .'notwithstanding 'the' fact that his club had about two months' notice' ol the .date of closing of entries and then onlj managed to.get. the entries in after the positions had been' drawn -for, • two ,days late. Tho outburst ends with' the assertion thai tho local management-is doing its utmost tc discourage the- Southern- crews from competing at Wellington regattas; - The; Southern crews .will always ' be welcome Vhere, but if anything that' the 'Regatta; Coihnuttco;.can do will discourage the visits of disgruntled critics like the one under notice the action will meet with the approval of all .'rowing men. .' ' Webb, tho champion sculler, may not have been born to .'greatness, but,ho"certainly has achieved- it,, and now'he:is having-:it- thrust upon him.; The newest girls' hockey,, club formed:'in. town 'has called«itself, the '(Hercawa" Club, after Webb's boat; and has elected tlio long-suffering champion, to the -exalted position of vice-president thereoL': "Victor," . of. ,tlie "Wanganui, .Herald," among - some gossipy notos on / the recent championship race, says:—ln the course of'a chat with W. Fogwoll before.lie-left Wanganui, I was informed that.lib:had enjoyed his stay hero very much indeed, and: is: looking forward to another and more lengthy , stay with.us; as he expects to return very sWtly. He'wns not the least surprised at the result of. tho ; big race, in fact - lie, told the writer a week before tbe- : event that-he thought Webb would wiii comfortably. The news would not porno as a surprise to Australians, as few except Tresiddor's-own flickers, gave him a'chance against the New lander. , Asked what clianco -lie considered Arrist has of beating Webb, ho said tnat the Southom, man would undoubtedly . i "shake things up." "Ho has splendid >physique, great .staying powor, and will -have- ample time'-to train,- and . tho .. only. :.thiug: that: will undoubtedly-'tell against him is inexperience. However, he will bo no more inexperienced than Webb was when ho beat Stanbiiry- and Towns, and it should bo.a tough fight." Fog-well,-who is to act as Amst's trainer for his race against tho champion', will probably bo guided by' what he -gathers from training operations on the river here as to his;future ■ stops with regard to challenging the winner

of the Arnst-Webb match. So far as Ausralia's hopes of regaining the, title is concealed they appear the piesent ( entirely' on "Smiling Billy," as' Fogwell is styled. There are many good judges who aro . confident- that -Fogwell will within 1 a year or - two'become the world's champion^