ROWING.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 544, 26 June 1909, Page 12

ROWING.

(Br MKhcuaT.l

- The result of Tuesday/a big raco came more' as_ a.confinna.tioa.;ofKite!feaj;sthan as a sur-' phse.'; ,Tho .disappointment at/Wobb's deV 1 feat was. greatly':, softened by the' small margin of difference betwoen the. scullers as con-! voyed to us by the; first'.report,-.which said; 1 "two; lengths-" ■] Heroihjthe responsible par- : . ties :showed ;tiemselves ; 'm6st oorisidcra-to of' the feelings of the public. Stall!the "feelings": 'have become sufficiently inured to shock ,-by.' now to'be^abla 1 ■to/face" "the truth in : matters like these,' and it really cannot bo a difficult matter forevon' the most unsophisticated"special; correspondent";-to' discriminate between.two, lengths, (as at, first-reported) and five lengths—the'.official verdict. : ■ However; the report had. the .effect -of [ quickening interest in:tho event.',and for a while the town was, all agog for..tile official.time,, as it was concluded that'' with : the men so close the dis-' tahco would bo fought out' for every pouiid and, inch, and-;therefore something 1, very startling -would have been- registered by the watches:;: And in \ this conclusion the public was right,: though; its• premises were wrong —something startling indeed was .registered;The official time was givenas 18min. 16soc;— lmiri.. 378 cc. better than Arrist's:time over the' same course last: year. On. that occasion ho did the journey in, 19min.'52sec., ;ivliicli was considered wonderful. : It had.only boon boatep once previously over tho 3J-milo course '—by. Jim ; Stanbury,' whcn'he defeated George Towns on the l'arramatta in ,1908 in 19min. 47seo.\, The:latest.effort shatters: all previous. figures, even those rowed over the' shorterParramatfa course. In. fact, the lOmin, has only been., broken ;. twice'- previously—both times, by Stanbury.: In-1896- heboat' -J. M'Loah.'in 18min.-26seo.',:;and also Tom Sill-, livan in 18inin. 2(!Jsec.' On account 6f,tho full-'dißt'an'ce,not having.,been covorfld,: h'ow'over,: these performances are not generally considered for records".,;.. :....;...: ;_ln the. present case the,scullers.were as- r sisted: by tho current;-but from- reports -,to hand this does not to have been enough to account"for such:a marked differenoe. That; can only,-be put down to. tiie calibre of tho-men engaged, and the" resolute manner in which each battled out(every inoh. of the.later;portion; of: the, ;race. Reversing last year's-procedure,: Webb, appears to havp got away the faster. "Towards: this, Arnst's 7-ihch : blades would ,bo a contributoi? faotor., He would be in-the sam'oposii; tion,as a cyclist starting, out' on, an : extra high' gear. Once under way,, however, tihe big man made his oxtra leverage toll, and consoqufently _tho, first;milo ■;.'. was a bitter' struggle, .taking., smin. 15scc;, as ' -against .smin.; 45scc. in the previous race. Two miles wore negotiated in 10mini ; 8iJsec.,;asagnuist the previous llmih. 335c0., thus leaving the Inst 1J miles tobe' covered.', in. 7min; 24sec. Tliis' shows '• how bitter,: ibis •;" last"' • struggle was,, and'it was in this section.of- tho contest that the: record fckme was built up. In i last year's raoe,;it will be 'remembered that Arnst praotically had.tho'/race won at the two-mile post. : Consequently: he was .not "rowed out" over the remainder of his task, and took Bmin. 19sec.to do it; On the: present occasion ho was not;holding so good'a position, and consequently was.pushed along .considerably harder, with the; result that he put tho IJ' miles behind him in 7min. 2"lsec. , —55 seconds quicker. -:,; ~,.'.. ■■'.;',■'■•..■. Truly it was a great; performance, and one that, should stand out--as suoh:among -the records of the ,r v aco for years. Inquiry has been .'frequently made.:as to whether the fig-' urcs .-will establish, and be accepted; as, a record,. on. ; account: of the favouring .current,'; but as there.is.jio Board of Control or governing; body,to decide theso matters, - the clocking for each race must stand as officidlly tulcon, and be accepted - as- the' ■ official time, the "error of.the day"-notwithstand-' irig. - , .■- '■-. .;.;' ■':'■■:'<•■ ;.;;.;- ; :■■.,-■ "<■; While on the. subject of times, a word regarding Webb seems to be.', called for; In the hurrahing'for. Arnst's wonderful , performance the excellence of the defeated champion's effort is too apt to bo overlooked. Tho actual time taken by Webb hnsnot.yet boon' reported, oven if it - was ; clocked,- but, in-any case, it can only have been beaten once in a championship-' race, and that once -was' the present orcasion. Hc,'-tnn, must have been comfortably inside ■■' previous ■' record timo. Webb's defeat may, and very likely: will, end him os a world's champion'-,- hut it also stamps him as beiii's one of the best of. tho many good mon who have held championship honours. Webb's chief trouble is that, lie was champion when Dick Arnst happened along.. " For. Influenza 1 Ulc'o \Vootl6' Great Fctsoormint Cum. No«r (aili. li. 6i.2a.ai.