WORLD'S SCULLING CHAMPIONSHIP

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 72, 18 December 1919, Page 7

WORLD'S SCULLING CHAMPIONSHIP

HOW FELTON WON STEERED BY KING'S BARGEMASI'ER (Sydney "Daily Telegraph's" Special Correspondent.) London, October 30. Two open championships within the year is not a bad bag for Australia. Gerald Patterson, of Victoria, swept, the board at tennis, and now Alfred Felton, nf New South Wales, ilias beaten Krnest Dairy, tho most accomplished sculler that England has produced for very many years. It was a wonderful feat f or Felton to achieve. Nobody in England would hea.' of the possibility of Barry being defeated. I heard the bettins men offer 5 to 1 on Barry on the morning of tho race without finding lakers—until there were a fow Australians/ about, who quickly snapped np the odds. Monday was a bleak and bitter day on the river. A piercing wind nipped the .ears and numbed the hands. The brown I Hood was whipped into waves big enough to swamp a skiff. It was a very different course from that of the Parraiitafta Hirer, with which Felton is familiar— probably the finest sheet of water in the world for a sculling championship. Aim what crowds used to assemble by the winning post near Searle's Monument! The course from Putney to Mortlakc on Monday was like Sydney Harbour under a stiff hort/h-eiuiter, But Felton negotiated it without a'mistake. He and'his Australian supporters were the only people who were not astonished at tho result. On tho Monday morning the < "Daily Mail'* published an article by Barry, in which ho wrote; "I believe I shall win, but I am not expecting an easy victory. My confidence is based upon an accumulation of evidence supplied by the 'clock.'' Just as the speedometer tells the chauffeur tho pace at which his motor-car is travelling, so does my chronometer satisfy mo on. tho same all-important subject. If Felton wjn.% he will have the satisfaction of knowing that he did not obtain the reward of his perseverance at tho cxpenso of a decrepit 'has-been.' • I shall have no justification for advancing that argument as a reason for my defeat." Felton, on the other 'band, sat tight and said nothing to -anybody. But he "delivered '.ho goods." The Race. Whatever view was held in Australia of Felton's chances—and one knows, tho challenger sent encouraging reports to his supporters at home—the result look liway the British public's breath, (says : "Oarsman"). ' Quito "c. large proportion of tho scores of thousands of spectators, who assembled on the banks on a bleak, blustering day, believed the Englishman had won. Having nothing else to go on, it did not seem natural tlhnt so warm n favourite should be 60 far behind.

Few jieoplo outside Felton's immediate circle anticipated that : lie would win. He had the advantage of youth and power; his athletic build impressed even those who thought him rather on the heavy side. Every other factor pointed to Barry as the- winner—his experience: skill, watermanship, staying power, anil acquaintance with the course. In some of these particulars, Felton was destined to' give his- critics a shock; but few doubted the .Englishman's /superiority. Those who went on performances pointed out that Barry beat I'addon, who beat Felton. The challenger's "stable," especially his "Digger" assistants, were astonishingly confident; but public faith in Barry never wavered. He was never at a shorter price that 5 to 2 on. Tho only doubt was whether he was tho Barry of 1914.

Much depended, of course, on the weather; Felton's friends scanned the shy uneasily as the day approached. Train-' inj* had lieen favoured bv exceptionally fine weather. Two days before the race lit broke. Monday opened with.a lowerinn; sly, and'half a gale of wind. Most of those who had believed that Feltnn [ had a chance, even a Rood chance, felt it was .gone. Betting on the public steamers opened at ii to 1 against him, and shortened to 3 to 1. But really public feeling in Barry's favour was much strong Only the staunchness, of the many Diggers abroad, who saw'in (he odds a challenge to a fellow-Dieter, and toot it up, prevented the odds from lengthening. Felton won the toss for stations, and chose the Middlesex side. In Pntnev reach the wind blew straight down stream against, a fast tide,., raising tlint short toppling sea': .which is-;the sculler's pet aversion. .The start,; bv mutual consent, from stake-boats, was. in' midstream, nt the-.bridge .where wind and water were at their worst. Barry dipped first, and got •his bow-in'-front; It was-no dnsii' from tho mark, and a" b!ajle-to-blade tussle for- the'-.lead. On the contrary. Barry .just "plupced" away on his midstream course-in the teeth of the.weather. Foltori' "plugged" away, too.-l.mt he was bound for the leo of the Middlesex shore. The two courses widened lintil the men were the full width, «fth<> river -apart: they did not come together again till a mile arid n half. It was rather like a sailing event; in which skipperVhiivo' "ide.as".'and.you a.re not sure, which c"uv'=e is best,-or bv how much, until the boats come aagin upon the same course. Felton's Darinn Plan. The disclosure of Felton's plan was dramatic in its frankness. His was no eradual slie°rinT-o(F; ho leaded at half a right angle for the wall. One was at first amazed and a little, dubious, seeing that h» thus gave awav seven 1 lengths to Barry, H,o headed straight for the turn near B>imnarsmith Bridge on the Surrey <iide. Bi't Felton was proceading according fo nl n n, f w wlrn lie "pt across he found Bill Fist, the' Bovnl lmrnremastor, waiting in the bow "f'an eight to show him the wav "0. Fast's kncwlodt!" of the curse in nil' v»n ther« is unrivalled, and it can wfelv bo s»id be was at the back nf Felton'* taeHes. Small wonder was it. too. Hiat Fn«t became excired nt the sight "f a tun- unlawfully sneaking up the enibenknent who tho rr-n "" wer* peeling off at the <d;iVeliots. Tt*ae-"ed n. trifle wcrdone at th» time: but si.w ii vision of plnis i/n'ie a/rW. F-»n if East did inspire Felton's methods. T« ] - tin deserves every cmi'it fm- the coi'fideuco ami coolness with wbie'> hn r'». vnioneo' Miom. Tt was pnKHv ndm''-: "'iK TTo was ariveii. op intr'ni 1 ". "-n l '- t.hnn»M-our coiu-so. an'l 'cert it tbren-b. "'it like a '-"'aran on Vs nat ; .-e w!■"•=. Onlv once did he to wide, an'l thai- u-ns a counl" of hundred yards from liome when all was over—"barring' accidents. Barry's Bad Passage. While Felton hit out for tho bank, Barry plugged away in the rough, making very bad weather of it—so bad, indeed, that it is doubtful if Felton would have fared worse. • He could not get his boat to run. while his challenger, sculling beautifully and powerfully in lumpy water against a .stiff breeze, along, the bank, began to wipo oil' arrears His only obvious fault was a splashing clearance with his right scull. Spectators on the hank say Harry had n couple in" lengths' lead at the <|ua-rtcr-mile, which is_ feasible enough, in view of Fell oil's wide deviation from ( tho start. Yet at the mile Felton's lead, hard to judge from tho umpire's- launch, . was given from the shore nt eight to ten lcugllis. Barry was rapidly reaching the shelter of the ben-1 on the Surrey shore, while Follon. with-superb confidence, actually huggeo' his bank for some distance round the bend before crossing the river obliQiiclv. Even with his lead, anything might happen before lie mil nt ross. lie h'id to negotiate a nnsly lvm sea, while Hurry, more spenf, no doubl. was- in con:p:ra,lively good water. I'ollonY; rwiwr in tho rough was the best thin!; he did in the race. He never faltered, and kept his boat beautifully even throughout, surprising even hi* admirer-.' Ope wis entitled fo expect li-ivry In clo>-e w. yt when Felton straightened out 'or llammeivnnith Bridge he was still a. good ni"hl lengths in front. I!»l'i men were 1 now in Ibe same wafer, and Feltnn rni--- *•: Ihe bridge in Hiniii. 12soe.—3!)*oe. ahead of Harry. Felton had staked everything on a hn'il plan nvc Ihe me«t critical st»go of the race: i| r-iieeeed. Ed brilb'aiitly, and, as it proved, decided Ihe issue. MM., ,1 ~-.,- „..„,- ,-,,.,- f«.. l,nfh men

who were soon in calm water, which lasted nearly to the finish. Barry's chance was not bright, but be was always a slaver, and Felton's friends were still far from sure. Barry settleri down to his stern chase in good heart, with occasional hursts which revealed tho real Barry an exceptionally.fine sculler. One effort more sustained than the others, beyond Chiswick Eyot, was brilliant—tho best thing seen on the day. But these spurts made little impression on the Australian's lend, ami none at all on his confidence. Barry practically abandoned the race before reaching Barnes Bridge, where Fclton's time was 2-lmin. 42sec. and his lead fully ton lengths. From Hammersmith Felton rowed very attractively in every way. He seemed to know the race was his, and he rowed with the en.-" and confidence of a winner. Unruffled bv the champion's sprints, he rowed a powerful lifting, driving 6trnke. sitting well up in his boat, his shoulders rising and falling in beautful rhythm, and, maintaining a good length., His consislsnlly good" length, lift, and drive were noticeable throughout the race. He was occasionally unsteady, and sometimes his boat rolled; but in a great variety of conditions his display was good, and worthy of a champion. Those in ciosf touch with him say bis form lias improved very noticeably since he loft Australia. Hn eased up near the finish, whero tho wind, coming round the bend, raised a "jobble," and Barry did not row himself but. The King's waterman in .the judge's boat gave tho distance as s'x lengths: but as his first duty was to keep an eye on each sculler and lower his Hag, his estimate was pro'bnbly an afterthought. Fel ton's margin was never greater and wa.s quite twfllve lengths. His time was 25min. Msec. An Error of Judgment. Barry's tactics will long be discussed, and it is pretty safe t:> say he committed a serious error of judgment.' But it is an exaggeration to say it cost him the race, or to say he lost thrcirace when he lost the toss'. That Felton's tactics were sound was proved in the event But there was something to be said for Barry's methods. lie took the best fine weather route, and eannWy piloted into smooth water beyond Hammersmith, ho made all tho use that could be made of the tide. This factor is generally overlooked. Yet it did count for something, in spite of the wind and waves; for the tide runs in Putney reach at a speed unappronched on, say, the Parramatta. When the boats were held at the stakeboats, the tide was sufficiently powerful over wind and wave to keep the boats straight. Felton's courso 'gave away many lengths, and placed him in tho most Bluggish water. Still it is undoubted that. Barry threw away i>ny chance he had during the first gruelling mile, and Felton would have bean similarly beaten if the courses had been exchanged. On tho oth°r hand, on tho showing of both men, Felton had at least an equal chance if Barry had stuck to him, or vice versa.