ROWING

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 25, 30 January 1932, Page 20

ROWING

By "Stroke" PETONE'S SUCCESS

WANGANUI REGATTA

OLYMPIC AFFAIRS

Petoue oarsmen who competed at the Wanganui regatta last week enjoyed a big measure of success. Conditions for the regatta were, good, and there was satisfactory representation. Union (Wanganui) and Petone between them divided the greater portion of the do-, nations. Aramoho arid Wanganui had a win" each, ■ and Star and Wellington gained .'a,' second each. Donations won by each club, with. Hast year's amounts in parentheses, arc:—Union, £49 (£55); Petone,:£32 (£30); ;'; Wanganui, £10 (£10); Aramoho, £8 (£5); Star, '£2 (£25); Wellington, £1 (nil). Petone's record ,for!the day was: — : Maiden fours, third;' maiden singlo 'sculls,'; first; junior fours (lOst 71b and under) r first; senior fours, second; junior double.sculls, first; junior single sculls! first; junior-fours '(clinker), second. "■.; i ... .." . . i Describing the senior fours, . the 'f Chronicle" states:-— ;.. Prom start to finish this was a great race between Union and Petone. Aramoho secured a bad start and did not worry either of the other crews. They dropped gradually behiiid, although towards the finish they gained a, little water. Union got away ,to. the best start and set a pace of 35. / Petone hit up 36 and, if anything,/appeared to have a slight lead as .• the crews ap? proaehed the bend in the river. Aramohoy.'vrcre striking" 33 .'at that point and were about two lengths behind the other two crews who were pacing along on level terms. With the bend passed Aramoho ; swung further into-..the' middle",of"thel river whore Petone was striking a> steady.:34. Union, who had taken* the; lead, r were ; nearer to the Sonirne' Parade jbankj; going well at 33 and gradually drawing away.all the time. Opposite; Webb's,Shed they had; a length to the good; Prom that point on Union and Petone ir.owed practically stroke for -stroke, Union .gaining another half length.'' ;'■' ; Union won' by a length and a half,mwith four lengths between,second and third. Olympic Course. -.;' \ ; . ■ ■ In view of the likelihood of an eight being sent away to represent New Zealand at the Olympic Games the.following details are interesting:— ' Bowing events will bet, held on what has been described by Olympic officials as one the finest courses in the world; The .Olympic Rowing Stadium will be situated on a quiet -armJ of Alamitos Bay, forty minutes from Los Angeles, and will meet. every Olympic requirement as to length, width, and "depth. It is' 2000'/metres long, 130 metres wide, and 2.5 metres deep. Grandstands will provide for 100,000 o*. more'spectators. The, rowing ieycuts atiOlympia wiil be held on five days from Tuesday, 9th August to Saturday, 13th, August, inclusive. According to the programme published by the "Los Angeles Times," the races, will cpmmbnce.at the early hour of,B a.m., continuing throughout the . day. Thero Syill '.bo: more than 2000 athletes competing in.!.the various events. A gpccial villago: has -been constructed, consisting, of- 1000 .'.tworoomed houses covering an area half a mile square. , i The.appointment of three selectors for theinterprovincial eight-oared'erew, at the last meeting of the executive"of ;*e Auckland Bowing Association, indicatcspthat steps will soon bo taken to send a crew into training for the contest, 'at Picton on Easter Saturday, states,the"Herald." Frpm the.names already fotwarded to the selectors it is evident that quite a strong crew will be able to represent Auckland this year! It may not, be possible for the crew to have continuous training' iii^ the early stages owing to the various regattas intervening, but every available opportunity will be taken to get the men into.good form. . : : Otago's Decision. The decision of, the Otago RowiiU Association, to bo represented at the eights' championship, provided the nnance: can be arranged, is -welcome news. With the present champions participating in the, race, there should be a great deal of interest in a fixture which promises to be the most outstanding event in the rowing -world in the .Dominion : for many seasons. , Discussing Otago's '." attitude, '■ the Otago Daily Times?'..state's:—"A different complexion was given to the association's decision when a telegram was received from the Marlborough Association which- stated- that-considera-tion would be given \ to .altering the date' for the championship event if a guarantee was given" that the" Otago and Southland , Association's would enter crews-for the eight-par contest. -That telegram caused the members of the Otago Association to sit up and take notice. A special meeting of delegates was called, and the whole question was reviewed., The v president, realising that the. association had .made a mistake in deciding not to send an Otago eight to Picton, was successful in having the resolution pas_sed at the meeting held at Port Chalmers on 18th January rescinded. The position was then fully discussed, and it was eventually decided to send a crew, providing the necessary funds could be collected. The decision was unanimous.It was a wise decision, as the Otago rowing world was hard hit when it was made known that the province would-not be represented at Picton. The question of financing the trip will probably be a stiff proposition for the association, but the diflieulty should be overcome with the hearty support of the clubs and the public. ■ It has been stated' that the Otago eight will not be at full strength, but a study of those members of last year's crew who are available for selection and of the list of new men nominated bythe various clubs' shows that a representative crew could be selected which would be quite up to the strength of the crews chosen during the past four years. Of last year's crew, Brough (stroke), Solomon (No. 7), and Fountain (No. 4) will probably be selected. Clark and Eggers aro unable to make the trip this year and will have to be replaced; Thero are quite a number of solid stroke side riieri available. Of those' nominated^ Lawless (Otago), Neilson , (Port Chalmers), Wergos, and Vallis (Otago), there is not one who is lacking in physiquo and ability. The remaining seats in the boat (Nos. 5 and, 3 and bow) are open to competition, as the men who occupied these seats last; year seem to have gone back in form. " :From the bow side men nominated by their clubs— Mathieson and Pritchard (Queen's Drive), Znffer, Aiulerson, and Johnson (Otago), Mitchell (North End)—quite a good bow side could be selected.