THE MAN BEHIND THE CREW

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 103, 28 October 1933, Page 14

THE MAN BEHIND THE CREW

COACHING NEW ZEALAND OARSMEN

(Written for "The Post" by F. M. Spurdle.) tnt Ctor-^takes his scat aft; Keep your -iterdowu there, bow. v™ u-"n m i»i, ik and coac i us, And row out to tuc umsn ■ He'll'scol/an? reproach us, These movements y«i raust master, boys, And make us sit up to our graft." It you intend to win it I (By an old Red Coat. )

Behind every outstanding crow there Union had an excellent coach m R. is a coach in the background. It is, Jones, who produced, an -outstanding also true that in all our famous crews combination which contained X. and J. Fuller, and later on a mighty crew in which were the Kesteven brothers. All these men profoundly influenced the quality of Canterbury rowing. W. G. Ataek carried on the traditions by bringing Crosbie and Samuels to the fore.

Following the. sequence of events still further, it was J. Fuller who coached that • splendid C.R.C. champion crew of 1901, with H. Ayers in bow seat. No crew ever received more careful or more able attention and it was due to that experience that Mr. Ayers took up the running, and for thirty years has been a mentor of oarsmen. Today he is the doyen of ■ the fraternity: of coaches and his name will live in the annals of New Zealand rowing as the coach of the first eight to, win the inter-provincial, and the first eight to be successful overseas —the 1925 crew that triumphed in Australia. In each of these crews F. H. Brown had a seat. Now he coaches the Canterbury University eight and has had two wins.

On Otago Harbour, B. Provo gave instructions in the early days, and many a young crew he took in- hand just for the pleasure of tho thing. A. Binnie coached North Enders, while Andrew Hunter-did: likewise for Dunedin Ama-teurs.-In .1889, Dunedin was visited By two'great'Australian oarsmen, Stevenson and Matterson. From them J. McGrath picked up many valuable points—notably steadiness in recovery —which, in years to come, enabled him not only to-win his; red coat as sculler, but also. influence the style of other southern, oarsmen.' ' The Otago crew,

there were super-oarsmen. To whom sliall be given the credit of victory— to oarsmen or coach? Truth lies in the middle. A'coach can do little without good material, and no crew, can attain its utmost without a guiding mind the bank. In olden times there was very little coaching. Men.tugged away over long courses—-three, and sometimes four miles—in whaleboats, ships' boats, and light gigs. Stamina, or "bottom," as it was then termed, was the chief factor of success. The advent of keelless boats, and in 1873. the outrigger with sliding seats, altered all that. When slides were put into racing _ shells, coaches stepped into importance. Then it became possible for science to triumph over brawn. Pen-pushers and manual workers met on more equal terms. Water slogging advanced to the art. of rowing. Christehurch has always been headquarters of the rowing coach 'because the low banks of the Avon made his work easy and pleasant. Among the earliest coaches were Archdeacon Harper and Messrs. Herdson (captain of C.X.C.), Glassford, and Mellish (Eesident Magistrate of Kaiapoi). They assisted in the preparation of crews that won the inter-provincial fours of, the seventies. In- 1872 all' the boats had fixed seats. -Next.year some had slides and some were coxswainless, notably the Dolly Varden and the Stella, .both of Wellington. Those were tho days of professionalism when the prize (£l5O for first) ,was divided among the crewi And the betting!In 1887 the N.Z.A.E.A. was founded and held its first champion fours at Wanganui. Canterbury, coached by F. B. Cobby, an ex-Oxonian,, won. Mr. Cobby, mounted on a pony, wotild follow his crew." "Whoa!" and pony would stop and nibble grass while coach made an oration. "Gee up!" and off they went again. \ Going back to 1880, Christehurch

which won the championship Jn 1926 and 1927, and the Stewards' Challenge Cup in ' Melbourne, was coached by H. Brasch. Another valuable instructswas N. Kirkcaldie. In the meantime in 1894, J. Yeoman, the greatest'coach of Ms day, returned

to Port Chalmers. Ho rejoined .Queen's Drive 8.C., and set about remodelling the style of its senior crows. He introduced tho powerful leg drive from Australia and shortened the swing. The result was victory in tho Champion Fours of 1895, 1896, and 1897. Perhaps it is his influence that is present today and enables the Otago eight, coached by J. Braithwaite and R. Thompson, to conquer year by year. Yeoman afterwards taught at Avon K.C., Christehurch, When in Australia

will be the crew that obtains his services. Wanganui has had some great rowing coaches. In the early days there was S. T. Fitzhorbert, who used to ride along the bank and shout advice. One dark night, it is recorded, tho boat stopped, Jet "S.T." ride on and roar instructions to a crew that was nowhere near. There was the devil to pay—afterwards. J. K. Ort'ord' was a toweroofif strength to Wanganui R.C. He was a Cambridge oar who rowed No. 4 (Steve Fairbairn No. 5) in tho winning crew of 18S7. The impetus that he gave to his club was responsible for the success of A. S. C. Anderson, and G. Marshall in the doubles of 1910. The Wanganui Unions owe their fust championship in the Fours (1897) to tho ambition and bulldog courage of tlieir great stroke, Wally Sharpo (afterwards coach to the Wanganui. Collegiate School). But the "big crew" that won in 1910, crossed the Tasinan and won the interstate race ; at Hobart, was tho joint work of two men—P. Evans and C. A. Barton. Evans, did the spadework when Cotterill, Ryland, and Dustin were novices. Barton had the crew. He was a strict disciplinarian. A favourite method of his was to stand while steering, and woe betide his men if the boat wavered in balance. Both Evans and Barton had studied the precepts of R. C. Lehmann (author of "The Complete Oarsman") and thus their combined efforts harmonised. W. Webb, ex-world's champion, has given freely of his knowledge to all promising scullers, and now C. Healey, tho famous stroke arid coach of the Olympic eight, •is advising the young stuff in U.B.C. The earliest coach to be noted in Wellington was C. E. Show, who prepared the crew of the first outrigger—"The Wellington"—that was launched on the harbour away back in 1871. In 1876, W. Hearn joined the crew of the

his style was developed by G. Upward, the master-mind of Victorian aquatics. We come now to the smaller rowing centres of tho South Island. At Blenk heim, G. B. Richardson, an old Oxford oar, coached the Seymour brothers in the early nineties during their rivalry with Queen 'a Drive. He imparted the orthodox style—long swing and steady recovery. But it was too long and too sluggish. Not until 1906 did Blenheim win the Fours under the guidance of J. McKinley. He was a great believer in hard work, and kept has crew practising night and morning. Today, A. M. Hale carries on the gdod work, and Marlborough oarsmen owe much to his enthusiasm. Picton entrusted its seniors to A. G. Fell, who 'moulded tho champions of 1898, 1899, and 1900. The brilliant Kawatiris (Westport), a junior crew who startled New Zealand by winning their red coats in 1902, were licked,into shape by George Richardson. Next year they were polished by D. T. .Thomas and won again. . Coming to Auckland, the Waitemata champion crew of 1909 was coached by Dr-.^Gore Gillon. Sometimes he would coach from the coxswain's ,seat and sometimes-from the deck of a ferry ■steamer. A practice of his was to take-in turn a member of the crew, replace him by a substitute, and then impart instruction by pointing out the faults of the others. That fine old oarsman, George Barrett, whose career dates back to the whaleboat era, coached the Auckland R.C. c'rew-of 1932. His specialty was "dry boat" work. When the harbour was too rough, the crow manned a rigger placed on the floor of the shed. It was a splendid method of teaching the catch, "hands away," and the recovery. Tauranga was put on the map by the enthusiasm of C. Tonkin, who brought out W. Turner, the champion sculler, and Turner and Haua in the doubles. Hamilton owes the lustre of its fame to S. H. T. Buchanan, who coached the four of 1931 and 1932. His beneficial influence can be seen in the style of every member of the shed—youth, maiden, junior, and senior. He has lately gone to Auckland, and fortunate

"Dolly Varden," and for many years to come played an important part in shaping local rowers. The Wellington KIC. champions of 1889, 1890, and 1891 were greatly influenced by the advice of this great oarsman and sculler. Other men who have taken a hand were Dr. Walter Fell, Messrs. A. S. Biss, J. E. Widdop, "Dad" Bishop, and R. Crawford of pair oar fame. But the difficulties of coaching on the harbour are so many that few will tackle' the job; other reasons prevent crews of promise from sticking together. The result has been that for ,28 years no four has succeeded in winning the national championship for the Empire City If rowing is to advance, good coaching is indispensable. The N.Z.A.R.A. has recognised this fact by presenting a certificate to the coach of a winning championship four, and to the coach ap-

pointed for" a representative four or eight-oared crew competing either in New Zealand or overseas. The sport has now entered upon its final phase— that of international competition, and in the mighty tests of the future New Zealand will bo pitted against the pick of the world, both as regards quality of crow and ability of coach. Tho final issue—victory or defeat—will depend on the man with the megaphone.