ROWING.

Evening Star, Issue 12028, 28 October 1903, Page 3

ROWING.

[By Fix.] Rowing at Port Chalmers is in full serine, noth clubs taking advantage of the fine Tveather. The Drive has a large number of new members this season, who are show”S. 1 promising form. The youths’ ami iraiden crews are being coached bv the captain (Mr J. Yeoman), and should give a good account of themselves. The Cameron Fours will be rowed early nest month, the prews to represent the club at regattas to im picked on the form displayed. Tom Wright had a crew of seniors out last week, and he has evidently lost none of his stay ing power, as he pumped them all out. The Port Club will probably be without the services of F. Keenan and G. .Smith for Boxing Day if the Port regatta is held on that date, as it is rumored that the former is reserving himself far th>e championship, and Smith is at present in Timaru. Like their sister club, the Drive, they have also a, number of young bloods, who are developing wonderfully quickly. bear that some of the Dabs hope the O.K.A, will fix the date of the championship regatta as early as possible. The amount of training necessary for such an important fixture is not small, and the club hope to retrieve part of the. laurels thev lost Lust season.

The Maiden Eights at the Sydney regatta (says one writer) was responsible for a tedious delay at the start, most, of the crews seeming to Lw e but little idea as to how to get into their position in the nor’-easter that was blowing. Making every allowance for inexperience, it was about the worst exhibition of want of watermanship imaginable, whilst some crows Sydneys, Balmains, and ’Varsity in particular—appeared to take but little notice of the orders of the starter. At least one crew narrowly escaped disqualification. When they did pm race was contested in two sections until Glodesville was reached, the Mercantiles, North Shores, and Balmains being on the northern side of the river, whilst the Sydneys, ’Varsxtys, and Leichhardts were away over on the southern shore. Of the northern lot, the Mercantiles quickly took the lead. Of the other division, the Leichhardt crew almost at once fell to the rear, wldlst the Sydney and ’Varsity' crews fought out a great battle, the cox of the lastnamed hampering the former by erratic steering, which eventually cameo a foul. The Mercan tiles, sheltered fiom the wind, reached Glodesville wharf first, and, going cn, won a hard race by a length from the Sydneys. With positions reversed (continues tlie writer), and making allowances for the foul, the Sydneys may have won ; anyway, there was seemingly little between the two crews, whilst the University crew was probably not much inferior to either. The.boating season in Nelson opened on October 10, when the weather was most favorable, and the function was the most successful of its kind that has taken place for some years. As regards weather, lie Nelson men were more fortunate than the Wellmgton oarsmen, for at the latter’s opening day the wind was so strong that a boat procession, which had been arranged could not be held, so a whaleboat race was substituted, in which the Star Club beat the Wellington men. The season promises to be a most successful one at Nelson, and eight crews are in training for the President’s Fours. °

L’lie active and honorary members of the Oamam Boating Club number 120. Mainly as the result of a bazaar held last vcar. the balance-sheet presented at the annual meeting showed a credit balance of £205. i’he crews for the first club race (President's Pours) are now in active trainin'*. -The crews, taken as a whole, are a. very promising lot, and judging by the appearance of the men some good racing should be witnessed. The crews patting in the most work are stroked by Messrs Conroy, Edwmds, Rice, Brown, and Sctrrr.

Several of the crews go out when darkness has set> m, and. it is impossible to see what form they are showing. If members cannot get down to train at the arranged time, they should make a point of letting the stroke or some member of the crew know. It is very annoying for three men to wait some considerable time and then have to go out in semi-darkness. A little thought on the part of me moors would avoid all this, and in any case they would find it much better to do their training early in the evening, when faults can be pointed out and rectified much easier than at dusk. The principal fault is a general tendency to row with the arms alone. The effect of this is tiring, and is a nutter that only needs a. little practice to rectify. When you find you have a good grip of the water, raise the shoulders smartly and carry them back first., keeping the arms straight as lent* as possible. ‘ °

Another general tendency is to row deep. This can be easily avoided by turning the top part of the blade of the oar slightly over towards the stem of the boat when about to catch. New oarsmen should not try to do too ranch work at first. Get the weight on smartly, pull the stroke right through, shoot the hands away ns soon as the stroke is finished, and clime forward slowly, trailing -yourself for the next catch. By observing these simple rules you will, find that, once yon learn to row pro per It, you can get all the necessary weight. Crews from the O.R.C. shed have been training most assiduously for the Wallers and the. Matheson Fours, some of them even going in for two spins a day. Kirkcaldy's crew seem to be the most fancied for the former race, and on paper they are certainly a strong combination. Le Cren is stroking another crew that many' expect to see well up at the finish, and 'the zeal and attention to training shown by him and others of the older brigade afford" the right Kind of example to the young oarsmen. 1 erty Priest has a heavy crew behind him, with a particularly strong No. 3. Matthewson’s crew will probably have to be scratched owing to some of his men not putting in an appearance Sands’s crew seem to be going steadily, but Hay’s crew have not yet been seen afloat.

Two of the crews for the Matheson Pours are being coached by Gooch., and both are rowing in fair form, Pearce’s Jot being perhaps the stronger, though Page and the men behind him are rowing capitally. Morris Priest is coaching a crew stroked by Denniston, and Stables crew are under the guidance of Stocker.