ROWING

Evening Star, Issue 22890, 23 February 1938, Page 5

ROWING

[By Coxswain.]

THE DUNEDIN REGATTA PORT AMD OTAOO SUCCESSFUL

•It was -unfortunate that the Dunedin Regatta Club should have experienced such adverse water conditions last Saturday for its annual fixture. In all there were seven swampmgs, and oarsmen could do little to prevent water coming aboard. In postponing t e remaining events until the Sunday morning the officials showed wisdom, !btit it was regrettable that the decision jwas not made earlier when the element of luck prevailed. ' The most successful clubs were Port Chalmers and Otago, both of which secured four firsts, three seconds, and one third. North End was next with one 'first, four seconds, and two thirds. IThen came Oamani with one first, and Queen’s Drive with one second and 1 iwiree thirds, , Jha Empiad Eight. P The drama of the eights race was S packed into the last quarter of a mile, during which the English crew, rowing with silky smoothness, wa schallenged desperately hy the powerful Australian crew, with New Zealand in a vigorous, , (but vain pursuit (says an Australian ' ’ The bulk of the spectators were ’Jammed on the Penrith, bank 300 yards stretch from, the bridge to the line. They had seen the three prews paddle a pul® and a quarter upetiredm to the start, where, after a deal of fussing inseparable from all keen contests, they lined up as three black smudges on a river dirty brown iafter recent rain. The three black smudges moved as kmoke rose. from the starter’s pistol, «nd each black smudge was fringed with •liver foam where 24 oars were biting into the water. Soon the smudges became distinguishable as three boats iwith men in them, with blades working rhythmically on each side of each boat. But interest remained impersonal un-til-the. mile mark, a quarter of a mile -from the finish. There the crews were, close together. England had a lead, jfcut, a. lead that could, have been cut down if a challenger had skill and strength enough. Nor was New Zealand put of the race. England shot under the bridge with ■. slight lead from Australia, which whs ■ length or so in front or Neiy Zealand. Then came the Australian challenge— a challenge jn which eight men of strength thrust all their , vigour and determination into their work. _ Arms, •boulders, and legs strove in unison for JEmpire honours. The water spun from their oars' and the foam became thicker as the shell cut its way Jhrough the jauddy water. The effort was in vain. The English Crew, never losing its rhythm, aiiswered the bawling of their cox for more power, and nobly followed the increased exertion of their stroke, the smallest man iir the boat. The stroke'was a man who knew his job. He knew how to keep a cool head in this crisis of a last-min-Mte spurt, and he led his crew to a magnificent victory. flew Zealanders the " Dark Horses.” - Commenting on the New Zealand eight, “'Rhythm ” in the f Sydncy 4 Referee* said:—“ The New Zealand •ight? Well, it was up against two better crews. . . . that’s all. The rowing of’, the Maori]anders' was hard, clean, and correct. Blit do not think the men were as well-conditioned to stand a hard xgqe as were England and Australia. New" Zealand hung to England for about a quarter of a mile, but inside ithe next quarter dropped back and did aot- again become-prominent. It was liafd to get a line on the form of the New Zealanders. They did all their triala well "above the course, so hardly anybody saw them really “ flat out.” They were 44 dark horses,” and like so many of that quality, did not have •“ the goods.” Sick Man in Australian Four. < ‘A sick man stroked Australia‘to a ■lashing victory.,in the fours. Jack iFisher. ruged' N.S.W. police oarsman, - who was promoted to the stroke seat by coach 44 Tiff ” Qurban in the - last fortnight—previously he wowed No. 2—went down with gastritis ot mid-day on Tuesday. Between that time and Tuesday night, he lost 4 pounds in weight. He was not able to eat anything for nearly, 24 hours. Yet, in spite of all that, he went out and rowed like a champion. Coaches for the 44 Boat Race.”' That J. H. Page and C. W. Wise have been asked to coach Oxford and Cambridge respectively for the 1938 •university boat race is symptomatic of the growing appreciation of the truth that the best-known university oar is not necessarily the. best coach—particularly in view of the fact that most Blues do . the greater part of ' their Towing on the Cam and the Isis and tfie upper reaches of the Thames, and nave comparatively little personal experience of the aubtleties of the Tide- ' .way, -where the race is rowed. . Neither Page nor Wise is an old Blue, and Wise 'is not an Oxford or Cambridge man., Rage, known through •H the rowing world to-day as 44 Page of, Thames,’’ has been captain of . Thames Rowing Club, has enjoyed much success as coach of Oriel, and is at present rowing master and coach at St. Paul’s. Wise owes his personal reputation as a waterman to his winning of the. ‘iWihgfield . Sculls, the amateur. sculling championship of the Thames, in 1913. now he is at least approaching the time when he may without disrespect- he referred to as a veteran, “Jock-” .Wise is still among the fittest •md ' most energetic members of the (London Rowing Club, and no one think? of him as one of the 44 old men.” Not only is he the club’s first coach, but he is always ready to step into any of' the eights when a substitute is wanted. .Clubhouse Chatter. 1 Timing,' in rowing sense, is -usually considered the act of the oars dipping into , and leaving the water together. But there is more to it than that. Two men can catch together and finish together without timing entirely correctly. Body movement, the swing forward of the hands and the way of managing the slide all constitute timing, and make it one of the greatest factors in rowing success. What appeared to me to be a feature, says an Australian critic, commenting on the training work of the English crew at Sydney, is the fact that each man is allowed to use his own. individuality—that is, allowed to get in the position where he can exert the utmost pressure, and it is the coaches’ job to blend the crew, at the same time as far as possible that individuality. ■Tim .'stewards of Henley regatta dojadii: jasaatia hold next zmc’s

meeting on June 29 and the following three days. A loss o£ £133 was reported on the past year’s working, the receipts amounting to £9,427 and expenditure £9,560. The regatta, however, has a balance of £B2l in addition to £SOO invested. ‘ It was decided to delete the rule whereby crews (not scullers) had been debarred from receiving professional coaching for four weeks prior to the beginning of the flegaljta*