SCULLING.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXII, Issue LXII, 31 July 1911, Page 5

SCULLING.

ARNST BEAT PEARCE.

A GRUELLING RACE.

SY CABLE—PBESH ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT. SYDNEY, July 29.

Pearce's essay to wrest the sculling championship of the world from Dick Arnst resulted in one of the most gruelling races on record. The weather conditions were perfect. There was a bright sun, smooth water, and a steady westerly wind right behind the scullers, with the "tide in their favor.

Arnst won the toss and chose the inside right of the course. The men got away well together, the champion rowing thirty-four strokes to the minute, and Pearce thirty-seven.

There was no advantage on either side during the first 200 yards. When Arnst was pulling close, Pearce was forced to stop and lose a stroke. This gave the challenger the advantage of a length, which he held to Uhr's Pomt —a mile.

The defender's mighty strokes then began to tell. He started gradually to overhaul Pearce, but managed the corner badly. However, he got into Pearce's water, and was within an ace of colliding with him. Arnst had to stop rowing for a couple of strokes to allow Pearce to draw ahead. Pearce kept on, thus-showing sportsmanship, as had he stopped Arnst must have collided and lost on a foul.

After negotiating the Point, Arnst bent his great back and settled down to a steady pull of about twenty-eight to the minute, overhauling his opponent at the mile peg, Pearce rowing a slightly quicker stroke, but not with the same power.

in front, Arnst headed for home and rowed like a machine, gaining steadily, until at Cabarita he led by six lengths. ■

Pearce, undaunted, pulled magnificently, and tried repeated spurts, but the New Zealander was too powerful, and kept driving on in a heart-breaking fashion.

Bounding Putney, a few hundred yards from home, Arnst was leading by a good ten lengths, and dropped to twenty-two strokes a minute.

Here Pearce looked round and wavered, but put in a last tremendous, though futile, effort.

Without doubt Arnst was never more fully extended than when he passed the post a winner by four lengths.

He immediately stopped rowing and dipped his hands one after the other into the water. It had been a fearful strain —too much for the champion's condition, causing him to vomit.

Pearce, in the last struggle, felt the agonising torture of defeat, and when the pistol was fired he placed his hands before his face and sobbed.

The time was 19min 46sec, a record for the world's championship. The first mile was rowed in smin 30sec.

The attendance was easily a record, and was probably nearly a hundred thousand. The river was black with small craft.

Pearce admits that Arnst is too good for him. ~ He will not, challenge him again. *

Arnst declares that it was the hardest race of his life.

Beach declares that there is nobody in sight to beat Arnst. The takings were £800.