ROWING ITEMS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXXIII, Issue 9089, 28 April 1890, Page 3

ROWING ITEMS.

On April 7 Peter Kemp was matched to row M'Lean for the championship (should Kemp hold it) and £2OO a side, three weeks after the race with Matterson which takes place on April 25. The following items are taken from “Trident’s” notes in the Sydney Mail: — “ Bounce won’t help O’Connor in the least. He has matches thrust at him that would tempt most men confident of their own ability to win against the world. He will find the backers of Australian scullers men fair in their dealings, and quite as shrewd as any to be found elsewhere; and the title will not tarnish because it may pass through Australians’ bands. It will be worth winning for the man good enough to take it away from us. We have no wish to withhold the title from competition, nor have wo ever attempted anything of the sort. It can be won by any sculler fast enough to defeat the holder, whoever he may be, at anytime. If O’Connor wishes to pose as a better man than any other here, then he must be prepared to defeat such men as we shall put forward. Two of these men are Stansbury and M'Lean, and until one or both have been outpaced the Canadian cannot claim to have vanquished Australia. When Hanlan came he was prepared to row all the men wo could find. We gave him ten opportunities of winning. He was best man three times, a non-starter once, and defeated six times.

“It was very generally considered as certain that Matterson not go on with his race against Kemp for* the championship, owing to his very poor performance against M'Lean. Of course on the form ha then showed, he has not the remotest chance of seeing Kemp after ten strokes have been rowed ; but we have seen Matterson row very well at times, and only once or twice has he made a really feeble attempt such as the last was. It would be a surprise to many to see the forthcoming race a close one, and for Matterson to win would be quite a shock. Certainly the chances aro all in favour of Kemp, who is rowing just as well as ever, and no doubt what MrSpencer said is correct, tbathad only part of the stakes been put in they would have forfeited. Now the match must go forward and the best made of a very poor outlook for the challenger. Not much interest will be taken in the race, and only a poor steamer can be looked for. Matterson is doing work on the river, and may be a bit better than he was; certainly he cannot be any worse. With the public he has dropped right out of their sympathy, and such another defeat will have the effect of destroying hia reputation as a sculler altogether. Only successful men are held in favour.

“ Bubesr is getting into better form, but still looks very bulky. He rows nicely but seems to lack dash, and would not attract attention but for the name be has made in England. Very few men have a better back, or greater depth of chest than Buhear, but his rowing is not remarkable for its power. It is graceful and pretty, and he has no faults of style that would retard the speed of bis boat, but he is not rowing fast. Brown is rowing very much like Beach did when he first met Hanlan. No one can watch him without noticing the power he puts on the sculls. His catch is not quite sharp enough, but ho gets the water very solid, and throws all the weight of his body on the work with good effect. At the finish of the stroke he gets into a rather awkward fix with his hands and elbows, owing to slowness in getting bis hands away over bis knees. This is the worst fault Brown has, and one very easily mastered. The race will be rowed April 22 —three days before the Matterson-Kemp race.”

The following telegram with reference to O’Connor and his troubles recently appeared in the Melbourne papers:—ln reply to O’Connor’s complaints regarding the way in which he has been treated by the Australian sculling fraternity in reference to the championship, Mr J. G. Deoble and Mr E. A. Watson, the wellknown backers of rowing men, make indignant statements. Mr Deeble wants to know if O’Connor thinks he can dictate what the Australian sculling men shall do ? He warmly repudiates the Canadian’s statement that the professional backers aye working the business in their own interests, and states that rather than O’Connor should leave the city because he cannot find the £3OO for the match with Stansbnry, ho (Deeble) will find it. Deeble says he offered to make a match between O’Connor and the winner of the Kemp-Matterson race on the evening after the race for .£SOO and the championship, but O’Connor refused on the grounds that he had a match on with M'Lean. Deeble thinks that O’Connor’s assertion that the people of England and America recognise him as the champion will not have much effect here, and, as far as the championship of America or England is concerned, Stansbury is willing at any time to row him for either or both. Deeble plainly states he believes O’Connor does not wish to row anyone whom he fears he cannot beat. Unless he is prepared to row Stansbury, the press and public will hear no more of his bluff and appeals for sympathy. Deeble concludes by repeating btausbury’s offer to row O’Connor for whatever titles he possesses, and £SOO a side. Mr Watson says he has done all he could to show good feeiing to O’Connor. He told him on his arrival that his sudden coming had taken them by surprise, and most of the best men were then matched, but O’Connor might expect to get a match for the championship within six months. Mr Watson repeats the opinion already expressed by him, that the only man who has the title to the championship is Kemp. With regard to the match partly arranged between O’Connor and M'Lean, and then broken off, Watson states it was distinctly understood it should be for such titles as the rowers possessed at the time of rowing, not distinctly for the championship. Ho says that they are quite willing to carry out the match between O’Connor and M'Lean on the terms first laid down.

Mr Muttlebnry (says the European Mail) made a good stand for the preservation of the idea that the University Boat Race is a private one when he declared, on behalf of Cambridge, that he would prefer it rowed about eight on the usual day. The public ought to remember that though the race is undoubtedly an incentive to all manly exercises, yet that still it is essentially a- trial of strength between gentlemen, who naturally do not like the many vices and evils which are growing up in connection with it. Mr Muttlebury, by asserting that he would prefer the early hour, has once more emphasised the fact that the Cambridge men at any rate are independent of public interest in the race. Iranian recently said to the representative of an American paper : —The Australian oarsmen have introduced an improvement in rigging their shells that the Americans might adopt to advantage. I refer to the elevation of the sliding seat. They have this down to perfection, and in a great measure it is the secret of their successes on the water. Searle was H6~ better physically than O’Connor, when the two rowed their championship race on the Thames.- His .boat had the superior rig, however, and this helped him to victory. The oarsmen of the Antipodes raise their sliding seats in conformity with their height of body and length of legs; that is to say, a tall man like Searle was rigged in his seat as it best suited the movement of his lower limbs. Here in America the bustom is to build a seat on a given plan. A man five feet high slides his seat sis inches and a half above the skin of. his craft, and a man six feet high does likewise. Can there be anything more ridiculous ? How can a six-footer row comfortably with a rig that suits a five-foot rival ? How can the big fellow get his knees oat of the way ? Under the circumstances, the recovery is harder work for the tall fellow than the rowing itself, and he is likely to become exhausted sooner than if he had a comfortable swing of movement. I claim that we must come to the Australian idea of the seat some day, and when can we find a better now ? The “ champions of the world ’ are all centred in Australia now, and if we geek the honours we shall have to meet these worthy foes under equal conditions. The time will come, I feel certain, when

American boatbnilders will measure an oarsman for bis seat just the same as the tailor or bootmaker now measures his customers for their clothes and footwear.