ROWING SEASON

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22353, 26 February 1936, Page 21

ROWING SEASON

DOMINION CHAMPIONSHIPS j AUCKLANDERS' SUCCESSES SMITH WINS SINGLE SCULLS When R. B. Smith won the New Zealand single sculls championship at Wellington last Saturday, the occasion was the eighth upon which a member of the Waitemata Boating Club had won the coveted single sculls titlo of New Zealand. Waitemata has a penchant for producing first-rate scullers, most notable among them being Darcy Had field, who was successful five times. Hadfield, peerless among international scullers at the conclusion of the war, carried the silver fern to victory on many an occasion in England and France, while he represented his country with credit at. the Olympic Games at Antwerp in 1320. Ultimately Hadfield set the seal to hjs fame by winning the professional championship of the world when he defeated Difk Arnst at -Wanganui in 1922. Another Waitemata member, W. A. Stephenson, who won the amateur national title on four occasions, sported the well-known blue and gold of Waitemata on two of those occasions. Away back in the 1898-99 season G. H. Reston was runner-up and a similar role was filled by W. J. Westray in 1909-10, Stephenson in 1924-25, and Smith in 1932-33 and 1934-35. In the double sculls championship Waitemata has four victories to its credit, the most recent being the success of Smith and W. A. Johnson at Picton in the 1933-34 season. A CONSISTENT RECORD PERFORMANCES OF SMITH R. B. Smith has been in the front rank of the Dominion's scullers for several years now, and his success on this occasion is the reward of assiduous training. Five years ago, when practically a maiden oarsman, Smith had a meteoric rise in the sculling sphere by winning the New Zealand title in sensational circumstances from a representative field, including several former champions, on the Waikato River, at Hamilton. He was the lightest man in the race and, in spite of drawing the more unfavourable side of the river, he won most convincingly. The following season, however, he lost the title to A. K. G. Jackson, of Wanganui, striking a piece of willow which very nearly capsized him. In the next season the title race was held at Picton, and in a contest which was characterised by a chapter of accidents, due to the lumpy water, Smith collided with Jackson, who sank, and, although Smith was first across the line, dbe race was awarded to W. Turner, of Napier, who thus scored his fourth victory in the contest. Smith, with P. A. Abbott, of Petone, was selected last season to officially represent New Zealand against the cream of Australia's scullers in the Commonwealth championship and Silver Sculls at the Centenary Regatta held at the famous Henley-on-Yarra course in connection with the Melbourne Centenary. Smith reached the final, being defeated therein by the Australian champion, H. Turner, by a length and a-quarter in -record -time. On- the same trip Smith j competed at Sydney, where he again attained the final, but was prevented by a back: injury from contesting it. "In a great . race at tho Whan Estuary last year Smith was runnerup to "Jackson who, on that occasion, won the title for the third time. Smith has been holder of the provincial championship for several years now and defended it at Hamilton recently, outdistancing his nearest opponent, Jackson, by no less a margin than five lengths. His victory on Saturday, in consequence, was not totally unexpected. Smith has also been a member of the Auckland representative eight, being stroke in 1934. PAIR-OAR CHAMPIONSHIP HAMILTON CREWS VICTORY A gratifying feature of the national championships at Wellington was undoubtedly the fact that, although only three Auckland provincial entries faced the starter, two were successful in annexing titles, and there are only four titles. In winning the pair-oar event Hamilton (B. Sandos and J. Flynn) rowed up to the expectations of. their Hamilton supporters. Hamilton has won this title twice previously, in 192526 at Dunedin, when St. Clair and Bayly were successful, and in 1929-30 at Picton, when Sandos and Bayly piloted the field home. Sandos. is wellknown in New Zealand rowing, and has been a member of Hamilton crews that have won champion fours honours on four occasions. He was a member of the New Zealand crew which raced at the Olympic Games at Los Angeles in 1932, and visited Australia with the successful New Zealand eight in 1925. REVIVAL OF REGATTA PROGRAMME FOR MERCER Tho Mercer regatta will be revived on Saturdav next after being dormant for several years. The occasion is mom than a mere regatta, as Maori canoe races, Highland national dancing and horse' swimming races are all being included in the programme, while sideshows will all be presented to revive memories of the country fair. Special interest will attach to the appearance in the single sculls handicap of R. B. Smith, who will start from scratch. Another interesting feature will be the inclusion of eight-oar races on the programme. RUGBY TOUR'S RESULT LEADER SETS THE FASHION Writing of the recent All Blacks' tour, Mr. W. B. Haycraft, a member of the English Ruby Union, states: — "In the early stages of the tour, after spending five days at the same hotel as these chaps at Leamington, I took it upon myself to say at a dinner that in my opinion and from personal observation they were one of the finest bodies of gentlemen and sportsmen that had ever visited this country, and what I said then I say now —and I am not alone. "As an old tour manager myself I know that the leader sets the fashion, provided that the component parts of his team are of the right type, and in the opinion of many of us it is very largely to Mr. V. R. Meredith that the fine impression both on and off the field created by the New Zealanders of 1935 is due. They will be greatly missed by many of us here, and Mr. Meredith's speeches at functions will never be forgotten. "Some of us know that during the early part of the tour some spiteful back-chat , . . reached New Zealand. In the words used by Justice Charles at the trial of Lord de Clifford, this sort of thing emanates from people who are not only contemptible but abysmally ignorant."