ROWING.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14381, 26 November 1908, Page 10

ROWING.

Bi Strom. > xhe lopal erows-.ai'e now hard at it preparing thpir. craws- rfor. tho Boxing Day Regatta. Although tho week has been, U rough one, both the Port crews have ma'do. the beet of the weather and dbno some fair is'ork Vi The Port Seniors arc once more a formidable lot. and at present consist of G., Lightboiirno (stroke), .15 Jones, ■T. Glengarry,, and ' ji Collier. With a bit ofpractice this should- turn out a strong combination'and a much better four than last year's. It 'will noticed that theveteran Keenan is an absentee this year,' he'.having definitely stated that he will not row'again.- Hi3 ; abscncc in the'boat, will be severely; felt, but the club-will always have the/benefit o'f his -advice 'as a eoaoh, and this will no doubt be the means of brr jing many a crew on.' For the,"Senior Pairs Lifehtliourne and Jones will most likely bo tho club's representatives, and should mako a good pair. , , 'i'he Juniors have not-made a start yet, and. ai ; o a bit slow in this respect. They should make an effort to get together at ones. ! The Jftutlen Fours are a young lot and a bit on the light side, but are yery keen and willing,, which i6.a good sign. 'The Youths'. Fours will, be practically tho' same as last, year, wiMi tho exception that Nelson .will take Innes's seat at 3, and ft' IKB' man go 'iito the 1 bow seat.. This crew should still' prove very successful, ' : This club intended rbwiiig off thtiir Pre sklent's Fours, but now that tho rogafta. is 'getting so closo it lias been thought advisable to postpone same' until after the. New Year. . '."i . The Queen's Drive Club have made a surprising,change .from last year.. Then the shod was deserted up till a night or two before the 1 regatta, but now rowing booms every 'night, and crews follow oach oilier rapklly in gotting out for their regular,, spin. .The. club , has formed a senior fou(', and if the men can get a bit of practice together, they snould .make a good showing. Johnston, Sam Howes, E Smith, and Al Shanlcs are a good crew on paper, and although some of them have been out of the game for a few years, they intend lo hav? another'"go." for the sake of their idub. • . .. . • The Junior Four is a strong crew, and, with'some coaching and breaking in, should shake things up. They are at present a bit slow on the 'catch, but no doubt •that will' improve later on when! they striko combination. If they show good improve' ment they may.possibly be entered for the Senior, event. This plub should have more than one 'Maiden orew, as there are a lot of ..young fellows-keen oil getting into regatta crewj. • -i ' The D.A.B.C. have picked their regatta crows, which ; haye already made a start, 'l'ho,veterans Conway and liaison are once rnoro to the front, and intend having another try at the Junior Race, It is to be hoped no motor launch will cut across their bow 3 this year.. The other crews arc com,< prised mostly, of young members, who are, howevcri keeii and anxious to have a go. Matters at the Otago' shed are alsb very lively, where every night crews can be seen steadily practising. This club has two Senior orews going. No. 1 crew is comprised of last year's crew, except' that Morico replaces Hutchinson, whilst the other crew is made up of some of the older members, mostly | "has beens." Both Junior Fours , aro practising regularly, and Dodgshun's crew especially is showing good form. The Maiden Kerr and Johnston, are a big pair, and if length should win races, then assurodly tliey should win, as they aro very long iii the reach. The want of good coaches is felt in this club, as in others, anil it is a hard matter to obtain the services of good men. It is, of course, a thankless billet, but without coaphing it is almost impossible to expect crews to become efficient. The Otago Regatta Committee at its first meeting decided that all senior events should bo two miles and .all other races one mile and. a-half. Since then, a rumour has readied me that senior races will bo one mile and a-half and other races a mile. If tho latter is correct it ''would be as well for the Regatta Committee to state so in their report of the next meeting, as tho. orews liko to' know how far the race they are training for is. Another point is: Arc the senior races to be rowed in best and best boats or clinkors? Tho Regatta Committee advertised clinkere t but .the local association prefer best and best boats. It is an old question, and has 'been ihra®he<l out again and again, and it is not worth whilo goiiig into tho matter here, but senior men training for the regatta wish 1o know what class of boat they are going to row in. The sooner the ■ local association and Port Regatta Committee conic to an understanding'-.and decide'the matter tho more pleased will rowing men be.' One pleasing feature for the vowing dubs ni)6ut the' next regatta is that the prjze money has be?n raised all round, the Senior Fours having been raised from £12 to £15 first prize, and £5 second prize, as against £3 last year. The result of the Thoroughgood-Whelch contest evidently proves once more the truth of thb . veteran Beach's opinion that a, ' "good big man" 'will always beat a " good little man." It was not, however, expected tjiat Thoroughgood would tako the lead at the 6taft and maintain it throughout, as Whelch was considered very fast off the mark, and the world's cliamnion, W. Webb, has himself stated that George Wholch was the fastest man over a. milo he has ever met. This surely proves' that Thoroughgood is a greatly-improved sculler, and it. is not too much 'to sny thai lie should make a still greater name for. himself in the future • He is evidently a verv solid sculler, and the race against the little Akaroa wonder showed that he was hardly extended at nil. . I should therefore not bo surprised if hs is in the near future an' aspirant for the world's championship. 1

Three weeks from Tuesday Arnst will meet Webb for the championship of the. world on the Wanganui River. Reports from Arnst's party, who are camped at Unokongaru, opposite the championship course, state that everything is very satisfactory. Arnst is well satisfied with the course, and it offora equal facilities to Ixith contestants-. The big fellow's, weight does not come down, and ho will probably raco at about lZst 81b, which was his. weight when ho defeated Pearce at Sydney. Fogwcll is doing good pacing work', and fast work is now being indulged in. Bea"h, alio veteran sculler, who won the world's championship on several occasions, and never suffered defeat, will probably be present to witness the contest between Webb and Arnst and it is probable that Wholch will also be present. - - Mr Norton, of Wellington, who made the sculls used by both Webb and Trcssider in tho last race for the world's sculling championship, has received an order from ,Webb for a,new pair of sculls for the coming race with Arnst. These sculls will bo of an entirely new design, and will bo made of the finest Russian white spruce, which was salectcd by Mr Norton while in England. . ~ - Apropos of the recent race between Thoroughgood and Wholch, it is just two years ajo since Thoroughgood raced Charlie Towns for £400 stakes on tho Raymond Terrace course, -Sydney (saye Sydney Mail). It was .a 1 very even conte'et for rather loss ' than : a mile, then Towns drew, away several lengths, and waited on his rival.- It was a serious mistake, as Thoroughgood put in a fine effort in the last mile, and was only beaten by a length or so. At the finish there was loss fire in Towns than in. his opponent. Since then Thoroughgood has made good progress, and-is a better sculler now by many lengths. He certainly is two years older and well on tho way to middleage, but it is generally believed ho has a raco ov two in him yet. Only a few months ago he beat W. Fogwcll decisively, but it i 3 understood the defeated man was not quite up to the mark,"and is stillconfident he can beat Thoroughgood. Perhaps so, but there would not bo mtich to spare. It seems as if Whelch will be well up for a mile, or rather more, but if ho has to make the pace,'the big man will be more than equal to the task, and should win comfortably on the last mile.—[Thoroughgood won. by three lengths.—Sr. Ed.] WORLD'S CHAMPIONSHIP. Reporting _ on. tho work ; . being done by Arnst iji training for the rowing championship of the world at Wanganui, a correspondent of the Post says:—"While doing his spins'-'Arnst usually rows about an average of 24- over the course, starting at .from ,30-. Jto 36.. ( His sculling is'showing much improvement, and the swing and slide \v6vk aro much admired by experts. The eatoh is hard and the finish is brisk, but he hasa slight tendency to hang with 'his hands instead of shooting them away. * ogwoll is much sharper. in this, respect than When ho is doing heavy long rows, his blade work is very dean, and the boat runs' without,the slightest sign of a roll. It is only when he is asked. to sprint that he shows that fault, which: experts reckon will tell its tale in the three miles and a-quartcr journey. The dip in his bow at the finish and the deep dipping, of his;,sculls,• that is the subject that-is giving .weight to a great deal of. argument among the critics. Webb shows.to a great advantage over'his opponent in this speet,' and Amst's 6tretoher work also suffers in comparison with Webb's. It is noticed that Arnst's catch could bo improved; on. His right arm, when his blade catches the water, has a slight bond. On: the whole lie is rowing freely, and puts great vigour into his work. Floyd' is keeping a watchful eye on his work, but 'in rcgard-.to tho .dipping of the lioat at the' end of the stroke, he does not attach much importance to it, holding that the extra' weight lie obtains by that swing of the perpendicular will more than corrtpeneato for tho fault. The -moTo orities see '.of Arnst's rowing' the better they, like his chances. His party are very confident, and look forward to another Bcaoh-Hanlan race. Thoy reckon that weight will tell.' Nclsoii', tho trainer, is putting'about two hours'-'-a day into'hiin. Nelson is a man of experience, and is recognised as one of tho best trainers in Australia. Ho has boon about 18 months with Arnst, .and knows him thoroughly. , He is certain to bring him.to the post fit, and get every bunco out 'of him. Although ISst 131b is rather heavy, his rowing- weight is 13st lib! Nelson is not anxious "about him.. Two weeks be-' fore, thi^race he Will bo on 1 special diet, which will get the weight down. Fogwcll is'rowing in fine style/and keeps Arnst moving. He is gather smarter off the murk than.-Arnst. ; S6 far as Webb is conoerned, bis friends will be pleased to learn that his hand is now id! right again, and-he has done a.'.deal'of rowing during the last'week. or so. Ho Has left to gp into camp at Kaiwhaike, and will settle ddwii to hard training on the championship course. . ■■.' 1