SCULLING.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20606, 3 January 1929, Page 4

SCULLING.

NEW ZEALANDER FAILS. NOT AT HOME IN ROUGH WATER. .(From Our Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, December 27. . The presence of the amateur sculling champion of New Zealand added interest to the New South Wales Rowing Association’s annual regatta held on the historic course on the Parramatta River last Saturday, but those who had heard such encouraging reports of the prowess of A. K. Jackson were doomed to disappointment. He did not row in the least like a champion, and some experts have been led to say that if Jackson is the best sculler New Zealand can produce the sport of rowing must be at a very low ebb in the Dominion. Such a sweeping statement is not justified, for it is clear that the conditions for last Saturday’s race were all against the visitor. Certainly he is capable of much better things. : Of course, in H. R. Pearce, holder of the New South Wales title and Australian and Olympic champion,. he had a formidable opponent. There is •no sculler in the . Commonwealth, and probably no amateur in the world, capable of extending him, and it was hoped that Jackson would make him do his best. Pearce had announced that Saturday’s race would be his last as an amateur. No sculler, he said, could live on the fame achieved as an amateur, and he complained that since he returned from the Olympic games nobody had come forward with an offer to. provide him with a position; therefore he had no alternative but to desert the amateurs and become a professional. For that reason his many supporters were anxious to see what he would do against a really first class man such as they had been led to believe- Jackson was. Pearce won the race with comparative ease, and Jackson was fourth in a field of five, Pearce gave a wonderful display, going through the rough water splendidly, steering an excellent course, and, although not pressed, registering good time in the .prevailing conditions. Jackson, as already indicated, was verv disappointing. The water was rough an’d choppy, as there was a stiff breeze blowing. and Jackson proved beyond doubt that he was not at home in such circumstances. If the conditions were against him, that was not his only misfortune, for on Friday, the day before the race, he broke a scull. This necessitated him using a new pair which was not wholly suitable. It was apparent when half the distance had been traversed that Ms arms were tiring. This was particularly noticeable when he reached the calm water not far from the finishing ■post. There he made a strong effort to make up lost ground. Although his boat moved better temporarily, he could not maintain the effort long enough to enable him to overhaul the leaders. Pearce was rowing at his ease, and won by 20 lengths.