ROWING.

Otago Witness, Issue 1824, 5 November 1886, Page 23

ROWING.

The Otago Rowing Club's Walter" Fours race was postponed from Saturday till Tuesday evening on account of the rough weather. There are six crews entered for the race, and the drawing on the boats resulted as follows: — First Heat.— Matheson(Lurline), HowHson(Cam), Dawson (Thames). Second Heat.— Brannlgan (Thames), Le Cren (Lurline), Craig (Cam). Though the crews have not been able to do much training, owing to the rough weather, a good race is expected, as three or four of the boats are very evenly manned. The course is the usual one from the red beacon to the second dolphin in the steamers' basin. The first heat will be rowed at half-past 5 sharp, so that the crews will have to turn up at 5 o'clock. The first heats of the Walter Fours race were rowed on Tuesday in the presence of a good number of spectators. The results were as follow: — „ First Heat. Matheson, Dick, Hartty. Brent ... ... 1 Howliaon, Gibson, Cooke. Walcstt ... ... * Dawson, Moore, Vivian, Zeile ... .» & Matheson, pulling a good stroke all through the race, won easily. A hard struggle for second place ensued between Howlison and Dawson. The latter spurting in fine style at the finish, gradually narrowed the distauce between the two boats to about half a length. Second Heat. Craig, Mills, Gumming, Huxlable ... ... 1 I* Oren, Treseder, Mitchell, Rosa ... ... 2 Braunigan, G. Matheson, Jackman, Hazlett ... 3 Craig went away with a lead at the start and was never caught. Le Cren, rowing an easy stroke, appeared to be content with second place. Brannigan stuck to his work gamely and came in a good third. The final heat will be rowed this evening at 5,30 o'clock. The competing crews will be Matheson's, Howlison's, Craig's, and Le Cren's. A good nnmber of people assembled on the end of the Jetty street wharf on Wednesday to witness the final heat of the Ofcago Rowing Club's Walter Fours race. The weather was very suitable for boating, and the bay was comparatively smooth. The crews came in in the following order : — Le Cren (stroke), Treseder, F. Mitchell, M. Ross 1 Matheson 'stroke), J. B. Dick, Hartley.Brent ... 2 Howlison, Gibson, Cook, Walco't ... ... 3 Craig, Mills, Cumming, Huxtable ... ... 4 The boats left the shed about 5.46 and paddled slowly down to the starting place. Very little time was lost in getting into position, and Mr L. O. Beal (president of the club) succeeded in making a very good start. Shortly after the word was given Craig's crew was placed Aprs d e combat in consequence of No. 3 breaking his oar, and the ther three boats were left to contest the race 5 Matheson's crew went off with the lead, closbly followed by Howlison. Le Cren lost about half a length through the displacement of an oar just after the start, but he at once settled down to a good steady stroke, and began to make up for lost ground. It was evident that the race was going to be a hard one, for each crew pulled in a most determined manner, and half the distance was reached without any material advantage having been gained. Commencing the last quarter of a mile Le Oren began to forge ahead slightly, and soon he seemed to have the race pretty well in hand. Matheson continued to pull in splendid style and made a hold though unsuccessful bid for victory, while Howlison' coming with a spurt at the finish also looked a little dangerous. Le Cren, however, kept bis men well at their work, and won a splendid race by barely half a boat's length, Howlison being an excellent third, just half a length behind the second boat.