ROWING

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16261, 9 February 1927, Page 3

ROWING

RUN OF THE BOAT A RACER’S NATURAL SPEED (Notes by “Slide.”) A remarkable leaturo of the sport of rowing is the number of races contested in which the margins of victory ‘fall within one length or two. Watching the game closely, one finds that these finishes occur infinitely more often than those in which many lengths separate the boats at llie end of the course. What sire the factors influencing the speed of boats, and 'lending to equalise the chances of crews which, on the staging, show a wide disparity in physical power? How is it that strokes can carry rough crews to within a length or a length and a half of opponents infinitely stronger and more experienced 1 ? The answer lies, to “Slide's” way of thinking, in the fact that every boat, according lo its build, lias a natural speed through the water irrespective of the class of the oarsmen avlio propel it.

This is a statement which may provoke some discussion among oarsmen generally, and if critical readers care •to express their views upon it the writer will be glad to peruse them. However, it is perhaps advisable to give some exposition of the theory before it goes forward for discussion, for “Slide” will admit readily that it may seem far-fetched. There are numerous factors to be counted on in oarsmanship, the first being the heart of tho crew. If the oarsmen had no confidence in their abilities they stand little chance naturally of distinguishing themselves, for there comes a stago in most races when, looking across at his opponents, cacli rower wonders whether he will be able to stand the pace to the finish. Actually, most oarsmen have a greater fund of latent strength than they know, and the last call is always a good one when boats are racing together. Heart thus counts greatly in tho decision of a race. Next there is the question of physique, on which topic “Slide” addressed to oarsmen some interesting comparisons a few weeks back. Frequently a good big crew fails to defeat a good little crew, the battle being one between physical force and nervous force; now and again a good crew will be beaten through, taking its opposition too cheaply, but that is infrequent, for a rowing course gives plenty of length to which to correct initial errors. Actual oarsmanship—blade-work and body-swing, the essentials of the game, is often more obviously present in one four than in another. These nnd a dozen other influences are present in a contest between rowing crews. The principle of “Slide’s” theory is that all these influences, tending to differentiate between one crew and another, are constantly warring with the natural inclination of tho paired boats ,to run at au even speed. There are innumerable details and defects which can influence the issue, and yqt, in race after race, tho margin of superiority in favor of one four or the other is limited to a length or two.

It is recognised, of course, that many of the close finishes seen are due to the good sportsmanship of the leaders, who wait for their opponents when their victory seems assured. Yet these instances provide their quota of lyidence in favor of “Slide’s” theory, for time and again oarsmen havo soen one boat, under the propulsion of mere “love-taps” of tho oar-blades on the water, travelling as fast as its mate, lashed along by a crow working at fierce pressure. Tho amount of physical exertion expended in one boat is out of all proportion to •that consumed in the other, yet tho pair run along at the same rate, and every stroke improves tho chance of the easy-goers. How often has it happened that a stroke running a novice crew, without a hope of winning, has found himself alongside his opponents all tho way, with a sporting chance of pulling off the contest at the finish? llow often is a race decided only by the last desperate half-dozen lunges, called for by tho stroke who hus reserved his effort for the crucial test? If tho hypothesis of the writer is correct, many of the hard races witnessed on local rivers are duo not so much to the equality of the crews as to the equality of tlie boats in which the races aro rowed. Orily by tlie greatest of efforts can a boat be made to move out of its natural speed, and by tho same token, only the biggest duffer cuii slow a boat appreciably below its normal rate of progress. So long as the boats are pairs, close finishes can be counted on most of the time.