ROWING

Southland Times, Issue 22215, 6 January 1934, Page 13

ROWING

(By

“Skiff.”)

What must almost constitute a record has been established by the Railway Club this season. At the Riverton Regatta the representatives of this club were placed in every event except the senior fours, and besides gaining nine firsts from a total of twelve events, rowed into second position on four occasions and finished third once. At Bluff last Monday they continued in brilliant vein by winning five of six events, in addition to being placed second in the other race, while two third places were filled by B crews. On the second day the Railway oarsmen were successful from three starts, filled second berth once, and registered one third.

A grand total of £l6l 10/- was allotted in prize-money by the two regatta committees, and of this sum no less than £7B 10/- was added to the coffers of the Railway Club. Such performances could have been recorded only by very fit and wellcoached crews, and the Railway crews are both fit and skilful, a fact which reflects the greatest credit on the work of the coach, Mr S. Adamson. In all probability the Railway Club will be fully represented at Port Chalmers on February 3. The only event in which they may not compete is the senior pairs. It would create no surprise should they continue on their winning way against the northern crews.

After experiencing a stroke of hard luck at Riverton, where J. Pasco had the misfortune of having his seat break under him, the Invercargill senior fours made no mistake at Bluff, and defeated the formidable Port Chalmers crew by over three lengths. It is obvious that the White and Gold seniors are by far the keenest members of the club, and their successes in both pairs and fours were most popular ones. The Invercargill Club will also be represented at the Dunedin fixture next month. Youths’ and senior crews will probably travel north, and local enthusiasts are sanguine concerning the chances of the senior fours crew, because in defeating Port Chalmers at Bluff they disposed of the best four in Otago.

When the Railway A crew crossed the line two lengths ahead of Riverton, in the Junior Pairs event at Bluff, they inflicted on the latter crew (N. Hillis (s) and H. Tweedie) their first defeat.

General regret was felt, by oarsmen and public that weather conditions would not permit of the race between the Otago and Southland eights being held. Although the event was postponed in the hope that it might be rowed late in the evening of the second day, the wind persisted and it was found impossible to carry out what would have been one of the star items of the regatta. Probably no one was more disappointed at the abandonment of the race than “Mick” Brough, stroke of the Otago crew. The Southland boat (Ao-tea-roa) is no stranger to that well-known oarsman. As a matter of fact he is the only one who has yet stroked her in her races in New Zealand (at Wanganui) and Canada. It will be remembered that the eight representing the Dominion on the latter occasion were only narrowly defeated for first place by the English crew. In addition to these and his club activities, the popular Otago oarsman has represented this country in Australia, so it may be claimed for him that he had had a wide experience in rowing.

An interested spectator at the Bluff Jubilee Regatta was Mr John Hunter, a well-known resident of the port and one whose memories of the rowing sport there go back to the club’s beginning 60 years ago. He was a member of the crew of the first four after the club was formed and sine, that remote period his interest has never waned. He possesses an almost complete list of regatta programmes from the club’s beginning, with a large collection of interesting newspaper cuttings in connection with the sport in Southland; and these, combined with an excellent memory, make him an authority on past regattas. Yet another for whom the regatta held more than ordinary interest was Mr W. Keinan, of Timaru, formerly a member of the Bluff Post Office staff and at one time prominent in various forms of sport at the port. Enlisting for overseas service, Mr Keinan rowed with great success in England as a member of the N.Z.E.F. crew. He was a member of the noted Codford eight, a combination which suffered only one defeat (a very narrow one, by a Tasmanian crew). He also gained distinction on the Rugby field and only missed a trip to Canada with the Army team through sustaining a severe leg injury in the final game before the team’s departure from England. Needless to say Mr Keinan met a number of old rowing associates at the regatta and passed many pleasant moments with them in reviving memories of strenuous contests on the local course in long past regattas. As is usual on such occasions, there were many meetings of old rowing opponents at the Bluff regatta—and other meetings, too, which were of interest to those concerned. One such may be cited, that between Messrs V. Metzger (chairman of the Regatta Committee) and M. Brough (of the Otago eight). This pair of sportsmen had not previously met, though naturally each one’s name was familiar to the other. They had much in common, as each had represented his province in two branches of sport, rowing and Rugby, With these subjects to discuss it was only to be expected that they would spend a considerable time in animated conversation; and this proved the case, as they had many heart to heart talks before the Otago representative left for Dimedin. on Wednesday.