ROWING

Southland Times, Issue 22487, 24 November 1934, Page 14

ROWING

(By

“Skiff.”)

The Riverton Regatta Club’s annual Boxing Day fixture is now little more than four weeks ahead. A special meeting of Bluff enthusiasts is to be held to-night to decide whether the New Year regatta will be confined to one day or extended over two days. For many seasons past this fixture has overlapped into a second day, so there appears to be ample justification for its establishment as a two-day programme. “Don’ts” For Oarsmen. There is a right and a wrong way of doing all things, and even me most seasoned oarsman is subject to certain common-sense rules of behaviour, both in the sheds and on the water. The following “don’ts” are warnings against faults which have been observed from time to time. (1) Don’t wait about the sheds until two or more crews are ready and want the boat at the same time; take the water as soon as the crew arrives. (2) Don’t use a boat or oars that may be allotted to another crew. (3) Don’t step into the boat with boots on; a slip may cause a hole in the boat.

(4) Don’t step over the canvas. (5) Don’t lift a boat by a hold taken within three feet of the bow or stern, as the framework is fragile at these parts, and is easily strained. (6) Don’t look about while on a training spin; concentrate on the work. (7) Don’t run the boat on to the skids or beach on returning from a spin. (8) Don’t leave the oars lying about, put them in the rack provided. (9) Don’t forget to wash the boat after returning it to the racks. (10) Don’t omit to report and repair breakages. (11) Don’t walk into a dressingroom with rowing boots full of water, and throw them in a corner; this is a particularly objectionable and unfortunately prevalent habit, and one which causes no little discomfort to more careful members.

(12). Don’t smoke in or near the dressing-room; most clubs observe a strict rule of non-smoking, and even in those that do not it is not desirable to allow smoking at the sheds.

Doubtless there are many more “don’ts,” but the twelve stated refer to frequent shortcomings on the part of members of almost any club, and their observance will greatly lessen the task of coaches, club captains and shed officials. The Railway Crews. Once again the Railway senior crew has undergone a change. The selectors have decided, and wisely, too, that W. Marriner will row in the Three position, instead of I. Ronald. The crew (Little (s), Marriner, Hogan, Keppel (b) ) is rapidly developing a good style of stroke, though greater speed through the water is required. Good progress is being made by the juniors. The body-swing of Stroke (G. McMillan) is far from being beautiful to behold, but his timing is excellent, while there is little doubt as to his all-round oarsmanship. Two (H. Bailey) is inclined to fall away too much at tbe completion of the stroke. The crew is a very fit one, each member being a particularly keen trainer. The maidens and the youths are making steady progress. More regular attendance at the sheds would improve the condition and ability of Three in the maiden crew. This member must be aware that the best of crews cannot win races if the individual oarsmen are in need of training. The B crews in the maiden and youths’ classes continue to show steady improvement. There is good material here for future seasons.

To the lay mind, it probably never occurs that the upkeep of a rowing club plant is a costly business, and the statement that 10 oars had been broken within a week would not be likely to cause any undue interest. Be that as it may, there are very, very few clubs that can afford such a loss, and the Railway Club is certainly not one of them. When it is considered that a set of four oars involves an expenditure of anything from £l2 to £lB, it can be understood that the damage suffered by the club in this respect during the past fortnight is a serious matter, and one which will probably cost almost £4O to repair. There should be, of course, no excuse for such wholesale damage, but the manner in which so many as 10 oars have been broken is rather a mystery. One suggestion offered was that the harm is done by the practice of staging racing starts in heavy boats, before the crew is sufficiently far out in the channel. Varsity Oarsmen For Invercargill. The University vacation has seen the return to Invercargill of three local students who have participated in rowing at their respective colleges. All three, N. Wilson, R. Watts and J. R. Mills, have joined the Invercargill Club for the current season. Wilson rowed in the Otago University eight last season, Watts represented

Canterbury College two seasons ago, and Mills, a promising oar, should just about secure a seat in the Canterbury College crew this season. The Invercargill senior crew is now definitely decided, and training is vigorous on both road and water. M. A. Pasco has returned to the sheds, bigger and brighter than ever, and the crew will be the same as that of last season. W. Pasco leaves soon for Melbourne, there to seek fame in the roped square, and the good wishes of all his clubmates will go with him. While he is in Melbourne he will inquire, on behalf of the club, regarding the delivery of the new skiff, of which nothing has been heard since the order was made some weeks ago. Mr B. C. Basstian will take charge of the senior crew at the beginning of next week.

The junior crew shows promising form, but more road work could be indulged in.

The maidens are rowing very well. They should get their hands away faster, however, and there is room for improvement in their body work.

The youths have been somewhat disorganized during the week, and the crew will be readjusted during the week-end. M. Fletcher and V. Pasco are making a good impression as a pair of particularly promising scullers. Influenza At Riverton. After a very promising start, the Riverton Rowing Club has struck a patch of bad luck; a mild epidemic of influenza has visited the sheds, and several members have been on the sick list during the week. So many are affected that not one complete crew has been out during the past week, and a severe setback in training has resulted.

N. Hillis, stroke of the senior crew, and J. Fleck, the youths’ stroke are both victims of influenza.

“NATURALNESS” IN ROWING

STEVE FAIRBAIRN’S DISCIPLES.

LONDON CREW’S SUCCESSFUL STYLE.

A Bluff enthusiast has forwarded to “Skiff” the following article, written by H. A. de Lacy in the Sporting Globe (Melbourne):— When Steve Fairbairn set out to teach the young idea in England rowing principles, he was sufficiently wise to realize that a man is never so happy as when he is natural and at ease. Here the London crew—a Fairbairn crew—have set out their aims in rpwing. Very successful aims, too' as proved when they won the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley. Fairbairn learnt his rowing in Victoria, but he was sufficiently big in that knowledge to strip the technique of its trimmings and to build up a naturalness about the essentials that has come to be known as Fairbaimism. Apart from this, Fairbairn’s maxim is “Learn to push the blade and you learn to push the boat.” He did not take the hard work out of rowing—in fact, he put it into rowing; and he said to his crews at the outset of their training. “Mileage makes champions”—a slogan that has since been adopted by the London Rowing Club.

24 Miles At Week-End. During winter London crews will take a week-end row from Putney to Walton, a distance of 24 miles and back, covering the journey on Saturday afternoon and Sunday. The coaching cry of Fairbairn is, “If you can’t do it easily you can’t do it at all.” Here is the biggest lesson to be learnt, for in Victoria crews so much attention is paid to body form and standardization that efficiency is affected.

Victorians have tried to pour their oarsmen into a mould, and have ruined rowing personality by making them stiff and unnatural.

Without trying to teach Victorians, the London crew very kindly set out for me their aims and principles while in a boat. The whole is coloured by that saying of Steve’s: “If you can’t do it easily you can’t do it at all.” If it had been possible to illustrate their views, London would have helped here also, but it is impossible to photograph the naturalness of their rowing, and that naturalness is their success.

Sit naturally and easily. Always be comfortable, but have mind and body alert, ready to obey the coxswain’s commands immediately. Adjust your stretcher so that the sliding seat will just touch the back stop when the knees are right down.

The Grip. Each man should find the grip of the oar that is most natural and most effective for himself. Grip with the fingers lightly but firmly, and remember that the inside hand controls the oar, and incidently controls the boat by the movements which turn the blade square and on to the feather and by keeping the button pressed up against the thole pin. When we reach out for the catch we come out to grip the water only as far as our individual “strong point” allows. Over-reaching beyond one’s “strong point” defeats the object of becoming long because the oarsman cannot then take the water with a good hard punch. If he over-reaches he tends to tumble forward over his toes and the stroke becomes a dull drag. As the oarsman’s muscles develop he will learn to take the water further behind his rigger and his own “strong point” will subconsciously become longer. Do not be afraid to look at the blade. By working the blade intelligently one learns to row and the body looks after itself. Fairbairn says the brains of a crew are in the end of the blades. It must be remembered that a racing eight is something like a log. Try to dance on the log and it will spin from beneath yo ”. So with your boat. The boat, however, is balanced by eight oars, and the oarsmen using them can make or mar the balance of the boat. He maintains the balance by keeping firmly up against his thole pin, with the blade working in the water as it is meant to work—just covered up and absolutely square. Should one man slice his blade in the tendency would be to pull the boat down on that side. A properly squared blade should appear tilted just slightly forward of the 90 degrees of vertical at the “poise.” The Drive. In the Victorian handbook “The General Principal of Rowing on a Sliding Seat,” the catch, the drive and the finish are given separate paragraphs, but we feel that we cannot so dissect the drive through the vzater. Rowing is an endless chain movement, and at no single point can a stroke be said to commence or end.

Drive the blade into and through the water in one even sweep. Take a grip of a blade full of water and drive that blade full right through and throw it away at the finish. Drive from the stretcher. That is one’s only purchase point. Keep driving the blade through the water every strobe. It is the blade that pushes the boat along. To put it shortly, poise and spring the blade through. The blade should be just covered the whole way through the stroke. Having thrown the puddle away, let the oar lead you out to the “poise” for the next stroke. If the button of the oar is kept hard against the thole pin the inboard end of the oar must travel through an arc. Therefore if a crew is rowing comfortably the bodies of its members must give a scissors appearance.

Come out perfectly balanced on to the feet, ready to drive the blade through again. Time every shot—that means

take time-work without fuss or hurry. To the Australian the best example of what we mean here can be illustrated by the drop kick in your national football code. Try to drive that ball far with a very hard swing and you defeat the end. On the other hand propel the ball with a sweet and easy, well-timed swing of the foot and you get direction and distance. Bell As Check. If you were rowing in one of our crews, just after we have taken the water you would hear what we describe as a bell note. The oarsman who is not timing correctly misses the bell note and knows immediately that he is rowing badly. This is an individual matter, and one apart altogether from the co-ordination of the eight members of the crew. Coordination of the drive is a matter of practice—the more mileage a crew does the better together it will be. Eight experienced oarsmen would naturally take less time to get together than eight novices.