SCULLING.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11637, 15 August 1905, Page 6

SCULLING.

AUSTRALASIANS AT HENLEY.

KEL,LT?S t GREAT PERF t OgMANCE.

The London correspondent . of the Auckland Star, writing on July "7, says : The' opening day at "glorious Henley" last 'Monday saw the two A-ntipode&ns'kngaged in the race- for the Diamond Sculls, F. S. Kelly, of Balliol College, Oxford, ' and G. Gr. E.us3ell, the smart young New Zealand sculler an old t^anganui College boy) who is now in residence at King's College, Cam';bridge, make Shacks" of their respective opponentsinthe preliminary heats. 'iCclly - had , for ' opposition a fellow collegian' jn' - Wood\yard, of ;Chfistckufch, .whom healed 'by a' c'ouple > of .length^ after running d cotiple of minutes, and liad "sstjbled?' at the half-way mark.'. "Froia;tlia,t point Kelly paddled "along 1 at his ease, and won anyhow in 8 minutes 49 seconds, ' Russell's • opponent was W. Field,- of the 'Loridon.-.'-TI.C., who' was : supposed 1 to" be ■well in the, running for the , sculls. Eussellv -"however, broke his riyal.'^up at the start; quickly gaining a length's "lead, and treating his opponent to " his backwash. •Maintaining a very high fate of striking, the New " Zeajander had put fully. tHree lengths of open water between his boat and-Tield's by the time they liad been rowing five minutes, and going further away as the race progressed. Russell; won very easily by half " a dozen leiigtEs in 8 min-' utes 53 seconds. 1 The New . Zealander was. however,, fated to taste \tlie 1 bitters of de-.' feat in the second series, in.'which "he had •to meet Guy Rixon of 'the Kingston" R.C. .As in the previous' heat, ' Russell weii'e. off in a great" hurry, but Rixqn; with a longer and steadier stroke, pulled Kiln back, and gained a- trifling lead eW tlie half mile •post was readied. Thcn^'Russfell cirdpt "up a few. yards further and. managed to get his boat's nose in" front. A'ddsperate and" exciting race ensued, firsts 'one -and then the other natrering'^heif "respective supporters by getting- an advantage. Both men- steered -veiy erratically '4n} the lasthalf hiile." and'oiie or" twice ' fouls seemed' imminent. Happily no such 'contretemps occurred! Towards the finish a very bad piece of steering by Russell, gave- Rixou a couple' of lengths ' advantage.' • The New 1 Zealander made a frantic " final effort to get on terms, but, baekwashed by his opponent, he "could only " cut" dpwn Rixon's • lead to' a length, by which, .distance the ' Kingston sculler won, "all" out," after one -of the most exciting r.ace.s imaginable, •in 8 minutes 45 seconds. „ * . Keily in the second rp'uiid ,had to meet another fellow collegiaii ;iii, -Roberts of Ohristchurch- College, ai^d .was ' indulged with, a mere ."pipe opener." Though strik- - ing much slower than his rival, the Australian , forged ahead ,in his first dozen strokes, and reaching the half distance a couple of lengths ahead., had no occasion to do more than paddle- to win at leisure in Bmin 40sec. „ In the third round Kelly was dpposed by A. A. Stuart of .the London R.C, who . on the' day preceding ..-had' beaten that sterling sculler Cloutte in a fashion that surprised the- quidnuncs "-and suggested a possibility of his ,being'->.good •enough to make Kelly .^go 1 "all; qu^aiy the way. Asit turned out Stuart, 'though sculling fast and with maehinerlike* ,-, . precision, could never get the Australian* really "on the stretch," and in his'^efforts to do so rowed himself -to a standstill lore three-parts of the course had been covered, leaving Kelly to paddle home an , easy . winner in Bmin '33sec. Meanwhile Rix'qn, • whose ' severe race with Russell seemeo^to have taken all the steel out of <Jbira,...Jiad .been easily beaten .by Harry Blackstaffe of the Vesta R.C, p.nd the lafctea^therefore wa3 thrown into opposition with Kelly for the final. \ The race for the" final" took place on Thursday evening, after -Kelly had rowed No. 2 in the victorious Letmder Eight which won the Grand Challenge Gup from the Belgian crew sent- tfver by the Sport Nautique de Gaud, in-fhe record time of 6min 58sec. • i J ' In spite of hawing f? a race in him," Kelly was pronounced ' favourite and the . conditions aquatic and 'atmospheric being favourable he jannouncejl Jhis intention of going in for t)ie Diamond's record at "Bmin 23sec put up- by Jihe^ jCa»adia,nV I.'Scholes, when he won last year! " Rowing the faster stroke, Blackstaffe (who'ihas tried for years to win this particular race- but has always found someone better than himself in his way) tried hard to cut' JMly down at * the start. The Australian, '"however, was not to be flurried, and, keeping , at a steady powerful 36 to the minute, ho soon gained a. half length lead. Then he took an "easy," and Blackstaffe by dint of a vigorous spurt drew level and at the half-mile was actually leading' by" half a length. Then Kelly, having got' "his second wind, went after his rival -in a most determined fashion. Rowing his hardest, he, made his boat fly through the Water, and, before the onlookers had fully grasped the state of affairs, the Australian was • a length aliead of tbe, Vesta champion. Keeping, up his pace; and sculling" % in beautiful style, Kelly went right "away from' his. rival. He was fully four lengths ahead' at a mile, and going at full speed to # the finish, passed the post forty' yards in front of Blackstaffe in the grand time of Bmin llsec — beating by no less than 12sec; ScholeVs last year's, figures. It was a great performance, and stamps .tlie. Australian as the best amateur sculler of his generation, if not the best ever seen on the Thames. :■ ■:•.'■'•