ROWING CARNIVAL.

Wanganui Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16021, 21 February 1920, Page 5

ROWING CARNIVAL.

N.Z. CHAMPIONSHIP ... REGATTA. . ' OFFICIALS President, Major Lomax;; Vice-Pre-sidents, Captains of Affiliated Clubs; starter, Mr Alf. Gray; de-puty-starter, Mr F. Haywood ; judge, Mr H. W. Cooper; umpires, Messrs A. Delves and A. Holmes; umpire championship events, Mr W. Swanger; committee: Messrs R. Hodge, A. Mackay, C. Mayes, B. Jones, E, Briefer, A. Delves, H. Cooper, P. Evans, E. Ryland, C.. Wadman, W. Coombes, F. Wilson, A. Godfrey, and members of Council N.Z.A.R.A. ex officio; N.Z.A. R.A. representatives, Messrs D. R. Menzies and A. D. Bayfield; Hon. Sec. and Treas., Waiter Sharpe.. PINE WEATHER AND 810 t ATTENDANCE. , ‘ SOME CAPITAL RACING. CHAMPION FOURS WON BY UNION B.C. (No. 1). The annual championship regatta of the New Zealand Amateur Rawing Association was held to-day on the Wanganui River, Tho weather wae fine, but the river was not in such excellent condition for rowing as usual, the heavy rain of Wednesday and Thursday having brought down a slight flood, ajvd this meant that there was a continuous run out of about four miles an hour. Tho great quantity of driftwood which came down on Thursday caused fears to be entertained that it would not be possible to hold the regatta to-day, but fortunately the debris had almost entirely disappeared, though an odd bit of timber was to be seen floating here and there. The committee did all that was possible to keep the course clear, and the racing was being got off ra a satisfactory manner up to the time of going to press, though the strong tide running made it impossible for the crews to get to Hr© starting point right up to time and consequently ther was some delay which was quite unavoidable.

The interest taken in the regatta, was shown by the attendance, which was easily a record for Wanganui, and the big crowd which lined the banks and followed the races were rewarded by witnessing some splendid rowing, which was only to be expected seeing that the pick of the Dominion’s oarsmen were competing, and in nearly all of. the events there were big fields. A Strong gusty wind sprang up before the start of the first race, and this raised a nadfcy jobble on the stretch of water from the railway bridge to the finishing point, and made very hard plugging over the last half-mile. Eacing opened with, the Maiden Foots, the eleven entries all lining up, and they presented a fine sight Mr Alf. Gray let them away on even terms, and a very good race was witnessed, victory resting with the Blenheim crew by four lengths, after a stubborn contest. The Maiden Single Sculls was won by tihn Union representative, N. W. Smith, very nicely, though he was closely followed by E. Morgan, of the Wanganui Club, MAIDEN FOUR. OPEN. First prize, .£10; second, £3. One mile. Blenheim E.C.—W. Ghent A_ Bryant 3, W. Gibson 2, W. Pinkham bow, W. Glennie cox 1 Uawa li.C. —Lincoln stroke, Lockwood 3, Lockwood 2, Peufold bow 2 Waitenrata B.C.—W. Ghent stroke, A.

Bryant 3, C. J. Thompson 2, G. Pearce bow, M. Green cox 3 Clifton R.C.—H. Spurdle stroke, P. Peek 3, L. Peek 2, R. Lawrence bow - - The other starters were: Wellington, Invercargill, Aramoho, Union, Star, Wairau.

The eleven crews were let go well in line. Union and Waitemata being the first to show out, but before half a mile had been covered Uawa 'was in front from Clifton and Waitemata At the bridge Uawa had a good lead from Waitemata and Blenheim, and looked to bo going to win easily, but Blenheim had drawn up to the leaders a quarter of a mile from home, and, rowing well together, went on to win by four lengths from Uawa, Waitemata just beating Clifton for third place.

MAIDEN" SINGLE SCULLS. » (One mile.) N. W. Smith (Union) 1 E. Morgan (Wanganui) 2 B. O’Neill (Aramoho) 3 The only starters. The Aramoho representative, who drew outside position, had' much better water, and maintained a handy position. Crossing under the Aramoho Bridge, Wanganui was leading. This position was maintained until* Bussell Street was reached, when the Union representative drew ahead, followed closely by Wanganui. O’Neill had begun to cross over, and thus lost ground. Smith maintained his lead, and won by about a length. Wanganui was second. CHAMPION POURS. First prize £75, 2nd £25. Two miles. UNION B.C. NO I—C. Healey stroke, E. Ryland 3, W. Coombes 2, Geo. Wilson bow, N. Ross cox ; 1 WAITEMATA B.C. —F. Herring , stroke, J. Taylor 3, O. Wolfgram 2, T. Campbell bow, M. Green cox 2 WAIRAU R.C. —C. Adams stroke, P. Chandler 3, B. Thompson 2, S. Gill bow, S., Thomas cox ;. -i«.... 3 UNION B.C. NO. 2 W. Sharpe , stroke, J. Cotterill 3, C. A.

Wadman 2, D. Corby bow, J. 1 McDonald cox ... 4 The other starters were Aramoho, Wanganui, Picton and Hamilton. There was some delay at the start owing to the difficulty of getting the boats in line in the strong running water. Finally Mr Gray let them go well together. When the crews had settled down, Aramoho and Waitemata were just ahead of Union No. 1. With a half mile gone, Waitemata was in the lead, followed by Wairau and Union No. 1, with the other Union crew in fourth place. Prom here to the bridge Waitemata led, rowing strongly, but Union No. 2 were always within a length, and at the bridge had drawn level. A determined strut Me was fought out from this stage, Waitemata making big efforts to hold the light blues, and for a quarter of a mile they were practically abreast. Then the Union drew out little by little, and though Waitemata made a game effort, they were beaten by three lengths by the light blues, who rowed an even, swinging stroke from start to finish. Wairau finished two lengths behind Waitemata, while Union No. 2