EVOLUTION OF ROWING

Waikato Times, Volume 116, Issue 19457, 22 December 1934, Page 19 (Supplement)

EVOLUTION OF ROWING

HERITAGE FROM GREEKS. PHYSICAL PROWESS TEST. Much might be written of the evolution of rowing in New Zealand, but when one considers what a very young country New Zealand 1 'is, the ■subject of the origin of this worldold recreation is one in which a keen historian would require to devote a great deal of energy, time and space ■to, if he were to do it justice. That rowing or—to use its olden time title—boat-racing is a many century old form of sport is undoubted, for ample evidence of tills fact Is to be found In ancient Greek art. Rowing, then, can be claimed as a great heritage handed down through countless years by the greatest athletic nation of all time. In the days of Greek ■supremacy, the fundamental .principals of rowing—or boat-racing— Insofar as the human element Is concerned demanded the same degree of physical development as is required today. Whilst It cannot be olaimed that present 'day manhood is more physically or artistically perfect than the ■pagan Greeks —perhaps less perfect—the ingenuity of recent generations has ■developed the mechanical aspect to such an extent as to make It appear ■that boat-racing Is a more or less modern -sport. Whaleboat racing, although almost unknown to the present day New Zealand oarsman, is a great sport of only a few decades -ago, and is really the beginning of the modern style' of rowing. -. What a contrast there is between the boats of the ancient Greeks, the ■old time whale-boat, and the present ■day Beat and Best racing craft. Stoutly Built Boats. The chief mode of transport in olden days demanded stoutly built boats to withstand the battering of rough seas; the whale-boat,,itoo, was used largely •on the open sea, but to-day the fragile craft of modern oarsmen requires the greatest care in handling, 'and can only be usedi on smooth, or practically calm water. ■Rowing has gained great popularity throughout the world in recent years, due largely to its inclusion as an Olympic sport. Many different styles are practiced, and much controversy, aroused as to the “best" .style. In New Zealand and Australia, the underlying object.‘is to attain the maximum of pace with the minimum degree of physical exertion. This is attained by paying more than average attention to the use of and correct functioning of

the body—every part being called upon to do its job—and to the control of the seat on the slide. The talcing of a stroke from the commencement to the finish, is one -of rhythmical notion, the slide being well controlled by the correct application of the body. It has been 'demonstrated with pronounced I success that this style of rowing is superior to most, if not all, others where the racing distance is a reasonable test. Hopelessly Unsuitable. Unfortunately, New Zealanders and Australians competing overseas’ generally find the distances too short for their representatives to do themselves justice—ns witness, the 'Olympic Games, where the distance 'for eightoared rowing was approximately 1-J miles. Under New Zealand rules this class of rowing is not less than two miles. When it is realisedi that America includes i mile races—if they can -be termed such —in the programmes, it will be quickly seen that the New Zealand style is hopelessly unsuitable, and also that other countries have adopted

styles that do suit the shorter distances. .. . A Looking back again through past centuries, one must wonidier what conditions prevailed and what distances the Greek sailors rewed in their elumsy craft of so long ago, and if the ingenuity of modern man has carried out the traditions set by those olden time athletes, or whether present day rowing is hot a new kind of sport designed for the purpose of testing the 'combined 'physical prowess of a crew to race at top speed over a short course, irrespective of effect or appearance or the good of the game. The super athletes of ancient Greece cannot answer but what say the whale-boaters 1 A writer once said of rowing that it was a "sport requiring Ihe greatest stamina. ' The first mile was your own, the second indicates how consci'enliously you’ve trained, the third mile 'calls forth your inheritance from your immediate parents, whilst on the fourth you go back even unto the. third and fourth generation."