ROWING.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 651, 30 October 1909, Page 9

ROWING.

(By Misncuny.l

. FIXTTJKES. In Session—W.R.C. Club Fours; S.B.C. Senior Fours; S.B.C. Junior Fours; and S.B.C. . . Novice Pairs. Docombcr 3 and 4—Foxton Sculling Handicap. The Wellington Club .officials are making good progress with the racing in tho club fours. Proceedings commenced on Monday night, over tho southerly course, and, at time of writing, six heats have been contested, tho 6rst round and one heat of tho second being disposed of. Allowing for some unavoidable roughness, duo to the halts in preparation from tho inclement weather, tho rowing form displayed has been fairly good, Davcy's crows especially setting a good main in this respect. On Monday, S. Shilling defeated G. Jones somewhat easily, A. Jackson and H. SHCinley battled out a fiuo race (the former winning eventually by n. short half-length), while Davoy beat Redding by. a similar margin after a very keen struggle, ft i w ~ mnin B combinations were: Shilling (str.), Stewart, Mathewson,. and Cairns; Jackson (str.), Barry, Butler, and Bodley; and Bavev (str.), flinchchiffe, Quayle, and Park. On lufisday, again on the southerly course, Furaess (str.), AVest, Gordon, and Hall beat Gaudms crows comfortably by two lengths; and W. Shilling, Morris, Hook, and Doherty accounted for Standin's chances. ' This latter was a fine race, and a canvas was about tho margin of differenco at thetfinish. ■ ■' "he second round opened on' Wednesday. A slight jobble: made the northerly courso unpleasant, but not bad enough to provent racing, although it marred-the rowing. Ono heat was rowed, Davey's crew, itemised,above, stopping the forward march of Furncss by about a length and a half. '•

Perhaps by tho time this appears tho affair will have been concluded, but this would seem toMjo. asking too'much of,tho weather conditions. If so, however, Davey. should havo run out a winner, judging by heat form. If, on the other hand, the elements havo been unpropitious and the result is still on the laps of the gods, his chance would appear to bo tho brightest.

Tho Star Club's three events arc set down for- argument this afternoon. All hands have made diligent preparation, although sickness and temporary business transfers nave necessitated the use of substitutes in some of tho crews. Thus i Barron's senior craw was minus the services of W. H. Brewer,, No. 3, for some days up to Tuesday last; Oswin lost his bow, J. Davis, temporarily; and Dudley, in tho junior division, underwent a similar bereavement. Latterly, however,, the breaches have been healed, and the crows should go to tho post at full strength. The favourites in the senior brigade are the combinations 'stroked by E. 0. Little and K. Brewer, last year's winner,of this event. Theso crews raced out an impromptu tilt over a .mile recently, in which" Little finished up a length to tho good, and this should provo to bo an index to tho final result. .

lho probable winner of the junior section appears to bo very well' hidden. Fife, Dudley, Wardrop, and Kobieson all have claims, and the. tipster's .task is all'the. harder from tho fact that the training form of young crews is not at all a reliable index, to their racing powers. Thus, in this event last year, Kobieson looked all l over a-winner, but in the deciding test he raced .badly, and cracked up. The: tendency of inexperience when racing is to endeavour to row fast" instead of "hard." Consequently, length and weight go by the board. ;A crew accustomed to train at, say, thirty strokes per minute cannot suddenly increase up to . thirty T iive in its race without sacrificing theso all-important adjuncts, hence that "scratchiness" that so often mars the racing display.of a combination"that has rowed "good form" in training.. And those remarks do not :apply ,to junior- crows alone—there have been seniors also—but that's another, story. Kackworth and Feoney aro the most promising pair in tho'novice class, Ibut several of tho other "doubles",will havo to be reckoned with. The weightiness of.the'-boalsus.ed.in; this event often results in.the racing being more a test of strength and endurance than of correct rowing, but as none of the combinations outstahd iii this respect, tho pair named should win. The Petone Club is oponing'its racing season on November 6, when the Trial Fours will bo commenced. A good_entry of .six crews has been received, and the various combinations are'to be drawn for to-day. - . ; ' Tho fact'that the championship' regatta has been'set. down for so early in the'season' has quickened the interest in.theichoice of. tho H per-, sonnel of the various . club's regatta' .crows. 1 "Mercury"-has.not yet heard of tho intentions of the Wellington and Potono Clubs in this respect,- .but'the Match Committco of the 5.8.0. has announced that.its selections.'will'.b.e.miute at the; conclusion,'of the, prosont racing. ■• I'o forestall the official choice, ''Mercury" begs-:'to submit the following for'(he hopes) respectful consideration. Tho "selection is by no, means thorough, but. deals with the most important branches, the four-oared" divisions, with' 'the exception of- the maiden crew. Senior Fours: ■Heifer, (str.), Little, Turner; and Barron. Junior Fours: ■"&'.' M..Brewer (str.); Lawrence, Kerslake; and , Marchant. Youths' Fours: Bridge, Doughty, Holmes,, and Benriott.... , " •The selection of a maiden crew is purposely "side-stepped" for the, present.. Owing to the succoss. of, the past. season's, maidons, ■ the amountof material offering is small, and,' truth to tell,'.'not of a particularly high standard. Those whose claims'call for consideration the loudest, seem to be Abercrombio; I'ye-Smith, Dudley, Cowles, Millington, Smythe, and Hobortson. In fact, this list includes the only men rowing inthe senior club event who are eligible ■ for seats in the maiden boat,, and the racing form displayed in the present club contests is the only criterion from ■ which, they can bo judged.- For this reason selection is held ovor until they have been through.the test. It will bo noticed that in the suggested senior crew only-one of last season's combination is retained, viz., Little. This may be considered too revolutionary,' but it stands the [test of criticism. . The stroke, Heifer, late of tho i.Blenheim Club, has performances that cannot be overlooked. Moreover, ho rows a stroke 'that is both powerful, and crisp, and would inculcato in a crew.that sprightliness'and briskness that has been lamentably wonting in tho S.B.C.' senior ciews of late years. It is, however, at the choice of the number two and bow that most of the adverse-criticism will bo hurled. Still, the choice is more than' defensible. It must be admitted that tho last crew was not a success—the members thereof failed to "make good." Oo the other 1 hand, Barron and Turner have put up sound performances, both men row strong oars, train well, and have, the stamina to stand, the work. More- ' over, both are keen and amenable to coaching— hence thoir selection- " -,

Perhaps the suggested combination would have been a trifle stronger for tho inclusion of Lawrence' in place of Barron. Lawrence rowed exceptionally well-as a maiden last season, and has decided claims to senior honours. It is the fact that he is still .eligible for the junior crew that turned the scale against him. In his absence the vacancy in the junior boat could not have been satisfactorily filled. Barron has passed out of this class, so the common good is better served.by: his inclusion in the senior crew.

As indicated in this column last week, the action of the Marlborough Association in deciding upon New Year's' Day as the date for the championship regatta brought forth strenuous opposition from the' other clubs and associations. The Wellington, Otago, and Canter-, bury bodies, and the Union Club (Wa'ngamii) filed emphatic protests, which were dealt with at the N.Z.A.R.A. meeting on' Wednesday last; The. upshot has been that the executive declined to ratify the proposed-date, and has suggested January 22 (Anniversary Day) in lieu thereof. This decision will not please, the Marlborough people, but. in the general interest of the sport it was the correct, and, indeed, the only eq'uitablo action open to the council. It will make a difference to the. "gato" at Picton and so affect the financial: aspect of the big meeting, but this can bo overcome to a certain extent if representations are made to tho.U.S.S. Company to run an excursion steamer across'on the holiday.

Entries havo closed for tho Poxton Handicap. Tho following New Zealanders ■ have nominated :-W. Webb ■ (Wangantii), G. Whelch (Aknroa), T. -Lawson; (Nelson), P.. L. Green (Kilbirnie), A. S. Green (Miramar), P. Ryan (Canterbury), and Teri Rewiti (Takapuna). Jt will be' noticed that R. Arnst is not among the entrants', no doubt becauso of his temporary return to the bicycle. It, is understood that ho is to tako part in the big Timaru to Christchurch road race in the latter end of November. Tho Australian entries aro apparently not complete, as they,hare not been made public. Australian, files show that Day, Larsen, and Mitchell havo entered, and that Felton, Ellis, and Green are likely to follow suit. In addition to these, P«arce,_ Thoroughgood, Messenger, and Hagney have signified their intention of competing in the Wanganui handicap early in the new year.; . . The present arrangement is that the Wanganui Victuallers' Association is guaranteeing the travelling expenses' of seven first-class Australian scullers, in addition to boarding them for a fortnight free of charge, and that the Poxton Commitfceo is working in with' the Wanganui people so that the competitors invited by tho latter party .will bo available for the, Pox.-, ton contest, The course decided upon at Wanganui is over the first two miles of the championship course. .■•: •■■■""..-■■■ Tho Wellington' Rowing; Club is inviting entries for its" junior, and. senior sculling events,"