ROWING.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 722, 22 January 1910, Page 12

ROWING.

(By MF.nounY.)

■■■;• • FIXTURES.' '.■"..'-.■■ ■ ■.■.,; Monday—Championship Eegatta, Picton. February. 24—Australasian Fourtoared Championship (Hobnrt). ' , -February 26—Christchurch Eegatta. February—Wanganui Eegatta. . : ~

The Wellington Regatta has come and gone; and, successful though the meeting undoubtedly was, it was responsible for a big blot:on the history of Wellington rowing. Two features of the..day wore remarkable—tho fine display of oarsmanship by the visitors, and the poor showing by the local men., Except, perhaps, in tho senior sculls, which, was. a disappointing affair in every respect, v the standard of. rowing was of: a very high order, and this, despite the fact that, in the longer races; the water for tho earlier stages. ; was;not.favourable ; to good row-: ing. , ,A certain-amount , of disappointment ; was expressed l , when it .became known that the Auckland' brigade were not among: the starters, and their ; absence placed/the executive- in rather -a false position.-.' -In all good : faith the association , .had.' advertised ■; that ; they would "compete,rand had generally made use of. their, entry.'to-boom the regatta. However, ...the .northerners ; departed for l'ioton on. Wednesday, intending to' come over, but, -as no. boat left.there on Friday, this■ was not, possible. .Hence the wholesale scratching.- .■.'.'.'' -.;■.- ' ■ : - It is not intended, here to go into the details of the.racing—space does not permit, and it has been covered in tlfc daily .columns.- .One or two matters,- however, call for remark; and'the chief of these' arises, from : the": single" sculling. race. '■ It will be remembered that, in this event only two" .started-Marshall, .of the Wanganui ; Club, and JChristiansbn, .-■ of :the Wanganui. Union, and '- that,' before the race was fairly under way, a foul occurred,' tho .upshot of,-which ;was that Marshall .was. disqualified ■ by.the umpire after finishing;tho distance." Much dis--satisfaction :,was- expressed : over this' ac- , i'? n ! ~t he. more, especially so because uinstianson■■ mado no protest, either ,at ( tne time ; or_ ; later,.and because it could not have affected the ultimate -result of the race. .In fact, Marshall allowed', his opponent to:'get. clear away ■ after the touch, so if any one suffered from' , the occurrence, itrwas ■ Marshall himself. . For ttteso.reasons it was generally judged that the umpire's : action ;,was harsh, even if thL U Tlres -.' Th , at it ■ 5-as;more: severe than tho • occasion. demanded is decidedlv ; jpmmon .of;'the vW riter, ;but-of the , officials'■' rights" ui the matter there can be no; question. Nol'ie of -the:: Laws.>of lipat-racing says:. "Tho-jurisdiction of the' umpire-extends-over-a race, ; and allmatters connected: withit,' from .the time tho, race , is .specified-:to start-until its', .termination, and his decision in all cases' shall be final,,and without appeal." Thus Sir;. Galbraith. was quite within , his powors- in imposing, the disqualification but, at the/same; time, ; it ; would 'have been more, satisfactory for.,all concerned had ; he tempered.-justice 'with , morcy, 'such discretion being allowed'' him ,under Eiile , '- 8, .which, reads i:"It .shall bo 'considered' aioul, eto,, , .:.;;.... unless, in the opinion" ■of,-,the umpiro,;such) contact is so , slight aa not .to influence'the race/' ■ : ■-.-. ■ : ', Anbthor matter.worthy.yof record is tlie Jact thati the-Star senior. double-scullers were debarred from'.competing , in ; theif ? l v rt°i f.'oy; α-yiecei of .the hardest luck. While their, boat .'was at: tho skids, just prior to leaving for- the starting post; sho' was run mto by the umpire's launch, and ■ so badly damaged as to bo unuseablo: for the race, .if -not for all time'.' v The Star men had, consequently, -to watch' tho Tace.from tho'shore, instead 'of,. as: they had; hoped, the. stern of-'.their- boat. ' ; . ;A fJ d : now .to deal with the .performances ' of-the. local, oarsmen. '-'In tho. first place ;One:r -ase of .the mattor cannot be too doeply deprecated, , ond;that-is the alarmist condition:of mind that leads .to -the .Are Wellington oarsmen decadent?" articles ,in: the press. .-Bad as Saturday's performance undoubtedly was, there is : no .occasion ■ for'-panic- 'Moreover, .the fact: shonld bo .brought home" , to .the : oarsman ] that'.tho fault lies within .'him-' 6elfrnnfl:;,nol; 'with outside , influences." Howevor,; more of-this aspect later. . Sat urdaVs rout -was 'the worst that has-oc-' ; regatta'for years. The, question: naturally arises as to whether it was .because-the visiting: oarsineri l . showedva , ' surpassing improvement on former- years, or whether, it was because, ;°r •the'nonce,-:tho!local standard had fallen.;- ,The, answer;is easy , :..- Good- as tho .class_ of; performance of. the visitors 'was' on:.the-.wlo!e;;it : was not 'so^mucli'in" advanco of previous, -years as all, that. No) iJt^waa-. painfully apparent' to- spectators -that .the local standard- 'was not' nigh • pnouffh. 1 : ; . , . I!'. ,' "■■ :..■:.::-.- :: J :: : 'Again, i WhyP ; lii erideavonring to find : an, answer a,retrospect of-Saturday's doings, reveals, two outstanding,facts; firstly,': every .race the . visiting. oarsmen rowed stroke, than did our' men, qnito as raod a'length; and secondly, that they! had/ as a rulo, 'more ln-.them j Tvhen;..it;.came; to the -business '.the.;-race..: . Moreover, a review■ ,ol;. the. men engaged-, shows .that,-. in. point' ™, Pnysiqne, the local men could quite hold their_.:.own. yrith--. their .conquerors.': They,-were , as <well, boated, and more accustomed .ito tho;woather ; :.conditions.and ■ the course.;..; It must appear ithen that .rout...fies;,in,oneor both of, the .two, facts first named. - ■■ . ~ Jo t deal.'iwith tho latter; first-that-of" the stronger finishing ,'powors of - ; the' visi°f!"i 19 ™ s ;-.Decause.' they■■■ are naturally gilted .with ■ more staying power, ■Oγ. can ithey see it out"..better ; because they have, undergone a, mpre thorough: preparation? ILe -former alternative is absurd; the .latter, brings, us, down very much to-tho" : P°. m , t - : - Tnero.can bo no doubt, in ■'tho minds of anyone familiar with Growing con-' ■ditionsin the various clubs of the , ion over any' length of. time that the local : oaraman of to-day; takes . his responsibilities., ,very lightly, '.as. .'compared, with his fellow ofleven four.or five seasons■ back He neither trains ds hard , as he can, nor as hard as he .used, to, "and he certainly ;does not. train as-.hard, as; he should. And, , most positively, he does; not train ■as • hard as-liis - opponent. , Admittedly,' local conditions are all against'a good preparation, , , and, admittedly, it requires more exercise of the qualities: of patience and;perseverance to undergo a thorough!' training 'course here' than it.' does in ■places where: the weather'is not. so exasperating.. ;But this is not more so nowthan, in the past; The conditions have not changed, Taut the , training■ procedure linß.":'--:'::."....--',: •'■;■ :■ --:■•• ■• -.. ~.- 1,, •..-'

-. "Mercury", ia ..quite aware - that'' these' contentions will be. met with' the ; .iisual On-!.- it's the usual old-timer's grumble— I .nothing-;as goodas it was." But they are statements- that are open to proof in> nearly, every branch of athletics as well , '- as -.rowing; -For- example, it is quite ' a' now:phase .in rowing training that a calm'--Saturday, afternoon should go 'by, trad find'a;regatta crow not out for Ion" , steady work :iu- the- ,boiit,-. but but chasing-' the olusis'e dividend at. a galloway meeting. And this has occurred not once only during the-season:': Again, it is a new doyelopment. that' the absence of one man' from a crew : should'keep that crew on tho' skids doing nothing except perhaps a perfunotory bit .' of: exercise and aswiin,! while thero were substitutes billing, to go out.' '~,:; ; •■ •-.-". . Again '(this appliesto the Star Club),' another, innovation of recent years is the. neglect of the use :of the northerly shed. One romemberswhen, in tho earlier part ,of.the:season, regatta rowing from JCa-i ■warr'a" was the rule, an: occasional'.row from tho town shed coining along now and then as ;a. special-treat. . Then, : of course, '.tho shed liad not been moved to. its. present sito, and tho northerly course could bo usod nioro, but even allowing for this, it is not utilised anything like it should be. -Apropos, the.writer lias a very clear- recollection, of seeing ,a -.Wellington club's ■' crew of some years ago carrying its boat along from the shed lo tho Thorndon Esplanade, and launching her.-thorc, so as not to raiss : a row on ■ a rough Saturday afternoon: Against this, take-a usual night's procedure .now. The average regatta. man gets down to the shed, and if the water is good and ; all his crow turns, up, he goes for a. row for a milo and a half or so, back again, puts the boat away, and his training is fin-! ished until the next favourable opportunity, for a row comes alone. If tho water is bad on his arrival at the skids, ho expresses; his "opinion , of Wellington as a rowing centro .(in which, by tho way, ho! is probably right), takes.out his pipe, if ho is not already smoking, waits about until dinner time, and goes home. Or, if ho is feeling, extra:energetic, he does ii littlo exercise in tbe "gy_m." or a small-run,-and hafi a swini, and so on from day, to-day. This is all'very: nice and pleasant and be&utlM; but it won't enaUi a.

man to win regatta races in good company. If the training opportunities do not present themselves he should make thorn, and if he is'keen enough—that is as keen as he should be—he. will make them. '.•■ ; - ''•'■ ■

In making these remarks, "Mercury" desires to offer a reservation in favour of the Star Club's senior crew, which trained well and conscientiously,' and sot an example which club members could follow with advantage both to thoniflvre and to the institutions they may from time to time-'represent.-'* 'Now tho other aspect of the- question presents itself, that of the difference in the methods adopted.by the .visitors, and by our representatives. In every race oxcept tho senior double sculls, . the brisker work of the former-was marked to a degree. In the senior fours, tho winners, i . Wanganui Union, rowed variously from 38 to 36 per minute; the Stars, at their fastest registered 34. _ Tho Picton juniors" achieved 40 per minute comfortably—a rate that: is considered extraordinary. locally. ■ Even the Wanganui crew, that won the double sculls with a long,: slow stroke of about 20 per minute, have got up as' high'as 30 on: the river, and one of the duo informed the writor that this was.no undue strain, and was capable of reproduction whenever necessary. At new year time, : the stroke of .the Picton senior crow told the Star ■ men ■ that his crew had done 44 for some■ distance, and the point 1 to bo.emphasised; is that, this: higher rate .'-is achieved with a stroke, (except, perhaps, in tho case: of the Pictonites) quite as long. as is', effected here,' without any undue rushing: of , the slide, and without any loss of power, in the .water. ;■■" It is apparent that there, must'be, a' considerable, waste of time somewhere in. the. local method; This waste does, not occur'.in the water. ,It cannot be said that: our men indulge in what is technically .known.•' as ;, "wator-ticlding':,, and "sugaring.',' It is at the "catch" and "finish": principally :that ■ hang occurs, although;'the whole .body : and hand work :is ■ sluggish'." -.The reason, for the: growth of this tardiness 0f,.; recent years'* is not far to ueek." Some years'ago both'tho; ■Wellington and,. Star. .Clubs achieved a measure oJ, success with 6rcw9 that effected .what used.-to .be known as the' "Victorian" style.tof which the, essentials exceptionally .hard catch,. a slow'movement up the slide, and a hard finish with -the -legs. ' and . 'arms.v-The success'of these .crews made''.this system .tho vogue,'and, had its : essential-points been : stuck .to , in -.their- entirety, ... : there would have been, no, cause for these pre-sents.'-But -of-the: . essentials,, all but the ':'hard' catch"- and;,-: the.- "slow forward".,iave ' been' bverlooked.,., over,' the, young: oarsman;- sets his mind on.this'catch, to the exclusion'of all: else; and; in his'anxiety to.get.it, pauses-when forward,to gather his'.striking forces together— henco "the - - "hang.". The.-; hard, sudden finish.that was.wont to jump the. -boat "off the; hands," and igivo-it that run■ between■ the strokes thal'.makes for pace, has been forgotten,':'and so'has the accompanying spring-like,. recovery : and sudden ■'dropping v and, of -the hands. <■ The celerity of. these movements compensated:for,stho,'slowness .up;.,the slide/- but - now :the. slow : slide-work.. mains .with. no::accompanying celentvv ; lt js an , axiom in 'rowing- that loss pf;time in ■ one-part of'a. strolc6;'must.;be :made ■up in v anbther i .part, "and, at' present,-the time isMost, and it is not made up, and there- wo-have it.-.-■ Thei.romedy isrwith the -crews themselves,. their.- lost laurels aro yet- within' reach,,.'and',.it;6hly:.;.requires due' attention to. training: and an intelligent and diligent; • application to, tho finer points of the sport,. to. bring the missing vegetation batk. where.it rightly, belongs—in the' Empire .City. ■■■..- ■;. ' ■:.■■'■.;■.