SCULLING.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 966, 5 November 1910, Page 3

SCULLING.

THE CHAMPION, REMINISCENT. Under the heading "Te AoTe Aroha," there appears in the "Transvaal Leader" of October 3 the following account of a welcome accorded to Arnst on, his return to Johannesburg from tho-- Zambesi River. Tho report is as follows:— "Some hundred odd of his fellow countrymen met in the-Goldfields Hotel to bid Mr." Richard Arnst, champion sculler of the world, welcome to Johannesburg. Tho function took the sliape of a banquet, to which speeches and songs were added. Mr. A. C. Hadfield, A.R.M., presided. In replying to" the toast of his .health Arnst ■ gavo a fow details of his experiences on the Zambesi, and paid a tribute to his late opponent, Ernest Barry, and also to another oarsma.n of repute in Neil Matterson, who was present at the banquet. Arnst, in referring to his forthcoming appearance on the Germiston Lake, said he was extremely pleased to learn that the date had beeii altered to a Wednesday, as lie had no wish to appear on a'Sunday. Sketching his early career as an athlete, ho told how, when he had made a name-for himself on tlie bicycle track, some.admir.ers pressed him to turn his attention to sculling. Lack of means to tako up the new sport hindered him, but with this cleared away, he placed 'himself under the care of Towns, and according to tlio raconteur, his early experiences in pulling a boat n'ere highly ludicrous, and gave but littlo promise of championship form. Finally ho was licked into shape, and six months after first sitting in a racing boat ho won his maiden race. All his progress he attributed to the careful coaching and tuition, coupled with the good condition his present trainer, Mr. Floyd, had him in for all engagements. During tho evening several apologies-for absence wero received from well-known New Zoalanders, and prior to tho break-up the names of all present were taken with a ■ view to tlie early formation of a New Zealand Association."'