THE CHAMPIONSHIP SCULLING RACE.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 2977, 10 January 1881, Page 4

THE CHAMPIONSHIP SCULLING RACE.

AX EXTRAORDINARY SIKCTACLE.

WHY THICKET T WAS' JSKATEK

Referring to tho victory of Championship Sculling Race, the » "I °™ Mail remarks that Hanlan's fcnui «' another to the victories of style, aa " n ™ l ' but encourage in England a tion to tho principles of sliding un l ™° proper use of the legs and back. Few L prepared to see the Canadian qraajl) ".'• down at full length in Ms boat, batte m 3 face, work his skiff along with one skml_ ™ a time, and indulge in various other amßiA > without apparently losing ground. Srmt-h performances when competing against aam undoubtedly good man, were certainly nraa?' vellous, but we cannot say thoy were inywygood taste. We fancy that the one-sided result is attributable, nob to the fact tha* Trickett. is a bad sculler, but that Hanlan » a perfect phenomenon, and incomparably' superior to any of his predecessors, or to any man of the present day. The special reporter of the same journal, describing the race, says :—" Trickett was the first to appear upon the river. As he shook Harry Kelly's hand, before embarking in his outrigger, it was noticed that tho Australian was trembling violently, and that his face was pale and haggard. Hanlan, on the other hand, stepped into his boat smiling and confident. He touched his cap to the cheering crowd, and pulled away to the starting-boats good-humoured and lighthearted as a school-boy. When the men got in front of the steamers I at once realised the striking contrast tbey presented. Hanlan was the picture of rosy health. He was plajful, easy,. and self-possessed, and appeared to delight and revel in the whole business — pulling about the river with supreme ease, laughingly striking the water first; with one scull and then with the other but even in this burlesque fashion sending Lis boat along evenly and fast Trickett, on the other hand, was pale, serious, and determined. _ He looked painfully aware of the nature of the business in hand, and w." evidently in no humor to give his mind to anything but the most serious part of that Then the accompanying eight-oared cutters got into position, with Harry Kelly" to steer Trickett and Bright to direct Hanlan. s course. Then the men stripped—or at any rate Trickett did, for Hanlan rowed ma sleeveless jacket of some dark blue material, which, though* it concealed his chest and back, showed off to great advantage the powerful throat and splendidly-develops arms of the Canadian, whose skin mistakably the 'ruddy hues of health.' 1 turned to Trickett, and there saw what torn y eyes was an overtrained man —a man stale and fagged with too much hard work — a man whose pallor was unmistakable, and whose dull skin seemed to cover muscles grand, indeed, in their size and proportion, but too wiry — a man _ who, in trainers' language, was ' too fine,' and had 'trained off.'" After the first mile, adds the writer, " the race was practically over, for Hanlan's lead was in no danger, and Trickett was laboring hard. The expression of determination on his sallow face had been replaced by a look of pain and despair. All could see that Trickett, the Champion of the World, was a beaten man! The last three miles of the course were covered in one way —Trickett rowed short and without dash or energy, hut still in fair form, and with lots of pluck, while Hanlan went on happy and jolly, and as full of tricks and antics as a circus clown. Now he stopped rowing altogether for an appreciable time, and let his adversary come up to lim ; now he kissed his hand to the applauding crowds, or waved his handkerchief with delight; now he leaned right back in his boat, to the terror of his backers and friends ; and for the last mile or more tho great Canadian carried on an animated conversation with the English sculler Elliott, who was alongside in an outrigger practising for the Hop Bitters Eegatta. At last the winning-post was reached, the gun was fired, and Hanlan was Champion of the World, having beaten Trickett by three lengths, or 7 seconds, in 26 minutes 12 seconds. The slowness of the race goes for nothing, as there was no tide to speak of, and for at least three miles the winner simply played with his opponent. It does not look much of a boating this three lengths, but, beyond doubt, Hanlan, if he had rowed his hardest all the way instead of indulging in tricks which were risky and in bad taste, could have won by at least a quarter of a mile. Indeed many good judges say he might, had he liked, have been half a mile in front at the finish. So thorough and complete a triumph over a champion has seldom or ever been witnessed in England, and whether or not my surmise be correct that Trickett was stale and unfit, my conviction emphatically is that Hanlan is far and away the better man, and would always beat him whenever they met in a match over four miles of water, if not indeed under any circumstances and over any distance. Hanlan is vey much better than I expected to find him, and is, it must be frankly admitted, the best and most accomplished sculler of the world, past or present. Trickett is a good sciiller, even in his present condition, and, but that he met a wonderful oarsman, would have rendered a capital account of himself. An enormous sum of money has been lost by what is called over here ' The Australian Division.' There was, I was told, quite a quarter of a million of money depending upon the result ; and with this startling statement I dismiss

the greatest and most important boat race that was ever rowed."