ROWING.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2104, 1 February 1908, Page 2 (Supplement)

ROWING.

During the week junior and iOsc. crows Jni.'O oeon se.oc.ua lo lepies- | mil, uio jroveri,y oa.v muij at, tue vjnunipionship at iwipieL. The junior crow iu: —ai. .uansia c5>Ck.J, u. juowe i.'-ij, It. I'.lco uuiu (.‘a;, J. IMCiiolus (bowj. im- is the makings ol -a in'.,x-class junior crew, and w.m'u proper training, and coacluiig snoiiKt do honor to uic cluo they i represent. ai. .lie I,u;u yaLii; is con- ! siuerod the next nest man in the I club alter Rees Jones. lie is one ! or tne spare, museuiar men, and rows I a very strong oar. i.lo is a pupil ol Kalpn JJoiik.il), who was looked upon ; as one of the nest strokes that have ' been in the Bay, and was an apt pupil, j Be is inclined to vary Jus stroke, how- ' ever, at times ana pulls slightly | short. .13. Jjowe (.3) is in his first season at rowing and has got on re- ‘ markably well, lie is a heavy weight, j and uses his weight lairly well. He has a very good leg drive, but is weak in body action —he dots not swing ; clean lrom liis hips coming forward, 1 and is rather slow in getting his arms away. R. McGuffio (2) is another first season man lie is not so tall as Lowe, but he is a well-developed specimen of manhood, and shapes remarkably well for the short time lie lias been rowing. He is not so good as the stroke ur the three with his legs, but lie has a good body action. He might hold his slide better. J. Nicholas (3) is an example of the folly of putting new men as stroke of a boat without proper coaching. Last season he developed a few iaults which are hard to erradicate. He is as strong as the proverbial bullock, and keen as mustard, and when McLeod has had him in hand for a week or two he will be right. His wrist woi'k is two slow at the end of the stroke and he has a twist iu the body coming forward. He does not get his two shoulders straight on his work at the commencement of his stroke, and therefore masses part of the weight at the catch. I would like to see Rees Joues in charge of this crew, and take the stroke seat one way of the journey for the first two weeks, and make each member of the crew steer on alternate mornings, as in my opinion a good deal of knowledge is acquired by steering with a good stroke. The ten-stone crew is not an ideal one to my mind, although it is the best t-liat could be selected from the material at hand, and I would class them fair to medium, and in the light boat they will row ill better form. J. Steward‘ (stk) is a good man for the position, although he is on the short side and is inclined to row short. Last year he was stroke of the junior crew, and did very well. He has ■a good catch, and gets a good leg drive. He rows in a very determined style and can stay well when fit. A. Burnett (3) suffers from deafness, and will be hard to coach; otherwise he is a god man. He pulls very well, and is just the right weight when in form. Clark (2) is another fair oarsman. Like the stroke he is oil the short side. He is inclined to row out of the boat, and rushes forward instead of swinging from the hips. He is already in good condition now, and if not carefully worked will be stale at Regatta time. . T. McConnell (bow) is another very fairoarsman. He is generally regarded as the best bow man in the shed. Ho pulls very cleanly, with a very good body action. He might put in a bit more weight to advantage. Taken altogether they should row fairly well, and improve with practice. The crews for the President’s Cup (Poverty Bay Club) went very strong last week. Practically speaking they are at it the first thing in lie morning and the last thing at night, and the race still has a very open appearance. The winner is not sorted out as .yet; the partisans of most crews giving their crews a chance. Since the selection, McLeod’s crew has been slightly strengthened by the inclusion of M. Orpwood in place of James, and Steward’s crew have improved considerably this week, as lias Seymour’s and Clark’s, while the reverse seems to be the case with Nicholas’ crew. I look to one of these crews to supply the winner, and at the present time would prefer McLeod’s crew. The Gisborne Club lias decided not to send a junior crew to the Championship regatta at- Napier. To a certain exteutthis action is not defensible, in that it is hardly .businesslike to send away a crew that, has absolutely no chance of winning a race; but on the other hand, as mentioned last Saturday, it is foolish to expect rowing in the town to improve unless crews are sent where they can see the best rowing. The crews are now fo hand for (lie Schumacher Four (Gisborne Club) and soit “ good racing .s iromised. It would be hard at present to pick the winner, but Smith’s and Hamilton’s crews look the best on paper. The next important event in local rowing circles will be the series of races lor the Licensed Vituallers’ Cup. These races have always been keenly contested, and there is promise that <bis year the crews lrom both sheds will he ill the pink of condition. The ten-stone crow representing the Gisborne Club at Napier will row for the Cup. and the junior and senior crows are to he picked as soon as the Schumacher Fours races are finished.

Tho following is the programme; ol events in connection with the New Zealand Championship Regatta, which is to he held at Napier on Monday, March. US, and the order in which they will be decided : Maiden Sculls, one mile, £4 and £2. Light-weight Maiden Fours (competitors to scale under lOst on day of race), one mile, £7 and_£2. Champion Singlo Sculls, opo mile and a half, £l.O and £2. Maiden Fours, one mile, £l2 and £2. Majden Double Sculle, ono mile, £7 and £2. Champion Fours, two miles, £6O and £lO. Youths’ Fours, one mile, £lO and £2. Junior Double Sculls, one mile, £< and £2. Champion Pairs, one mile and a half, £l4 and £2. Junior Fours, one mile and a half, £ls and £3. Junior Sculls, one Mile, £5 and £1 • Chanqibi'i Double Sculls, ono mile and a half, £l4 and £2. Napier Senior Fours (open to unplaced crews in Champion Fours), one mile and a half, £2O and £4.

Commenting noon tho programme “.Jason" writes in the Canterbury Times thus:—The poster received by mo states that the above is the order of events. If this is correct than all I can say is that I cannot compliment those who drew up the order on their work. Just fancy four of the first pVPirfcs beimr f nv moilom It

mark the two Junior races following each other, while tiie Champion Double Sculls coming immediately beioro the Napier Senior tours is another blunder, seeing that mere is every possibility that some of those who will enter for the laouble Sculls will also he ill the Fours. Altogether the order of ovents is just about as bad as it could possibly be, and it is to be hoped that that Council ol the New Zealand Association will call tho attention of the committee to the absurdities that I have pointed out.