THE SCULLING CHAMPIONSHIP.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 486, 27 July 1912, Page 3

THE SCULLING CHAMPIONSHIP.

TWO TO ONE ON ARNST. BARRY VERY FIT. London, Wednesday. Arnst is a warm favourite for Monday's race on the Thames for the world's sculling championship, To-day 1500 to 1000 on Arnst was offered, while 60 to 30 was taken. Barry now weighs list 101b, and is very fit after a week-end at Brighton. "Bossy" Phelps, Arnst's trainer, states that he is more satisfied with the champion's condition than he was a week ago. He ia now ISst 41b in weight.

The Daily Telegraph says that those who sculled against Arnst in practice have no great opinion of his pace, though he is very fast off the mark, and never tires.

Jt adds that Barry is paying especial attention to starting fast. If he can show his old staying pow«rs he may win owing to his superior knowledge of the course, and the fact that Arnst is rather overtrained.

Arnst and Barry have paid their final deposits of £2OO.

The betting on the race bears out the general New Zealand opinion that Arnst will win, and in spite of the Telegraph's criticism, the holder of the championship should have a clear view of Barry's back most of the way. In Barry's other races Barry has been led at the mile post by Arnst, Fog-well, Towns and other scullers, but though not a fast man over the first mile, he is rather faster than the general run of scullers over the remaining three. He ia the holder of the record for the Putney to Mortlake course and it is no mean sculler who can achieve this. In fact, it is through his ability to last out the course at a sound, swinging speed without taking the customary spells after spurts, which has enabled him to attain the position he now holds as champion of England.

Arnst is notJnly a fast man, but a stayer also, ancf though be has to row 4£ miles inßte: d of the 3 miles 330

yards to which he has been used, he should make his shell travel over the whole journey. When Arnst arrived in England, he was asked which was the hardest race he had ever been called upon to row. and he replied, "The one against Barry on the Zambesi " This, however, is not quite consistent with the remarks he made after the race with Pearce on the Paramatta twelve months ago, when he said to Pearce: "You gave me a harder race than Barry did. Barry is said to be a very skilful and clever sculler, but this, Harry Floyd, who was with Arnst in Africa, denies. "The man is not skilful," he said, ''in any way. Mr Guy Nickalls spoke about Arnat's sinew and muscle overcoming Barry's skill and science, but that was all nonsense. Why, skill and science means speed, and the more scientific the sculler is the faster he can row. I can assure you, and I watched Barry very closely throughout his training and during the race, and I cannot say the man is in the least degree skilful, as skill goes." Whether Barry is skilful or not, the fnct that he broke the record for the Thames course takes a lot of arguing away by those who say he is not fast. «.