SCULLING.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 396, 31 March 1908, Page 3

SCULLING.

The Sydney Sunday Sun, which journal sent a representative over to do the recent championship race, has the following interesting notes thereon;— There are yet quite a large number of aquatic people who are disinclined to believe Webb is a champion. They argue against him, and the excellent times he has put up in both championship races. The time for the last event, aomin 28sec, was good, notwithstanding arguments to the contrary, for it must be remembered that the race was rowed on practically “dead,” but fresh, water, but the last mile and a-half against rather a fresh breeze. The course, too, was a full three miles and a quarter, measured by both banks. The man that beats Webb has to cover the first mile in smm sosec at least. He is improving all the time, too, and it will take a good man to beat him. Tressider had done no trials in sensational time to make him so cocksure as he was of deleating Webb ; he had not improved in either pace or style —his work had deteriorated in fact, and why his backers staked so much money on him is a puzzle. They did not back the man; they backed the talk. They seemed to have forgotten that every man who ever went out to row lor the championship was just as sanguine, and they ignored the lact that Webb’s party was more than sanguine, and had some ~easou to be so, too. Poor Dick ! He sadly underrated his opponent. He would not be persuaded that Webb was a fast man, but learnt it by the time they had gone a mile. As anticipated by less than half a dozen visitors at Wanganui who saw both scullers at work, the race was over at two miles. As hard as Tresidder rowed, Webb appeared to have got a rest between a mile and a-halt and the two miles, for he tested Tressider there and found him done. Whatever may have been said as to how Webb finished, it is certaiu that he had a hard race, but could have won had it been a little harder.