WATERMEN

NZ Truth, Issue 1205, 3 January 1929, Page 12

WATERMEN

Rowers and Bad v YS^/a^r NiZ/s LESSON (From "N.Z. "Truth's" Rowing Cor- ■ ' respondent.) Though "Gus." Jackson'is warmest supporters did not look to him to .beat Bob Pearce; the Olympic champion> it was thought theNew Zealand champion would at least get- second. OOWEVERi the' rough water experi--11 enced on the day upset all calculations,; and Jackson "also ran." A.pparen,tly he.- !was lucky to finish at baily-as ori \ two -occasions at least he nearly capsized. Under the most favorable conditions, ,:L;J,a:ckson, it is plairi, 7 would have been i ,\yell "beaten by Pearce, but as it was Teyerything went against, him. .'•bpridr to the' race. W. Webb cabled V.ihat^ Jackson was -off color, the heat,AvMch ; 7was scorching, having upset him; 'j:Th,6 'day before the race he broke his sculls; •and to cap all he .drew a bad mar ble.' The rough water did the rest. Jackson had shown he could row a mile on smooth water as fast as any, New Zealander, bar Wehb and Arnst, had ever, don;e,;; but he was all at sea m i jabjobbleb.' yy Though he comes of a famous -rowing family he is not' a watermany but no doubt will improve m this respect with experience. Qne lesson which the New Zealand Council ■' should take to heart from Jackson's experience is that it is foolish to "postpone championship events because the water does not happen to be smooth enough to suit some of the competitors. Of recent years it has become, the habit ,to put off ■'•big races if there Is a bit of a jobble on. After all, champion oarsmen • should be capable of rowing well under any conditions — rough or smooth. Champion > crews and scullers of twenty years or so ago could* plough through the r-ougli'; stuff all right, because In addition to being stylists they were good watei^inen. •"% ..-,j JjjyJThis craze for -perfect rowing conditions is not conducive to making good! oarsmen. It is akin to the fad of Australian; cricket authorities ; m covering ■ : the wickets. ''■'■"'"■'■ We should 7 aim at producing real oarsmen-b-capable of rowing well m smooth or rough water. Of course, m Jackson's case it is more a matter of inexperience.