WITH the OARSMEN

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 130, 23 August 1927, Page 11

WITH the OARSMEN

PREPARING FOR THE SEASON

All Auckland clubs, as with similar , organisations throughout New Zealand. I are now engaged in preparations for j the season. Plant is being overhauled, i membership lists revised, and dates chosen for the annual meetings. The coming season promises to be momentous in New Zealand rowing. One of the important events afoot is the possible selection of a crew to go to Amsterdam for the Olympic games, and another is the chance of a visit from a Sydney University crew. VARSITY EIGHT-OAR Next season, too, the inter-Varsity eight-oar will probably be inaugurated as a regular fixture. Its inception at Auckland last Easter was the result of local enterprise, the powerful Wellington crew winning in a re-row after Auckland had swamped in rough water in the first effort. The date for next season’s race has not yet been fixed, and no decision is likely to be reached until the dates for other events, such as the championship and the inter-provincial eights, have been fixed. With the Varsity race, the result of keenness in Wellington and Auckland will probably be that Canterbury College and Otago University will enter the field. NEXT YEAR’S CHAMPIONSHIP Next year’s championship will of vast importance, as the form shown will probably be a guide toward the selection of an All Black eight, if it is decided that one should be sent abroad. No definite location for the championship has yet been chosen, but it will probably be held at Wanganui, which is reasonably handy for Auckland oarsmen, and offers good facilities so long as the river remains clear of timber. In view of the important issues to be decided at the championships, there will probably be very strong representation, particularly of senior crews. CHAMPION FOURS Otago’s right to the rowing premiership is at present seriously disputed by only Waitemata and Wanganui Union. Next year, on the smooth river water, one would not be surprised to see the hard-plugging southerners beaten by more orthodox crews. During its reign as champions the Otago crew has definitely influenced New Zealand rowing, particularly as to fitness and physical strength. Moreover, it has brightened the chapter of the sport with memorable performances in Australia, where its success was so decisive as to hearten all New Zealand oarsmen in the conviction that a crew should be sent to the Olyrppic Games. CHANCE AT AMSTERDAM At present the. powers that be seem to be hesitating about the advisability of sending an Olympic crew abroad. There should be no need for doubt on the point, as New Zealand rowing is of such acknowledged standard that a fully representative crew would have more chance of bringing back international honours than any other sportsmen; save, of course, Rugby players. Next to Rugby, it is to be doubted if there is any sport, other than rowing, at which New Zealand standards are so high, in comparison with world's championship performances. But it is to be hoped that the 1921 bungle will not be repeated. Hadfield, when he went to Antwerp, was given no hope through the wretched parsimony which limited his training operations. HEALEY AS STROKE? And who would be stroke of the Olympic crew? While many will plump straight away for C. A. Healey, others assert that the Wanganui oarsman is past his best, and express doubts, moreover, as to whether he really is the best man for the seat. Healey, it is true, stroked the last All Black eight successfully, but then he had with him an exceptional crew. It has been held against him that, methodical and precise though his beat is, his reluctance to accelerate is a pronounced weakness. At Wellington and Picton, last season, he hardly performed like a champion stroke, though he had young and virile oarsmen in the boat. And it is still held that New Zealand’s defeat in the King’s Cup, at Henley (England) in 1919, was attributable to his failure to hold a substantial lead from Cambridge University. * * * UNION’S DECLINE Healey won his first success as a stroke before the war, when he carried a Union youths’ crew to victory. His post-war successes were won with help of such fine oarsmen as E. Ryland, W. Coombes, and G. Wilson, all rugged and sturdy athletes. When Ryland retired, and Coombes left Wanganui, the Union shed declined in prestige, and has not yet recovered, though it seems to be on the way. An analysis of the performances of all the strokes in sight reveals no one with a record nearly so imposing as Healey’s. Unless a younger man turns

BY

“RIGGER”

up, Healey will still probably be the strongest claimant for the leadership of the boat. DIVISION OF STRENGTH The division of strength in New Zealand rowing is at present fairly equitable. Winning crews are fairly evenly distributed through both islands, but the greatest strength is concentrated at Auckland, Hamilton, Wanganui, and Wellington, in the north, and at Picton, Blenheim, Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill in the South. Rowing does not appear to have its former status on the West Coast, where the Kawatiri Club, of Westport, once produced a champion four-oared crew. On its performances last year the Star Club (Wellington) will soon be picking up championships. At several Southern regattas, last summer, it practically swept the board in juniors’, maiden and youths’ classes. WRIGHT IN DEMAND Joe Wright, the phenomenal young Canadian sculler, has been much in demand since his fine performances at Henley, and was invited to go to Melbourne, to compete in the sculling events on the Yarra in October. Had he accepted, he would have met, among others, Collett (England), Pearce (N.S.W.), and Stevenson (Auckland), but he was unable to make the trip. Wright, who stands 6ft 2 in, and weighs over 13 stone, is a student at Pennsylvania University, but is a Canadian by birth and sentiment. At Henley (England) he was beaten in the Diamond Sculls through an unfortunate mishap when he was leading easily with only a short distance to go. WAITEMATA FOR MELBOURNE Almost as this column goes to press comes the news from Wellington, per Press Association, that the Waitemata four is to be definitely invited to Melbourne. The crew will have no hesitation in accepting the invitation, as it has been keeping fit in anticipation of such a development. The members are: T. Johnson (stroke), S. E. Brooker, N. Doubleday, and D. Smith. They will now get down to solid training, in readiness for the exacting tests they will encounter on the Yarra. A manager probably an official of the Waitemata shed, will have to be appointed.