INTERVIEW WITH GEO. WHELOH.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume L, Issue 12145, 9 December 1908, Page 5

INTERVIEW WITH GEO. WHELOH.

HIS VIEWS ON THE COMING

CONTEST.

AN INTERESTING CHAT,

. vMr-GTOrge-jWhelctV-tlief.'Akar^a'-oaiTST. man, is at present in Wanganut^ terday afternoon he and some friends drove up as far as Webb's camp, and while there saw both the champion and Arnst at work; On being approached ; on his return by a " Chronicle reprecentative, Mr Whelch stated his intention of remaining in ; Wanganui until after the" coming race for the world's championship. He had not seen Webb row for some years,. and one of the first questions ..asked was— , v " Do you notice mucli, difference in Webb?"/ . • v ;,.■;.«..' v"T '.. ' . ■■.■. . •" The change is marvellous," -said Whelch. " Webb has gained in physique, and is a "far moi;epowerful. man now than then. .As to his'styl?,,it i-i, in my ; opinion, perfect, and he seems to get tho full, benefit of every available ounce of his strength.", , > .■ WhelciV was so impressed with Webb's sculling and physique' that" it was. impossible for him to'"Say more than that he could think of no present day oarsman to beat him.,.,- , 1 " What is your opinion about Arnst?" " To-day,"" said Whelch, " is the first time I have seen Arnst in a boat, and I must say that his pace is marvellous for one -wife : has been so short a time at scullingJ .He has gr^eat pace, but how he gets/it I cannot understand. Of course he has many faults, but, on the other hand, he is a man of undoubted strength." ' <c It has been stated locally that Arnst gets but little benefit from his strokes till his oars are nearly amidships, and that his oars are on the slant when catching the water. Did you notice anything of this?" " If anyone watches closely," Whelch replied, " there's riot much in it really, as when he strikes the water one corner of his scull (perhaps one-half of it) is on the feather, consequently the rest of it entersthe water at an angle, and the blado is squared atter it is in the water. All Australian oarsmen are the same in this respect. The consequence is thato until the oar is squared the sculler is getting no benefit from it, and a splasii can always be noticed. On tho other hand, a New Zealand sculler's blade is upright on entering the water, and th© strength of the oarsman benefits him practically the whole time."

"Did you notice any rolling of Arnsfc's boat? "

*' I noticed that during each stroke Arnst seemed to get a twist in his body, which 1 attribute to the imperfect use oi: tire sliding seat. When an oarsman is ready to strike the water the seat should be up as far as possible, and it should be stationary for a moment until the oar has struck 'che water, 'iiiis is almost imperceptible, but an oarsman in this way develops more- leverage, as if tho slido moves too s-oon- it 'causoo him to lose a lot of his power, as ho is pulling on notching' solid." Mr Whelch added that he never yet saw a big man who did get his back in work properly, but that they invariably do too much arm work and too little body work.

" It has been started that Arnst'soars do not strike the water evenly. Did you notice this? "

" That is not correct, as it would be impossible for any man_to do any good with a liglJc sculling boat" if he did not work both oars evenly; but I did notice that when A mat's oars strike the water the bqat seems to get a slight and rather peculiar twist."

" Australian opinion, I -believe, is strongly in favour of Arnst, is it not? " " There is no doubt of that," said Whelch, " as over 'the other, side they reckon Arnst must win. Stanbury is of tho opinion liiat Arnct-JiaG already m.oi'9 anil- power than ever he (Stanbury) himself possessed, while Beach reckoned that Arnst would become world's champion at tho first time of asking." "In a Wellington interview, Mr \\ helch, you expressed the opinion that Webb would win.- Do you .still hold to that belief?"

l.'-" Well," said Whelch, "candidly

speaking, I am, if anything, more certain of it, but, at the same time, it will undoubtedly, be. a good go." Mr "Whelch was anything but satisfied with his recent contest with Thoroughgood, and states thaJfc the latter's treatment of him -was none too good. Thoroughgood had agreed to row in the direction of Raymond Terrace, but on the day of the race stuck out for the race being rowed in 'the opposite direction. There was nothing in the articles about this, and if Whelch had refused the race would probably have been cried off. He had never before rowed under similar conditions, and had never previously gone in for a similar course of training. He had had only seven weeks to train for the race, and iduring that 'time the excessive heat had affected him so much that instead of building himself up he was losing weight, and consequently had to ease down. He has backing for a match with Fogwell, and is desirous of a race.*

A match between Fogwell and Whelch would doubtless provide a very interesting content. #

The Wanganui correspondent to the Sydney " Sun," writing under date November 20th regarding^ the approaching raco for the championship of the world, says: —Arnst has been putting in plenty of faolicl wcrk on bhe championship course lately,- and is still improving in style. Some of those who have seen him rowing during the last few days are simply amazed at the good work he is doing. Of course, he is not yet by any means, a perfect sculler, several faults being noticeable. He still strikes tho water with one blade before the other, and there is an ugly screw of tho shoulder. However ? ho takes a long sweep, and there is evidence of great power behind > his strokes, the driv^ being a very powerful one. He _ Still complains that he cannot get hiif weight down as lie would like. —Fogwell always appears to leave him. in the sprints, being apparently quicker off the mark. His condition is excellent, and his supporters may rest assured that he will step into his boat fit to row the race of his life on December 15th."*

Webb has gone up river into camp at tho old spot, opposite Kaiwhaike, Denny Barnett and Joe Green being with him. .The latter is sculling very well, and will be of great* service to tho champion in the capacity of pacemaker. Webb was in capital health when ho y left town yesterday," and his fingers are now healed, and he was to resume rowing' a week ago, , and had several good spins before going up into

camp. ' . ;. . Arrangements in connection with the race will be much on the same lines as on the occasion of the Tresidder ooiir test, though better facilities will be afforded excursionists from the South Island. Information to hand from both north and south indicate that there will be a bigger crowd than, ever here on the day. ° ._ . ■.'.;..; Arnst's supporters are daily becoming more confident, and are mor_e than pleased with the vigor he puts into his preparation. The burly oarsman is r\pt wanting for followers, and even t-hcce who anticipate that he will be beaten in the forthcoming race consider that with another year's experience and improvement in style we will have . in Arnst a .sculler equal, if not superior, to even, the greatest oarsmen the world has known.

Writing to the " Sun." from his camp at Wanganui, Dick Arnst says.: —"There is great excitement hei'e over the boatrace, and it jpll be the biggest day ever Wanganui had. The people seem to talk of nothing else. If the weather keeps good we will get a big gate. They are getting special trains put on from Wellington to connect with the special steamers from -'South -Island sports.'' ' ,:-,;,'^ihere are ■five. > of us- in ; camp-ihe're; ' (PSpaiti)i" iricludih g the; cook..:?; iWe ■ are a happy family in comfortable quarters, and are enjoying ourselves. lam rowing real"weli iioav, and am still about 13-J stone weight, but. as nice warm weather has set in I ought to' get rid of the surplus flesh easily. Billy Fogwell is not pulling too badly, and in, a; week or go he will give me all the pace: I require. We are going through th<£ usual cou.rse.of training. We climb the/) steepest hills hereabouts to make-1 c«ur:> 'wind' good, and you know what hill- :< climbing around Wanganui means.,;.:*; " The course is not too bad at all, but a lot depends on the toss of "the .coin-v. as the. inside man has the advantage;; all the way. It is is an easy-course to* row through, and there'is not muqh ,^oi. learn." . • .' "': '•■..^•> ., i " Webb will not indulge in fii;eworjfe&' any more until after the race". ■Hje> hand was too sore to get afloat ls.<A\s about a week,'but he is out again'npw,v,: and will continue on as usuaj until; theday of the. race." ' ; .^:>;.-yu; Harry Floyd, who is assisting to trains Arnst, says:—" Dick has to do ; plenty^ of hard work to keep his weighti.dmy.n,^ and now that he has to row haxxlij; as.s the day is drawing nigh, he loses some of -his style. That is just what I was afraid of. I knew he would be liable to drop back into some of his old, faults^as.^ soon as he began to work up speed; but there is time yet for improvement*'?: There is not much fault to find with 'Webb. He rows well, and looks well."^<;

A Taranaki exchange of,. Monday last had for its. boat-race headings—

■" THE SKULLING MATCH." " PREPARING FOR THE PRAY." This would be a more- appropriate> introduction to an account" of the approaching Burns-Johnston congest.

As the days, go by interest in tlie Sculling Championship increases. \ Last Sunday great intei-est was centred at both camps, and the proprietor of the Tesla Studies was successful in securing some excellent photographs of-both contestants on the water; also some of the visitors arriving "at the camp and whilst having lunch. Proofs of the various views can now b© seen by calling at tho about Studios, wKere copies may be ordered.