James Arthur Messenger, Champion of the World in 1854. He was also bargemaster for Queen Victoria until 1901.

The World Sculling Championship (1863–1957), evolved from the Championship of the Thames for professional scullers.

Only the sport of boxing claims an older Championship of the World. It is notable that Jack Broughton, the "Father of Boxing", trained scullers for prize contests which had their roots in wager races which had taken place from the middle of the 18th century on the Thames.

History

The first race for the Professional Championship of the Thames took place between Westminster and Hammersmith, on the River Thames in London in September 1831, when John Williams of Waterloo Bridge challenged Charles Campbell of Westminster for the Sculling Championship of the Thames. This was just over a year after the first Wingfield Sculls race for the Amateur Championship of the Thames had been held.

The race was initially dominated by oarsmen from the Thames, but a fierce rivalry soon arose between Newcastle and London after the famous Tyne sculler, Robert Chambers became the first non-Londoner to secure the title in 1859.

In 1863 the race became for the Championship of the World. when it had its first non-British entrant, Australian Richard A W Green. Green lost to Chambers but changes were afoot and as an increasing number of professional scullers from Australia; the US and Canada started to compete, Britain lost its dominance, failing to secure a win between 1876 and 1920. For details of the subsequent English Championship only see English Sculling Championship.

Championship Sculling Course Parramatta River Sydney NSW Australia 1920

The first overseas sculler to claim the title, was Australian Edward Trickett, who won his first race in June 1876, Trickett held the title for the next two races (1877 and 1879), both of which were held on his home river, the Parramatta. Trickett eventually lost out to Canadian Ned Hanlan (the first sculler to use a boat with a sliding seat), in 1880 on the Championship Course on the Thames. This course was over a distance of a little over four miles but for other races on other courses there was no set distance. These other courses varied between three and five miles approximately.

Professional sculling saw a marked downturn with each of the world wars. Although a few races were held after the 2nd World War, they failed to arouse the interest of the public or attract the standard of competitor seen in the earlier years of the Championship, and as the amateur / professional split in rowing was slowly abolished, the race died out. The Title lapsed in 1958 when Evans Fischer retired undefeated.

The 1908 World Title race was commemorated in December 2008 when Olympic champion Olaf Tufte defeated three time World Champion Mahé Drysdale and wild card race winner Hamish Bond on New Zealand's Whanganui River to take home the $5000 cash prize.[1]

Challenges

Engraving printed in the Illustrated London News in September 1889 for the match between Henry Ernest Searle (left) of Australia and William Joseph O'Connor (right) of Canada

A person wanting to become the champion would issue a formal challenge to the existing Champion for a match and would offer a certain sum of money. Sometimes a person would issue a newspaper challenge to the winner of another match and deposit a sum with the paper which would theoretically 'bind' the subsequent match. The stake was not a fixed amount but it had to be high enough to be worth the champion's time and reputation and which would discourage frivolous challenges. Typically the stake would be £100 or £200 a side for a state or national championship and £500 or more each for the world title. Sometimes additional expenses were expected as well. Under the rules such as they were, the Champion would have three months to accept the challenge or else forfeit the match in favour of the challenger.

The challenger and Champion, or their agents, discussed the 'terms' and came to an agreement. Sometimes challenges failed at this stage as there was no agreement or the challenger was unable to raise the money. Once the challenge was accepted the 'articles' would be drawn up and signed by the contestants and witnessed. The articles would state where and when the match was to be held, who the umpire was to be, how much the stake per side was to be and when it was to be paid in, and who the literal stake-holder was to be, and a few other details. From time to time it was agreed that the loser would receive some money as expenses which at least prevented a total loss. The stake-holder was often the Editor of a newspaper. The race was then supposed to run within another six months.

Seldom did challengers or Champions have to put up their own money in these sorts of competitions. The normal arrangement was that wealthy backers would put up the money. The backers were usually syndicates of gambling men. The backers of the winner of the match got their money back, and collected any other bets placed, but the winning man personally got the money put up from the backers of the loser. Side-bets between the actual contestants themselves were not unknown. Contestants were also often rewarded by splitting the 'gate.' i.e. the profit from sales of boat tickets and souvenirs. The nature of sculling meant that not all spectators could be charged to see the race but a split of sixty-forty to the winner was common.

Betting

Professional scullers tended to attract more media attention than the crews, since their individuality gave the media and public a greater chance of recognition. "The Aquatic Oracle" published in London in 1852 lists hundreds and hundreds of professional races from 1835 to 1851 between watermen. While many were for small sums of money it gives an indication of the extent of the activity. Betting on races was widespread and in the late 19th century, sculling or wager racing was perhaps the greatest spectator sport in London at the time. Many tens of thousands of spectators attended each race. By the turn of the century prize money had become so great that some scullers made up to nearly £5,000 a year in prizes and side bets, and £2,000 for a race.

Betting was simplified by recourse to past performances and present form would be followed by hordes of spectators at training sessions.

Boats

The very earliest races were informal events between working watermen who raced in their everyday work boat or wherry. These rowing boats were used to carry passengers and goods from one part of the river to another. As racing became more formalised the work boats were superseded by specialist racing craft. Several technical developments assisted in this transformation from the job of waterman to the sport of rowing. These were;

(1) the development of light weight boats built solely for racing.

(2) the outrigger which placed the oar's pivot point outside the boat allowing for more leverage.

(3) the swivelling rowlock, and

(4) the sliding seat which also allowed for more oar movement. These developments greatly increased the average speed of racing. Generally in contemporary reports these types of boats were referred to as "outriggers," "best and best," or "wager boats."

Fouls

A foul is the touching of any part of an opponent's boat or sculls by any part of your own boat or sculls. In the early days of professional rowing, fouling an opponent was an accepted part of the game as a contestant would often deliberately foul to gain an advantage. As racing boats became lighter and frailer this practise became less and less accepted and was finally done away with as actual rowing skill was counted as more important than disabling the opposition. Later title or money matches outlawed fouling and generally the man doing the fouling lost the match. However, because contestants faced the opposite way to the way the boat travelled, accidental fouls sometimes occurred particularly as races were often held on rivers that had bends in them. No lanes were marked out as in modern courses and in a close race a foul could happen as both men tried to get around the bend as quickly as possible. It was not unknown for a contestant to engineer a foul against himself to thereby try to win the race. In most matches an umpire or referee would rule on these sorts of fouls as to whose fault it was, usually at the time, but sometimes only after the race had finished. From time to time he would decide that the foul was accidental with no advantage to either sculler, and would order the men to continue racing. Many races were decided on fouls rather than who was the better sculler and many men felt hard done by when the decision went against them. The umpire's decision was final.

Results

YearDateChampionBeatTimeCourse
18319 Sep Charles Campbell John WilliamsNTTThames (Westminster to Hammersmith)
18381 Nov Charles Campbell Robert Coombes42 minsThames (Westminster to Putney)
184619 Aug Robert Coombes Charles Campbell26 mins 15secsThames (Putney to Mortlake)
184719 Sep Robert Coombes Robert Newell23 mins 46 secThames (Putney to Mortlake)
18517 May Robert Coombes Thomas J. MacKinney27 mins 30 secsThames (Putney to Mortlake)
185224 May Tom Cole Robert Coombes25 mins 15 secsThames (Putney to Mortlake)
185214 Oct Tom Cole Robert Coombes23 mins 35 secsThames (Putney to Mortlake)
185420 Nov James Messenger Tom Cole24 mins 45 secsThames (Putney to Mortlake)
185712 May Harry Kelley James Messenger24 mins 30 secsThames (Putney to Mortlake)
185920 Sep Robert Chambers Harry Kelley25 mins 25 secThames (Putney to Mortlake)
186018 Sep Robert Chambers Tom White23 mins 25 secThames (Putney to Mortlake)
186314 Apr Robert Chambers George W. Everson25 mins 27 secThames (Putney to Mortlake)
186316 Jun Robert Chambers Richard A. W. Green ()25 mins 35 secsThames (Putney to Mortlake)
18658 Aug Harry Kelley Robert Chambers23 mins 23 secsThames (Putney to Mortlake)
18664 Jul Harry Kelley James Hammill32 mins 45 secsTyne
186622 Nov Robert Chambers Joseph Sadler25 mins 4 secsThames (Putney to Mortlake)
18686 May Harry Kelley Robert Chambers31 mins 47 secsTyne
186817 Nov James Renforth Harry Kelley23 mins 15secsThames (Putney to Mortlake)
187416 Apr Joseph Sadler Robert Bagnall24 mins 15 secsThames (Putney to Mortlake)
187515 Nov Joseph Sadler Robert W. Boyd28 mins 5 secsThames (Putney to Mortlake)
187627 Jun Edward Trickett () Joseph Sadler24 mins 35 secsThames (Putney to Mortlake)
187730 Jun Edward Trickett () Michael Rush ()23 mins 27secsParramatta, Sydney
187929 Aug Edward Trickett () Elias C. Laycock ()23 mins 29 secsParramatta, Sydney
188015 Nov Edward Hanlan () Edward Trickett ()26 mins 12 secsThames (Putney to Mortlake)
188114 Feb Edward Hanlan () Elias C. Laycock ()25 mins 49 secsThames (Putney to Mortlake)
18823 Apr Edward Hanlan () Robert W. Boyd21 mins 25 secsTyne
18821 May Edward Hanlan () Edward Trickett ()28 minsThames (Putney to Mortlake)
188330 May Edward Hanlan () John A. Kennedy19 min 4 secPoint of Pines, Boston USA
188318 July Edward Hanlan () Wallace Ross ()27 min 57.5 secsOdensberg, New York, USA
188422 May Edward Hanlan () Elias C. Laycock ()22 mins 46 secsNepean, Sydney
188416 Aug Bill Beach () Edward Hanlan ()20 mins 28 secsParramatta, Sydney
188528 Feb Bill Beach () Thomas Clifford ()26 mins 1 secParramatta, Sydney
188528 Mar Bill Beach () Edward Hanlan ()22 mins 51 secsParramatta, Sydney
188518 Dec Bill Beach () Neil Matterson ()24 mins 11 secParramatta, Sydney
188618 Sep Bill Beach () Jake Gaudaur Sr. ()22 mins 29 secThames (Putney to Mortlake)
188625 Sep Bill Beach () Wallace Ross ()23 min 5 secThames (Putney to Mortlake)
188726 Nov Bill Beach () Edward Hanlan ()19 mins 25 secNepean, Sydney
188811 Feb Peter Kemp () Thomas Clifford ()23 mins 27secsParramatta, Sydney
18885 May Peter Kemp () Edward Hanlan ()21 mins 36 secParramatta, Sydney
188828 Sep Peter Kemp () Edward Hanlan ()21 mins 25 secsParramatta, Sydney
188827 Oct Henry Ernest Searle () Peter Kemp ()22 mins 44 secsParramatta, Sydney
18899 Sep Henry Ernest Searle () William Joseph O'Connor ()22 mins 42 secThames (Putney to Mortlake)
189025 Apr Peter Kemp () Neil Matterson ()21 mins 13 secParramatta, Sydney
189015 May Peter Kemp () John McLean ()21 mins 45 secParramatta, Sydney
189015 Dec John McLean () Peter Kemp ()22 mins 13 secsParramatta, Sydney
189128 Apr Jim Stanbury () John McLean ()22 mins 15 secsParramatta, Sydney
18917 Jul Jim Stanbury () John McLean ()18 mins 25 secsParramatta, Sydney (short Course)
18922 May Jim Stanbury () Tom Sullivan ()17 mins 26 secsParramatta, Sydney (short Course)
189613 Jul Jim Stanbury () Charles R. Harding21 mins 51 secsThames (Putney to Mortlake)
18967 Sep Jake Gaudaur, Sr. Jim Stanbury ()23 mins 1 secThames (Putney to Mortlake)
18984 Jul Jake Gaudaur, Sr. Robert Johnston20 mins 25 secVancouver Harbour
19017 Sep George Towns Jake Gaudaur, Sr.20 mins 30 secLake of the Woods, Ontario
190430 Jul George Towns Richard Tresidder21 mins 28 secParramatta, Sydney
190522 Jul Jim Stanbury George Towns19 mins 4 secParramatta, Sydney
190628 Jul George Towns Jim Stanbury19 mins 53 secParramatta, Sydney
19072 Mar George Towns Edward Durnan22 mins 27 secsNepean, Sydney
19073 Aug William Webb Charles Towns20 mins 35 secsParramatta, Sydney
190825 Feb William Webb Richard Tresidder20 mins 28 secsWanganui, New Zealand
190815 Dec Richard Arnst William Webb19 mins 51 secsWanganui, New Zealand
190921 Jun Richard Arnst William Webb18 mins 15 secsWanganui, New Zealand
19104 Apr Richard Arnst George Whelch21 mins 51 secsAkaroa Harbour, New Zealand
191018 Aug Richard Arnst Ernest Barry20 mins 14 secsZambezi River, Northern Rhodesia
191129 Jul Richard Arnst Harry Pearce19 mins 46 secsParramatta, Sydney
191229 Jul Ernest Barry Richard Arnst23 mins 8 secsThames (Putney to Mortlake)
191214 Oct Ernest Barry Edward Durnan22 mins 31 secsThames (Putney to Mortlake)
191321 Jul Ernest Barry Harry Pearce24 mins 9 secsThames (Putney to Mortlake)
19147 Sep Ernest Barry Jim Paddon21 mins 28 secThames (Putney to Mortlake)
191927 Oct Alf Felton Ernest Barry25 mins 40 secsThames (Putney to Mortlake)
192031 Aug Ernest Barry Alf Felton24 mins 32 secParramatta, Sydney
192111 Jun Richard Arnst Pat Hannan22 mins 34 secWairau, New Zealand
19225 Jan Darcy Hadfield Richard Arnst19 mins 46 secsWanganui, New Zealand
192218 Apr Jim Paddon Darcy Hadfield19 mins 19 secsWanganui, New Zealand
192321 Jul Jim Paddon Darcy Hadfield19 mins 46 secsRichmond
192412 Aug Jim Paddon Alf Felton17 mins 55 secsBrisbane
192420 Sep Jim Paddon Major Goodsell17 mins 7 secsRichmond
192521 Mar Major Goodsell Bill McDevitt22 mins 20 secsClarence
192527 Jun Major Goodsell Pat Hannan21 mins 31 secsParramatta, Sydney
19257 Nov Major Goodsell Jim Paddon22 mins 50 secsParramatta, Sydney
19263 May Major Goodsell Tom Saul23 mins 11 secParramatta, Sydney
19275 Sep Major Goodsell Bert Barry24 mins 13 secsBurrand Inlet, Vancouver
19276 Dec Bert Barry Major Goodsell21 mins 40 secsBurrand Inlet, Vancouver
193031 May Ted Phelps[2] Bert Barry22 mins 45 secsThames (Putney to Mortlake)
193011 Oct Ted Phelps[2] Bert Barry22 mins 48 secsThames (Putney to Mortlake)
19325 Sep Ted Phelps[2] Major Goodsell17 mins 2 secsLong Beach, California
19331 Sep Bobby Pearce Ted Phelps[2]19 mins 26 secsLake Ontario
19345 Sep Bobby Pearce W. G. Miller19 mins 52 secsToronto
19389 Sep Bobby Pearce Evans Paddon20 mins 35 secsToronto
194820 Nov Evans Paddon Max Fisher17 mins 20 secsParramatta, Sydney
19497 May George Cook Evans Paddon15 mins 09 secsEvans River
195022 April Evans Paddon George Cook21 mins 58 secsEvans River
19525 April Jim SaulEvans Paddon20 min 33 secsRichmond River
1952Sept 13th Evans Paddon Jim Saul21 min 50 secsRichmond River
195313 June Evans Fischer Evans Paddon20 min 55 secsRichmond River
19547 Aug Evans Fischer Evans Paddon20 min 57 secsClarence River
195725 May Evans Fischer Evans Paddon20 min 46 secsClarence River

Notes:

  1. Bill Beach, Bobby Pearce and Evans Fischer all retired undefeated.
  2. James Renforth died while champion. Sadler later rowed for an open title.
  3. Peter Kemp gained the title twice other than by races; once by formal forfeit from Beach, once upon the death of H Searle.
  4. Richard Arnst gained the title once other than by a race; on the forfeiture of E Barry.
  5. Charles Towns ad Bill McDevitt both held the title by the forfeiture of George Towns and Jim Paddon respectively. Neither successfully defended it.
  6. R Chambers & E Paddon either gained the title once each by forfeit, or alternatively, one of their races was for an open title after the retirement of the holder.

References

  1. "Olaf too Tufte for NZ boys". 8 December 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Remembering Putney's 'greatest oarsman'", Wandsworth and Putney Guardian, Newsquest Media Group - A Gannett Company, 10 November 2008, retrieved 2 February 2009

Further reading

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