Richard Arnst
Encyclopedia
Richard Arnst or Dick Arnst (28 November 1883–1953]), born Jacob Diedrich Arnst, was a New Zealand
rower, six times Single Sculls World Champion
during the early part of the 20th century.
(New Zealand). He, and several of his brothers, became champion cyclists both on the road and on the track. Richard and his brother Jack were placed fourth and third respectively in the 1903 Timaru
to Christchurch road race which was over a distance of 112 miles. Jack subsequently won, in record time, the 1903 road race between Warrnambool and Melbourne
(Australia
) over a distance of 165 miles. Some of the credit of this win was due to Arnst's unselfish pacing of his brother. Richard gained 5th place in this race in a time that was inside the previous best time.
Richard Arnst culminated his cycling
career by winning the Sydney
Thousand in March 1906. The Sydney Thousand was a track race which carried a total prize purse of £1000 and thus was the richest track race in the world at that time. Only the very top cyclists were in the final held in Sydney.
; a sport in which he had no previous experience. He was tutored in Australia by experts and after six months or so started winning some races. On the strength of these he challenged various leading Australian scullers for a match race but most were rejected on the grounds that he was too inexperienced. However, one was accepted by Harry Pearce, for a stake of £100 a side. The race was won by Arnst who subsequently challenged fellow New Zealander William Webb (rower)
for the professional Single Sculls World Championship Title. Webb had won the Title in Sydney in 1907, and held off one challenge in New Zealand. These races were normally over a distance of about three and a quarter miles. Webb accepted Arnst's challenge with the stake at £500 a side. The sum of £500 would be the amount of money earned over several years by a working man at the time. The match was held on the Whanganui River
(New Zealand) on 15 December 1908 and Arnst won by eight or ten lengths. He had achieved the distinction of becoming World Champion after only a couple of years or so in the sport.
Arnst was then challenged for the Title by George Whelch
of Akaroa
, a town near Christchurch. This race was held on the Akaroa Harbour on 4 April 1910 and the stake agreed to was £300 a side. The result was never in doubt; Arnst crossing the line several lengths in front of the challenger.
The next challenge came from Ernest Barry
, the Champion of England. Barry wanted Arnst to travel to England
for the match which he was willing to do provided certain expenses were met. (Normally a challenger would travel to where the Champion lived.) Barry was unable to arrange the expenses but then the British South Africa Company
offered to stage the match in Northern Rhodesia
. They believed the match would promote the Company and the country. Stakes and expenses were guaranteed by the Company and the match was arranged to be run on the Zambezi River on 18 August 1910. The heat and the altitude affected both scullers but Arnst was the better of the two and he crossed the line in front of Barry to retain his Title
Richard Arnst was by now often known as ‘Dick’ and the next challenge for his crown came from Harry Pearce, the Australian Champion. The match was to be raced on the Parramatta River
(Sydney) on 29 July 1911 and the stake was again for £500 a side. Professional sculling was immensely popular and it was estimated that one hundred thousand people turned out to see this match. During the race Arnst nearly fouled his opponent, which would have cost him the game, but he managed to save himself and went on to win.
Barry held off three challenges before the First World War which put all Title matches on hold. After the War, Barry lost the Title on the Thames to Alf Felton
of Australia. A rematch was arranged and Barry travelled to Sydney, Australia to meet Felton with the result that Barry again became World Champion on 31 August 1920.
. This race was sculled on the Wairau River, near Blenheim, New Zealand
, on 11 June 1921 with the result confirming Arnst as World Champion for the sixth time. His final race for the World Title took place on the Whanganui River on 5 January 1922. The challenger was D’Arcy Hadfield, another New Zealander, who had been an Olympic
rower and bronze medal winner, and who won the match in a fairly convincing manner. See Darcy Hadfield. Hadfield subsequently lost the Title to Australian Jim Paddon. In April 1922 Arnst and Paddon agreed to row for the Title but the race never eventuated. In 1924 Arnst challenged Hannan for the Australasian Title. The race for the Australasian title was, unusually, held on the Waikato River on the 26th of October over a course of three and a quarter miles. Hannan got the lead at the start and maintained it throughout. Arnst broke part of his right scull on a piece of driftwood near the start but he later said that it had made no difference to the result of the race. Hannan won by over twenty lengths.
running sheep and cattle, and growing crops, in partnership with a brother. Richard Arnst died in 1953. Two years later a Christchurch street, Arnst Place, was named after him. The Arnst River
in the Nelson Lakes National Park is also named after him. In 1995 Arnst was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame
.
Richard Arnst was a man who had been held in high esteem by his peers and was a fine, well liked, and honourable sportsman.
See also World Sculling Championship (Professional)
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
rower, six times Single Sculls World Champion
World Sculling Championship (Professional)
The World Sculling Championship , evolved from the Championship of the Thames for professional scullers.Only the sport of boxing claims an older Championship of the World...
during the early part of the 20th century.
Early life
Richard Arnst was the eighth of thirteen children born to Hermann and Catharina Arnst. The family lived at Tai Tapu near ChristchurchChristchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
(New Zealand). He, and several of his brothers, became champion cyclists both on the road and on the track. Richard and his brother Jack were placed fourth and third respectively in the 1903 Timaru
Timaru
TimaruUrban AreaPopulation:27,200Extent:Former Timaru City CouncilTerritorial AuthorityName:Timaru District CouncilPopulation:42,867 Land area:2,736.54 km² Mayor:Janie AnnearWebsite:...
to Christchurch road race which was over a distance of 112 miles. Jack subsequently won, in record time, the 1903 road race between Warrnambool and Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
(Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
) over a distance of 165 miles. Some of the credit of this win was due to Arnst's unselfish pacing of his brother. Richard gained 5th place in this race in a time that was inside the previous best time.
Richard Arnst culminated his cycling
Cycling
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...
career by winning the Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
Thousand in March 1906. The Sydney Thousand was a track race which carried a total prize purse of £1000 and thus was the richest track race in the world at that time. Only the very top cyclists were in the final held in Sydney.
Sculling World Champion
After this Richard Arnst took up scullingSculling
Sculling generally refers to a method of using oars to propel watercraft in which the oar or oars touch the water on both the port and starboard sides of the craft, or over the stern...
; a sport in which he had no previous experience. He was tutored in Australia by experts and after six months or so started winning some races. On the strength of these he challenged various leading Australian scullers for a match race but most were rejected on the grounds that he was too inexperienced. However, one was accepted by Harry Pearce, for a stake of £100 a side. The race was won by Arnst who subsequently challenged fellow New Zealander William Webb (rower)
William Webb (rower)
William Charles Webb was the first New Zealander to hold the Professional World Sculling Championship Title. He was also known as “Bill” or “Billy Webb”.-Early life:...
for the professional Single Sculls World Championship Title. Webb had won the Title in Sydney in 1907, and held off one challenge in New Zealand. These races were normally over a distance of about three and a quarter miles. Webb accepted Arnst's challenge with the stake at £500 a side. The sum of £500 would be the amount of money earned over several years by a working man at the time. The match was held on the Whanganui River
Whanganui River
The Whanganui River is a major river in the North Island of New Zealand.Known for many years as the Wanganui River, the river's name reverted to Whanganui in 1991, according with the wishes of local iwi. Part of the reason was also to avoid confusion with the Wanganui River in the South Island...
(New Zealand) on 15 December 1908 and Arnst won by eight or ten lengths. He had achieved the distinction of becoming World Champion after only a couple of years or so in the sport.
Subsequent Matches
A rematch between Arnst and Webb was arranged for 22 June 1909 on the same course. A fast time of 18m.15s was recorded by Arnst who again won, this time by two to three lengths.Arnst was then challenged for the Title by George Whelch
George Whelch
George Edwin Whelch was one of six New Zealand oarsman who attempted to win the World Professional Single Sculls title. He was born December 1879 near Akaroa where he lived for most of his life. In 1903 he married Sarah Gundy and they had two children. He died in October 1960.-Amateur Record:Whelch...
of Akaroa
Akaroa
Akaroa is a village on Banks Peninsula in the Canterbury region of the South Island of New Zealand, situated within a harbour of the same name—the name Akaroa is Kāi Tahu Māori for 'Long Harbour'.- Overview :...
, a town near Christchurch. This race was held on the Akaroa Harbour on 4 April 1910 and the stake agreed to was £300 a side. The result was never in doubt; Arnst crossing the line several lengths in front of the challenger.
The next challenge came from Ernest Barry
Ernest Barry
Ernest James Barry was a British rower and Thames Waterman, five times Sculling World Champion during the early part of the 20th century and winner of the Doggett's Coat and Badge Race in 1903.-Sculling career:...
, the Champion of England. Barry wanted Arnst to travel to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
for the match which he was willing to do provided certain expenses were met. (Normally a challenger would travel to where the Champion lived.) Barry was unable to arrange the expenses but then the British South Africa Company
British South Africa Company
The British South Africa Company was established by Cecil Rhodes through the amalgamation of the Central Search Association and the Exploring Company Ltd., receiving a royal charter in 1889...
offered to stage the match in Northern Rhodesia
Northern Rhodesia
Northern Rhodesia was a territory in south central Africa, formed in 1911. It became independent in 1964 as Zambia.It was initially administered under charter by the British South Africa Company and formed by it in 1911 by amalgamating North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodesia...
. They believed the match would promote the Company and the country. Stakes and expenses were guaranteed by the Company and the match was arranged to be run on the Zambezi River on 18 August 1910. The heat and the altitude affected both scullers but Arnst was the better of the two and he crossed the line in front of Barry to retain his Title
Richard Arnst was by now often known as ‘Dick’ and the next challenge for his crown came from Harry Pearce, the Australian Champion. The match was to be raced on the Parramatta River
Parramatta River
The Parramatta River is a waterway in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Parramatta River is the main tributary of Sydney Harbour, a branch of Port Jackson, along with the smaller Lane Cove and Duck Rivers....
(Sydney) on 29 July 1911 and the stake was again for £500 a side. Professional sculling was immensely popular and it was estimated that one hundred thousand people turned out to see this match. During the race Arnst nearly fouled his opponent, which would have cost him the game, but he managed to save himself and went on to win.
Championship Loss
Ernest Barry wanted another tilt at the Title and challenged Arnst to a race to be held on the Thames (England). Strangely, the date agreed to was 29 July 1912, exactly a year after the previous race. Arnst travelled to England to scull the race which was over a distance of about four and a quarter miles on the Championship Course. This time it was Barry who crossed the line in first place.Later Events
Arnst next raced James (Jim) Paddon for the Championship of Australia. The stake was £200 a side and the race was held on the Parramatta course on the 1st November 1913. Paddon won and subsequently went on to win the World's Championship after the War.Barry held off three challenges before the First World War which put all Title matches on hold. After the War, Barry lost the Title on the Thames to Alf Felton
Alf Felton
Alfred D Felton, known as “Alf”, was the first Australian after World War I to win the professional World Sculling Championship. Before the war seven other Australians had held the title.- Life and Racing:...
of Australia. A rematch was arranged and Barry travelled to Sydney, Australia to meet Felton with the result that Barry again became World Champion on 31 August 1920.
Champion Again
Before the race, Dick Arnst had issued a newspaper challenge to the winner of the Felton/Barry match. Barry returned to England and retired from the sport, so Arnst claimed the title by forfeiture. There was no controlling body responsible for the title (nor for many other professional titles) so the claim by Arnst stood. A number of world titles and or claims to them were only generally recognised as being valid when they were accepted by various sporting newspapers, and by implication, the general public.Final Races
Dick Arnst wanted to defend his otherwise empty Title and accepted a challenge from New Zealander Pat HannanPat Hannan
Pat Hannan was the last of six New Zealand oarsman who attempted to win the World Sculling Championship title.JP Hannan, known as Pat or Paddy, was born in Wellington in 1886 but was later a resident of Blenheim for a number of years...
. This race was sculled on the Wairau River, near Blenheim, New Zealand
Blenheim, New Zealand
Blenheim is the most populous town in the region of Marlborough, in the north east of the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the regional council. It has a population of The area which surrounds the town is well known as a centre of New Zealand's wine industry...
, on 11 June 1921 with the result confirming Arnst as World Champion for the sixth time. His final race for the World Title took place on the Whanganui River on 5 January 1922. The challenger was D’Arcy Hadfield, another New Zealander, who had been an Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
rower and bronze medal winner, and who won the match in a fairly convincing manner. See Darcy Hadfield. Hadfield subsequently lost the Title to Australian Jim Paddon. In April 1922 Arnst and Paddon agreed to row for the Title but the race never eventuated. In 1924 Arnst challenged Hannan for the Australasian Title. The race for the Australasian title was, unusually, held on the Waikato River on the 26th of October over a course of three and a quarter miles. Hannan got the lead at the start and maintained it throughout. Arnst broke part of his right scull on a piece of driftwood near the start but he later said that it had made no difference to the result of the race. Hannan won by over twenty lengths.
Life After Sculling
Arnst had always been a good shot and after retiring from sculling he became active in shooting and won the following New Zealand Gun Clubs’ Championships; 1926 Live Pigeons, 1928 Live Pigeons, 1930 Sparrows, and 1932 Clay Birds. In 1934 Arnst bought a farm south of TimaruTimaru
TimaruUrban AreaPopulation:27,200Extent:Former Timaru City CouncilTerritorial AuthorityName:Timaru District CouncilPopulation:42,867 Land area:2,736.54 km² Mayor:Janie AnnearWebsite:...
running sheep and cattle, and growing crops, in partnership with a brother. Richard Arnst died in 1953. Two years later a Christchurch street, Arnst Place, was named after him. The Arnst River
Arnst River
The Arnst River in New Zealand is a tributary of the Travers River, which itself flows into Lake Rotoiti, situated in the Nelson Lakes National Park....
in the Nelson Lakes National Park is also named after him. In 1995 Arnst was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame
New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame
The New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame is an organisation commemorating New Zealand's greatest sporting triumphs. It was inaugurated as part of the New Zealand sesquicentenary celebrations in 1990. Some 160 members have been inducted into the Hall of Fame since its inception representing a wide...
.
Richard Arnst was a man who had been held in high esteem by his peers and was a fine, well liked, and honourable sportsman.
See also World Sculling Championship (Professional)
World Sculling Championship (Professional)
The World Sculling Championship , evolved from the Championship of the Thames for professional scullers.Only the sport of boxing claims an older Championship of the World...
External links
- World Rowing Championship History World rowing history - professional racing
- William Webb, New Zealand’s First Single Sculls World Champion, ISBN 978-0-473-14457-9, published 2008.
- Richard Arnst, The Single Sculls World Champion From New Zealand, ISBN 0-473-10499-7, published 2005.
- New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame http://www.nzhalloffame.co.nz/index.pasp