Richard Arnst or Dick Arnst (28 November 1883 – 7 December 1953), born Jacob Diedrich Arnst, was a New Zealand

rower Rowing, often called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars (called blades in the United Kingdom) are attached to the boat using rowlocks, while paddles are ...

and

cyclist Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

. He won the Single Sculls World Championship six times 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 Tai Tapu, previously known as Taitapu, is a small town adjacent to the Halswell River and nestled in the Port Hills, located 6 km east of the town of Lincoln and 18 km south west of Christchurch in the Canterbury region of New Zealand' ...

near

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

. He, and his brothers Jack, Herman and Bill (William), became champion cyclists both on the road and on the track. Richard and Jack were placed fourth and third respectively in the 1903

Timaru Timaru (; ) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to peo ...

to Christchurch road race which was over a distance of . Jack subsequently won, in record time, the 1903 road race between

Warrnambool Warrnambool (; Eastern Maar, Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the Census in Australia#2021, 2021 census, Warrnambool had a populati ...

and

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

over a distance of . 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 the second fastest time, that was inside the previous best time. The brothers returned to Australia in 1904 with Richard finishing in 10th and Jack well back in 25th. In 1905 Jack could only manage 76th with Richard in 77th. On the brothers second trip to Australia in 1904 they raced in the

Goulburn to Sydney Classic The Goulburn to Sydney cycling race was a one-day Road bicycle racing, road bicycle race. The first race was held in 1902 with the last in 2012. History The route from Goulburn to Sydney via the Hume Highway was popular with cyclists in the l ...

with Jack finishing 2nd and setting the fastest time, and Richard finishing 12th. Jack again set the fastest time in 1905, finishing 15th while Richard suffered with cramps. Richard Arnst culminated his cycling career by winning the

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

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

sculling Sculling is the use of oars to propel a boat by moving them through the water on both sides of the craft, or moving one oar over the stern. A long, narrow boat with sliding seats, rigged with two oars per rower may be referred to as a scull, its ...

; 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 The Whanganui River is a major river in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the country's third-longest river, and has special status owing to its importance to the region's Māori people. In March 2017 it became the world's second natur ...

(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 of

Akaroa Akaroa is a small town 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 Ngāi Tahu, Kāi Tahu Māori language, Māori for "Long Harbour", which woul ...

, a town near Christchurch. This race was held on

Akaroa Harbour Akaroa Harbour is part of Banks Peninsula in the Canterbury region of New Zealand. The harbour enters from the southern coast of the peninsula, heading in a predominantly northerly direction. It is one of two major inlets in Banks Peninsula ...

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 England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

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 The British South Africa Company (BSAC or BSACo) was chartered in 1889 following the amalgamation of Cecil Rhodes' Central Search Association and the London-based Exploring Company Ltd, which had originally competed to capitalize on the expecte ...

offered to stage the match in

Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in Southern Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by Amalgamation (politics), amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia and North ...

. 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 The Zambezi (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than half of t ...

on 18 August 1910. Arnst's brother went ahead of them on the river to shoot the crocodiles. 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 The Parramatta River is an intermediate tide-dominated, Ria, drowned valley estuary located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. With an average Altitude, height, and depth, depth of , the Parramatta River is the main tributary of Sydney Harbour ...

(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 The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...

(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 The Championship Course is a stretch of the River Thames between Mortlake and Putney in London, England. It is a well-established course for sport rowing, rowing races, particularly the The Boat Race, Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. The course ...

. This time it was Barry who crossed the line in first place.

Later events

Arnst next raced Jim Paddon for the Championship of Australia. The stake was £200 a side and the race was held on the Parramatta course on 1 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 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 Hannan. This race was sculled on the Wairau River, near

Blenheim, New Zealand Blenheim ( ; ) is the most populous town in the regions of New Zealand, region of Marlborough Region, Marlborough, in the north east of the South Island of New Zealand. It has an estimated population of as of The surrounding Marlborough wi ...

, 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

Darcy Hadfield Darcy Clarence Hadfield (1 December 1889 – 15 September 1964) was a New Zealand rower who won a bronze medal at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp. In doing so, he became the first Olympic medallist who represented New Zealand; previous New ...

, another New Zealander, who had been an

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

rower and bronze medal winner, and who won the match in a fairly convincing manner. 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 26 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

running sheep and cattle, and growing crops, in partnership with his brother Henry. Richard Arnst died in 1953. Two years later a Christchurch street, Arnst Place, was named after him. The

Arnst River The Arnst River in New Zealand is a tributary of the Travers River, which itself flows into Lake Rotoiti, in Nelson Lakes National Park Nelson Lakes National Park is in the South Island of New Zealand, at the northern end of the Southern ...

in the Nelson Lakes National Park is also named after him. In 1995 Arnst was inducted into the

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 ...

. Arnst was a man who had been held in high esteem by his peers and was a fine, well liked, and honourable sportsman.

References

External links

*World Rowing Championship Histor
World rowing history - professional racing
* ''William Webb, New Zealand's First Single Sculls World Champion'', , published 2008. * ''Richard Arnst, The Single Sculls World Champion From New Zealand'', , published 2005.

* New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame https://web.archive.org/web/20090517001426/http://www.nzhalloffame.co.nz/index.pasp {{DEFAULTSORT:Arnst, Richard 1883 births 1953 deaths New Zealand male cyclists New Zealand male rowers New Zealand male sport shooters People from Tai Tapu 20th-century New Zealand farmers Rowers from the Canterbury Region Cyclists from the Canterbury Region