On 10 December, it was exactly 125 years ago the Australian professional sculler Henry Searle (1886–1889) died after contracting typhoid fever. He was only 23 years old. Searle, known as the ‘Clarence River Comet’, had a very successful, but short sculling career. Starting in the summer of 1888, at the age of 22, he had e series of victories on the Parramatta River, Sydney. On 27 October that year, Searle beat reigning world sculling champion Peter Kemp by 150 yards, winning the title and a wager of £1,000.

Read about Henry Searle in the local newspaper The Daily Examiner, here. HTBS has posted several interesting pieces on Searle earlier (thanks to rowing historian Bernard Hempseed). Read those articles here.