A NATION OF SWIMMERS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 12, 15 January 1926, Page 6

A NATION OF SWIMMERS.

In this weather it is as tantalising as it is appropriate to write of swimming. The regret that one feels at not 'being able to find coolness in the inviting water is balanced by satisfaction at the thought not only that large numbers of people are more fortunate, but that the movement to teach swimming makes steady progress. The provision by the Inter-House Girls' Sports Association and the Y.W.C.A. of instruction for girls in business is an excellent idea. We also give to-day some interesting particulars of the work of the Ponsonby Swimming and Life Saving Club in teaching school children liow to swim and how to save life in the water. In this, as in many other respects, the present generation is much better oil than the ones that went before. It is impossible to stress too strongly the need for encouraging young people to feel at home in the water. Swimming is one of the finest of exercises, and in summer time in New Zealand the call of the water is insistent. The man, woman, or child who cannot swim generally is not deterred from entering the water, and thereby goes into danger and involves others in similar risk. The number of drowning accidents is far too great, but our news shows that it would be greater if there were not a number of people who understood life-saving. We are an island and maritime nation, and it is most fitting that we should bu a nation of swimmers.