SWIMMING CHAMPIONS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 18, 22 January 1926, Page 7

SWIMMING CHAMPIONS.

AUCKLAND'S CHANCES. EXPECTED TO CLEAR THE BOARD. (Fv T -lesri-nph.—Special to "Star.") WELLINGTON, this day. The Now Zealand swimming championships will be decided in Napier to-mor-row, and on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and the Annette Kellerman Cup will be competed for next Thursday.. Adamsoji is regarded as a certainty for the hundred yards, but most interest, so far as swimmers from outside Auckland are concerned, lies in seeing A. Baird in action. They expect that Baird will easily win the "220 yd, 440 yd, and 880 yd championship, and" probably make new records in doing so. So far as southern swimmers are eonrerned. the only competitor who appears to have any chance of offering serious opposition to the Auckland reps, is L. Hill, the Canterbury distance swimmer, who may be expected to put up a very | good performance in the mile. Within |; the past few weeks. Hill has been show-j ing better form than at any period during the past couple of years. At the; same time. Southerners are not at all ' sanguine of securing one of the free style events. In most of these races, the ex-1 pectation is that Aucklanders will fill first, second and third positions. So far as the ladies' events are eoneerned, wins for the Auckland girls, Misses Ena Stockley, Piri Page and Jean Bell, are foregone conclusions. In the intermediate divisions, the Otago swimmers have expressed themselves as being j confident of the chances'of Miss Jopson. who is reported to be swimming very well recently. In the backstroke event an easy win is expected for L. Fairgray, who recently clipped a substantial amount off the New Zealand record. Another Auck-1 lander, N. C. Stockley, should till second ' place in this race. The breaststroke title is not being defended by last year's winner, C. Lewis, of Otago*. It is ex-1 pected that this race will result in an easy win for E. C. Heard, of Christehurch. who appears to be in a class quite by himself among breaststroke swimmers in j the Dominion. Heard is also likely to i figure prominently in the (backstroke. ( ' event, but success by him is not looked ' for in this race. There is more than a possibility that : on this occasion, Auckland will be the ! victors in the competition for the watei ' polo championship. If they succeed in ' winning the trophy it will"be the first occasion on which it has gone to the Queen City. Although the ~Sevr Zealand Council a short time ago expressed its willingness to do all it could to secure a visit to Auckland of a number- of Australian swimmers as guests of the Auckland centre, it is not prepared to grant facilities to a club for such a visit. The Waitemata club lias applied through the Auckland centre to the council for permissioji to negotiate with the New South Wales association, for a visit by Australian swimmers, but the New Zealand Council has not yet received any recommendation from the Auckland centre on this point. Without the sponsorship of the centre, the council is unable to move in the matter.