COOK STRAIT SWIM.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 11, 14 January 1929, Page 8

COOK STRAIT SWIM.

RIVAL. LAST CANDIDATES.

ARRIVAL OF MERCEDES GLEITZE.

Two attempts are to be made to swim Cook Strait within the next few weekE. Miss Lily Copplostone, of Ashburton, will be the first to essay the task, starting next Saturday from Cape Koamaru in the South Island and attempting to end her journey somewhere In the vicinity of Cape Ohau, in the North Island, (.iood swimmer as Miss Copplestone is. she will find her greatest difficulty that of overcoming the very cold water, which defeated Webster's attempt la?t February. But he had been used to swimming in the warmer waters of the Auckland province, and the cold was too much for him. On the other hand this trouble may not hinder Miss success, as women are notably better able to withstand colder temperatures than men. Mi»s Copplestone. however, is not the only "Richmond*, in the tield. for an English girl, Miss. Mercedes <ileitze. of proved swimming ability. al>o 'mends to try and swim the distance between the two islands. Miss Gleitze arrives at Wellington this «wk by the Corinthic for the purpose.

Mi*« Oleitze has come into world prominence because of her pluck and endurance as a long-distance swimmer. Just prior to leaving England on Decein her 7 on the Corinihic. she stated to a newspaper representative that she was tired of bathing in cold water, and that she longed to try- "the warmer conditions of New Zealand's sea." In this she will probably be disappointed, as the waters of

Cook Strait are well-

known to be very cold, and just as the English seas are open to the icy waters of the Xorth Polar regions, so are New Zealand's sea areas similarly open to the South Pole. Miss Gleitze. after seven unsuccessful attempts, swam the English Channel in October. 1J»27. she failed in a repeat effort the same year. Then she tried » -wim across the Strait of Gibraltar and succeeded at the si\th attempt. She also made an uiiMicces*ful attempt to swim the Irish Sea.

Mis Gk-itze says that she has heard so much about the Maoris that she longe to see them, and what >he has heard of the Dominion inspires her with enthusiasm. She was b<,rn at Brighton, in the south of England, and leirned to swim there before she was ten ypars old. She was educated at the Ea ? t Hne Higher Grade School and went to London eight years ago. where she follow? the calling of a typist. She has never beea keen to attempt swimming speed records, her interest being in long-distance events. If successful in crossins Cook strait she intends to return to Eii-land, and wjll then make a further atlcmi.t to swim the Irish Channel, which has so far defeated her.