AUCKLAND SWIMMER VIC CAPPER IN EGYPT

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 193, 16 August 1941, Page 5 (Supplement)

AUCKLAND SWIMMER VIC CAPPER IN EGYPT

Before he left Auckland fifteen ! months ago, Victor Capper was one ■ of the best-known distance swim-' mers in the province, and before: joining up with the X.Z.E.F. he had specialised in harbour events and achieved a good deal of success.--Perhaps his adventurous careeri since departure overseas—England. Greece, Crete—has shortened his breath considerably. f,„- he writes to | his parents, Mr. and Mrs. H. Capper, of St. Kevin's Arcade, that in the first fortnight of July he had been competing i n sprint events at the Xew Zealand divisional swimming sports in Egypt. In a semi-final of the 50 yards championship he returned the fastest time of the race, but in the final he ''foozled*' his turn at the end of the bath, despite

which he came second. He improved upon this performance in the hundred, but had the misfortune to be disqualified for not swimming straight. Vic naively remarked: "It was really not my fault as there were no lanes. Seeing that I won by a big margin, I take a very poor view of the whole affair. I received a lovely silver medal for second place in the fifty, and I know who should really have got the winning trophy in the longer distance." Capper's regiment, the 7th AntiTank, finished second in the ten-men-a-side relav, and "Jimmy" Mitchell, another Waitemata Club member, swam like a champion— according to his friend.