N.Z. TITLE MEETING Harbour Race Today

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28513, 17 February 1958, Page 10

N.Z. TITLE MEETING Harbour Race Today

In the inner harbour at Lyttelton this afternoon, 15 swimmers will take part in the opening event of the 1958 national senior swimming championships—the long-distance harbour swim for the Annette Kellerman Cup. Held over a distance of three miles, the race is the most gruelling on the championship programme. Ten of the competitors are North Islanders, and Canterbury will be represented by a sole swimmer—Miss Sally Smith. A member of the Spreydon club. Miss Smith, is highly favoured to Win the women’s-scratch section for the Auntie Brown trophy. She was the winner of the Canterbury centre’s harbour swim on December 23, and on that occasion exceeded all expectations. Off scratch, she drew, away from the rest of the field, swimming strongly from start to finish. Miss Smith is today off the back mark for women, 15min 30sec. Also from the same mark is the winner in 1956, Miss M. Rae (Southland). Four other women will compete. A. J. Cotterill (Hawke’s Bay-Pov-erty Bay), who is the son of the president of the New Zealand Amateur Swimming Association (Mr J. B. Cotterill, M.P.), is the only scratch man in today’s race. He won the Annette Kellerman Cup in 1953, and was last year’s winner of the Roland St. Clair Cup (for the men’s scratch section). Last year’s winner of the Kellerman Cup, I. Shaw, is starting from the 9min mark. First swum in 1922, the long-dis-tance harbour swim has always been a strong point of North Island swimmers. Canterbury swimmers have won the Annette Kellerman Cup on only five occasions—in 1926, 1927, 1928, 1932 and 1934. In 1928, the winner was Lillian Coppiestone, of Ashburton, Canterbury’s finest long distance swimmer of the period, who is also noted for her attempt on Cook Strait.

Today’s race will begin at 2.30 p.m. from the Gladstone pier.

The following are the entries:— A. J. Cotterill (Hawke’s Bay-Pov-erty Bay), scr; R. Harker (Auckland), Imin 30sec; I. Shaw (Auckland), 9min; R. Avenall (Auckland), llmin; T. Sutherland (Manawatu), 12min; I. Waterson (Nelson-Marl-borough), C. Callan (Auckland), 12min 30sec; Misses S. Smith (Canterbury) and M. Rae (Southland), 15min 30 sec; Miss G. Gresham (Bay of Plenty), 24min 30sec; P. Thorburn (Auckland), 25min 30sec; Miss D. Kingsbeer (Manawatu), 27min 30sec; Miss M. McNabb (Nelson-Marlbor-ough), 30mln; Miss E. Mace (Nel-son-Marlborough), 35min.