Miss S. Nicholson’s Second N.Z. Record

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29108, 21 January 1960, Page 15

Miss S. Nicholson’s Second N.Z. Record

Canterbury’s latest young freestyle hope, Miss S. Nicholson, aged 14, last evening broke her second national record in successive swims at the second session of the Canterbury swimming championships at the Centennial Pool. Miss Nicholson came to prominence on Tuesday evening when she set up a new national record for the 440 yards junior girls’ freestyle in smin 29.45ec, and last evening she clipped three seconds off the national time for the 220 yards’ junior girls’ free-

style. A second New Zealand record was broken last evening when the young Elmwood swimmer, M. Hay, covered the 220 yards junior boys’ breaststroke in 2min 59.7sec—5.5sec faster than the national record standard for the distance. Hay, who attended the New Zealand Amateur Swimming Association’s national coaching school at Hamilton over Christmas, is in top form and had little difficulty in winning the title.

The carnival last evening began on a bright note when the first event produced a new provincial record for the 55 yards freestyle for girls under 12. Miss F. Moir (Spreydon) dominated an entry of all Spreydon swimmers, and touched in 35.75ec. This is half a second better than the old record of 36.25ec set up by Miss W. Dale, also of Spreydon, at the championships last year. Miss Moir gave promise of good things to come, finishing three seconds ahead of the second competitor. This was the first of eight Canterbury records which were set up during the evening. The heats of the 55 yards junior boys’ freestyle drew 27 entries, and these were dominated by the former West Coast swimmer, M. Manderson. In the first and toughest heat, Manderson recorded 29.35ec, and then went on to the final to win in the fine time of 28.7 sec. This is only .2sec outside the Canterbury record standard. The National backstroke titleholder, B. Hocking, swam a good race in the third heat to record 30.3 sec, and was, only .6sec behind Manderson in second place in the final. J. Hay (Elmwood), a brother of M. Hay, made winning a family occupation last evening when he won the 55 yards breaststroke for boys under 12. Hay won in 48.2 sec, and A. McKenzie (Elmwood) and A. G. Bliss (Sprey-

don) took second and third in this closely contested event. Miss W. Dale, who last season made a big mark in Canterbury swimming when she dominated the under 12 years events, showed that she has continued to improve when she set a Canterbury record of 34.75ec for the 55 yards freestyle for girls under 13. This is more than two seconds faster than the record standard. In the final, Miss Dale again swept through the field to equal the record which she had set up in the first heat. McFadden’s Success

With little pressure from other swimmers last evening, C. McFadden continued on his winning way in men’s distance freestyle races in Canterbury. In the first heat of the 220 yards men's freestyle, McFadden swam with nearperfect style to record 2min 28.8 sec, which is more than eight seconds better than his provincial record for the distance. G. Le Cren, who appears to have the best chance of challenging McFadden’s long standing supremacy, did better in the second heat to win in 2min 28.1 sec. But in the final McFadden was back to his best form, and seemed little troubled to touch in 2min 20.9 sec, leaving the rest of the field groping. Le Cren finished second with an excellent time of 2min 27.9 sec—perhaps a portent for the future of this fine young swimmer.

R. Bliss (Spreydon) had one of the most popular wins of the evening when he beat a field of four swimmers under 13 for the 110 yards breaststroke title. Having won the 220 yards junior girls' freestyle title in New Zealand record time, Miss Nicholson entered the water one race later in the 440 yards women’s freestyle. Without showing the slightest trace of strain after her earlier record-shatter-ing swim, this outstanding youngster set up a new Canterbury record over this distance of smin 37.45ec. This is a full 27 seconds better than the old Canterbury record, and represents the most handsome margin by which a Canterbury record has been bettered for several years. The New Zealand senior record for this distance was set up by Marion Roe at Greymouth in 1956 in smin 13.7 sec.

M. Hay’s win in the 220 yards junior boys’ breaststroke places him in the top bracket of the country’s juniors. His time of 2min 59.75ec was more than five seconds better than the record standard for the province.

Miss F. Bullivant retained her title and bettered her own record for the 110 yards women’s backstroke. Her time was Imin 23.1 sec, and this is three seconds faster than her old 1958 record Miss W. Dale won her second event and also collected a provincial record in the 110 yards backstroke for girls under 13 She also finished with a handsome margin over the old record —more than six seconds. In the final event of the evening, Miss D. Bullivant put the finishing touches to a successful night of record breaking when she clocked Imin 42.1 sec for the 110 yards women’s butterfly More than 14 seconds better than the record of Miss B. Breward set up in 1957, this was one of the most outstanding swims of the evening. Abbreviations used in the following resul.s are Christchurch. C.; Christchurch Ladies. C.L.; Elmwood. E. Fencalton, F.; Kaiapoi, K.: Linwood, L.; North Beach. N. 8.; Rangiora, Rang.; Riccarton, Rice.; St. Albans, St. A.; Spreydon, S.: Wharenui, W. Junior Girls 55 Yards Freestyle, under 12 (record, Miss W. Dale. 36.25ec, 1959). Miss F. Moir (S.) 1, Miss V. Ayson (S.) 2, Miss R. George (S.) 3. Time, 35.75ec (a record). 55 Yards Freestyle, under 13 (record standard, 37sec).—First heat: Miss W. Dale (S.) 1, Miss S. Harvey (S.) 2. Miss V. Ayson (S.) 3. Time, 34.75ec (a record) Second heat: Miss F. Moir (S.) 1, Miss L. Cox (S.) 2, Miss J. Hewitt (L.) 3. Time, 37.45ec. Third heat: Miss Dale 1, Miss Moir 2, Miss Cox 3. Time, 34.75ec. 220 Yards Freestyle (record standard, 2min 49.7sec).—Miss S. Nicholson (3.) 1, Miss L. Harrow (S.) 2, Miss H. Armstrong (C.L.) 3. Time, 2min 37.65ec (a Canterbury and New Zealand record). 110 Yards Backstroke (record standard, Imin 26sec).—Miss S. Pitama (S.) 1, Miss L. Harrow (S.) 2. Miss H. Armstrong 3. Time, Imin 28.8 sec. 110 Yards Backstroke, under 13 (record standard, Imin 35sec). —Miss W. Dale (S.) 1. Miss H. Pitama (S.) 2, Miss S. Harvey (S.) 3. Time. Imin 28.6 sec (a Canterbury record). 110 Yards Butterfly (record standard, Imin 40sec).—Miss J. Monk (S.) 1. Time, 2min o.Bsec. Junior Boys 55 Yards Freestyle, under 13 (record standard, 28.5 sec) heat: M. Manderson (W.) 1, R. O’Leary (W.) 2, P. Cron (W.) 3. Time, 29.3 sec. Second heat: P. Jones (L.) 1. K. Holly (W.) 2. D. Cutting (S.) 3. Time, 31.6 sec. Third heat: B. Hocking (W.) 1, P. Sturge (F.) 2. B. Campbell (St. A.) 3. Time, 30.3 sec. Fourth heat: G. Stringer (S.) 1. D. Garty (S.) 2, J. Ballantyne 3. Time, 32sec. Final: Manderson 1. Hocking 2. Stringer 3. Time, 28.7 sec. 110 Yards Breaststroke, under 13 (record standard, Imin 33sec). —G. R. Bliss (S.) 1 W. Pearce (S.) 2, J. Hay (E.) 3. Time, Imin 41.7 sec. 220 Yards Breaststroke (record standard, 3min ssec).—M. Hav (E.) 1. A. McDonald (S.) 2. G. Cox (E.) 3. Time. 2min 59.75ec (Canterbury and New Zealand record). 55 Yards Breaststroke, under 12 (record, M. Hay, 47.65ec, 1958).—J. Hay (E.) 1, A. McKenzie (E.) 2. A. G. Bliss (S.) 3. Time, 48.2 sec. Women’s Events 440 Yards Freestyle (record, Miss L. Harrow, 6min 4.4 sec, 1959). Miss S. Nicholson (S.) 1, Miss C. MacDonald (E.) 2. Miss R. Mackenzie (Ran.) 3. Time, smin 37.45ec (a Canterbury record). 110 Yards Backstroke (record. Miss F Bullivant, Imin 26sec, 1958). Miss F Bullivant (E.) 1, Miss M. Farmer (C.L.) 2. Miss J. Harrow (S.) 3. Time, Imin 23.1 sec (a Canterbury record). 110 Yards Butterfly (record. Miss B. Breward, Imin 56.25ec, 1957) Miss D. Bullivant (E.) 1, Miss A. Luke (S.) 2. Time, Imin 42.1 sec (a Canterbury record). Men's Events 220 Yards Freestyle (record. C. McFadden. 2min 2O.2sec, 1959).—First heat: C. McFadden IS.) 1. A McPhail (E.) 2, W. Williamson (E ) 3. Time, 2min 28.8 sec, Second heat: G. Le Cren (Ch.) 1, R. Blair (S.) 2. T. Stephens (S.) 3. Time, 2min 28 sec. Final: McFadden 1, Le Cren 2, McPhail 3. Time, 2min 20.9 sec. 110 Yards Breaststroke (record, A R. Peters. Imin 19.9 sec, 1956)—G. Johnson (F.) 1, I. MacDonald (S I 2, H Moore (E.) 3. Time. Imin 22 2sec.

220 Yards Medley (record. I H. MacDonald. 2niin 46.8 sec. 1958).- I H. MacDonald (S.) 1, D. Bowie (E ) 2. H. Grenfell (F.) 3. Time, 2min 55.55ec