Canterbury Swimmers Have Trained Hard For Season

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29342, 22 October 1960, Page 5

Canterbury Swimmers Have Trained Hard For Season

TV'HEN the competitive swim- ’ ’ ming season opens in Christchurch next Saturday with an inter-club carnival at the Centeninal Pool, a great deal of interest will centre on the performances of many youngsters who have had intensive winter coaching. The tour by the Australian coach, Don Talbot, as well as well-attended calisthenics classes conducted by the Canterbury Swimming Centre, should be reflected in excellent times right from the start of the season. Canterbury badly lacks the services of professional coaches for its swimmers, and it is significant that those who fared best in recent seasons have practically all visited Auckland and had some tuition from the professionals there. Amateur coaches are doing their best here, but swimming training has become so much of a science today that few of them can take their pupils past the elementary stages. A coaches’ group is at present operating, and its 46 members—many of them parents—are working to a schedule which was sug-

gested by Talbot. Six open forum meetings have been held, and the members feel the scheme is at least doing something to fill in the gap of professionals. This season the Canterbury centre will continue to hold primary carnivals on Saturday mornings and the afternoon and evening carnivals will be limited to those swimmers who have reached standard times. New this season is the imposition of limits on primary carnivals as well, so that until a young swimmer

reaches a reasonable standard of proficiency, he will be unable to compete at inter-club carnivals. Canterbury will have few changes in its representative ranks to last season, although several of last year’s juniors are now in senior ranks and may take another season to come to the fore again. Training The province’s leading woman last season was Shirley Nicholson, and having kept in top training during the winter, should improve on her excellent record of last season. This slightly-built girl came from relative obscurity to the New Zealand junior 440 yards freestyle championship and national record within last season, and has the- ability to go much further.

Although last season was not a good one for her, Lyn Harrow has devoted herself to the sport during the winter and could offer a stem challenge to Miss Nicholson this season. In a recent visit to Australia, Miss Harrow trained under the famous coach, Frank Guthrie, and has maintained strict training since. Apart from these two, the senior women’s ranks are rather thin, and there is a sad lack of enthusiastic seniors in the specialist strokes. -■

The junior women’s ranks are strongest in freestyle and some very promising competitors should be fairly evenly matched. Miss K. MacDonald, who went to the national coaching school in Hamilton, will be matched against Miss E. Edwards and Miss W. Dale, last year’s under 13 champion. Misses L. Cox and H. Broughton were both improving quickly last season and are assured of a good season.

There is also plenty of talent in the junior breaststroke ranks, with Miss H. Armstrong, winner of the Canterbury title last sea* son, C. Johnson and R. George. In the backstroke events, Misses S. Pitama and W. Dale, both of whom competed at the national championships last season, will be the main contenders. Miss CJohnson is the ipain prospect in the butterfly. The senior men’s section will see the usual influx of juniors, among them M. Manderson, D. Garty, and J. Crookston. Among the freestylists, G. Dann has been doing strenuous weightlifting during the winter, while C. McFadden and G. Le Cren are also in solid training. P. Stontiford has now shifted to Wellington. G. Johnson, who must be highly favoured for the New Zealand Universities’ team to tour Australia this summer, and I. H. MacDonald are the best of the senior breaststroke competitors, and Michael Hay, the national junior champion, can be expected to provide the best performances of all even though still a junior this season.

G. Elmsley, B. Hocking, W. Williamson, and P. Harrow are all very evenly matched in the backstroke.

The junior boys this summer will probably be dominated by G. Stringer in the freestyle events, M. Hay in the breaststroke, and A. Harrow in the backstroke. Stringer is one of the best prospects for a long time, rising from mediocrity to the finals of the .national championships last season.