Surfing Contest

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29384, 10 December 1960, Page 5

Surfing Contest

RESTRICTED entries in team events at the national surf titles this season should result in keen competition at the Canterbury Surf Life-Saving Association’s first championship carnival, which will be held tomorrow at North Beach. In previous years, entries in the junior and senior six-man rescue and resuscitation and the four-man alarm events have not been restricted, at least one team from each of the six clubs in Canterbury competing. However, because of increased entries which make the events unwieldy, Canterbury will only be permitted to enter five teams this season. Strongest On its form last season and in the recent non-championship carnival at Waimairi, South Brighton appears to be strongest in the senior team events, but an interesting struggle should develop over the four championship carnivals between the remaining clubs. Greatest interest will be in the senior and junior four-man alarm championships. South Brighton holds the senior title and Waimairi is the junior titleholder. The senior six-man rescue and resuscitation non-championship event should be interesting also. Nine entries have been received. Although not on the programme a surf race will probably be held to give the selectors an idea of form for the Canterbury team to meet the touring Australian surfers in a few weeks. Major placings in the senior section will probably be between R. Blair (South Brighton), the present national beltman title holder, G. Dann (New Brighton), A. McPhail (Sumner) and C. McFadden (Taylor’s Mistake). An addition to the women’s competition will be a team from the Waimairi Club. The other two entries—South Brighton and Taylor’s Mistake—should clbsely contest the premier placing. Included in the long programme, which is scheduled to begin at 10.30 a.m. will be surf ski, surf canoe, and surf boat races. A race for paddle boards should prove very popular.

With several regular members of the New South Wales cricket team engaged in the first test against the West Indies, several new players gained selection for the current match against W estern Australia. One of these was the Ceylonese player G. Goonesena, a leg-spinner. Goonesena. a Ceylon Government official in Canberra, is a former captain of Cambridge University and a Nottinghamshire representative in England coqnty cricket.