Sportsman’s Notebook SWIMMING RECORDS CHANGING

Press, Volume C, Issue 29535, 9 June 1961, Page 20

Sportsman’s Notebook SWIMMING RECORDS CHANGING

The record book in Canterbury swimming has been in a state of constant change during the last two seasons. Times have been eclipsed to such an extent that A. R. Peters’s 110yds men’s breaststroke mark of 79.95ec, set in 1956. is now the oldest one remaining. The alteration in the age group structure of the sport at the start of 1959-60. necessitating as it did new standards being set in some sections, was to some extent responsible for the record book’s new look. But by far the greatest contribution was made by the swimmers themselves. In the space of two seasons they achieved the staggering total of 95 successful record attempts—4s last season and a neat 50 in 1959-60. The records in 32 events were broken one or more times last season and in 39 events in 1959-60. In these two seasons only 16 out of 64 distances did not have a fresh record established in them. What lies behind this spate of record-breaking? One factor is undoubtedly the introduction of calisthenics during the winter lay-off. It has improved the physique of swimmers. increased their stamina and built up their knowledge. Another big help has been the amateur coaches’ discussion group, inaugurated last winter and to be continued this year. The technique of many swimmers has been sharpened through knowledge imparted at group discussions. These swimmers have participated in the recordbreaking spree of the last two seasons:— I Miss S. Nicholson 11 suc- ' cessful attempts. G. Stringer and Miss W. Dale 10 each. ’ Miss S. Pitama eight, M. } Hay five, A. Harrow. M. • Manderson. G. Dann and Miss i C. MacDonald four each, C. McFadden, G. Le Cren and • Miss R. George three each, ! G. Elmsley, J. Hay. Misses ! C. Hopper. S. Shelton. C Johnson, F. Moir, D. Bulli- . vant. F. Bullivan two each. W. Williamson. A. McDonald. | P. Jones. B. Hocking, A. ■ Quail. Misses H. Broughton. A. Blair. E. Ed-wards. J. Monk and L. Cox one each. Most of these competitors are expected to return to the fray next October P could well be another season of outstanding achievement. :1: * * Canterbury Chess When the Canterbury Chess Club champion. R. D Clarke, drew for second , place in the South Island tournament last week-end he was hailed by the Otago club's patron (Mr I. Penrose) as a player of great promise. His success meant the emergence of the Canterbury Club from a long iperiod of eclipse. Only 19. iClarke. who was taught bv jhis father. Mr E. H. Clarke, was beaten by G. G. Haase i ' Otago) after (Conceding ■three drawn games’: to Haase's (two. Haase and Clarke 'drew in the final. The Canterbury B team won all three prizes in its section. C W. Taylor took Bret place after being seeded as eleventh of 14 entrants. He beat R. Mitchell /Canterbury) in the first round, but Mitchell went on Ito win the rest of his games ;to take second place. B N Cloistein (Canterbury) was third. P W. Boag (Ashburton) shared first place in 'C grade with D. B Estermau (Otago). • * • Basketball The sixth round of basketball games will be played tomorrow and some of them should contain plenty of interest. Kaka tai. the competition leader. will play I Teachers’ College A, which

has only suffered one loss so far. Both teams have, accurate goal throwers and the defences are evenly matched. The same could be said of the centre, the only difference being that Kakatai holds its positions better, and this could be where it gains the advantage. Technical will play Sacred Heart, which is second equal in the competition. Although Technical has only two points to its credit, the game between these two teams has always provided an abundance of thrill. Unless Technical's goal shooting shows a big improvement from last Saturday, when 30 shots were missed, Sacred Heart should have no difficulty in keeping its good record intact It is unlikely that West will find much opposition against Teachers’ College B. which has not played up to expectations this season. * * * Herb Elliot Herb Elliot, now of Jesus College. Cambridge, will run tomorrow and on Sunday at a meeting in Zagreb. Jugoslavia. Later he will compete for a 23-man OxfordCambridge team against Har-vard-Yale at Boston.