Behind The Scenes Work In Swimming

Press, Volume C, Issue 29674, 18 November 1961, Page 9

Behind The Scenes Work In Swimming

BACK room activities designed to lift the standard of swimming In Canterbury to a still higher plane have been flourishing in Christchurch during the winter months. While leading competitors have been engaged in calisthenics classes, coaches have been getting to grips with advanced ideas and techniques during organised discussion groups. The benefits of these practical and theoretical buildups may not be readily apparent; but both schemes are far-reaching and dividends should appear before long. Mr G. Elmsley, a physical education specialist, has been concerned with both ventures and is enthusiastic about their worth. Those who have taken courses of calisthenics in the last three years have already reaped some benefit by being able to start the competitive season fully fit, and so eliminate the tedious bulld-up in the water, he says. Their strength, too, has improved

and their muscles have become more flexible. In the winter months this year a senior and a junior group, each 35 swimmers strong, undertook calisthenics on two nights a week and carried on a series of exercises at home. Starting with light stretching exercises, the class members gradually progressed to work with medicine balls and then on to weights. An overseas trend in swimming preparation is to continue calisthenics throughout the summer on a reduced scale, so that fitness attained in the winter can be retained during the competitive season. Mr Elmsley plans to follow the trend by instituting a summer calisthenics class in Christchurch this season and expects to have an initial group of 12 competitors. No less important have been the activities of the coaches' discussion group, which has been meeting every third Wednesday under the chairmanship of Mr C. A. Harrow, with Mr J. H. Johnson as secretary. The group was started last year after the visit of the Australian coach, Don Talbot, and now draws coaches from as far away as Amberley and Cheviot. The group’s discussions have covered all aspects of swimming, including teaching to swim, calisthenics, conditioning and water safety. Information from overseas on the latest coaching techniques has been constantly received and discussed. Next year Mr Elmsley hopes to institute examinations for coaches in Canterbury, such as those that are held in the Australian States and in Auckland. He envisages elementary to diploma examinations, the latter including anatomy, physiology, and advanced training techniques. When a person has passed this final examination he or she will be as good as a professional coach, Mr Elmsley believes.