Canterbury Swimmers Excelled At Auckland

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30073, 6 March 1963, Page 17

Canterbury Swimmers Excelled At Auckland

CANTERBURY swimming was reputed to have died at the 1862 New Zealand championships at Naenae. A full-scale post mortem was conducted and the verdict was that the provincial representatives’ conditioning for championship racing fell far short of the required standard.. Fortunately, Canterbury’s swimming leaders had sufficient faith to apply a little artificial respiration to the supposed corpse. Their endeavours were rewarded when the body sprang to life at Auckland last week. Consider the remilts: Canterbury sent 25 competitors to Naenae and won three titles, gained two seconds and five thirds. Sixteen competitors were sent to Auckland; they took nine titles, six seconds and six thirds. At Naenae, Canterbury was fourth in centre placinga with 53 Freyberg Shield points. This year’s aggregate was 85i points and the team was second to the powerful Auckland side of 51 swimmers. The results proved the worth of Canterbury’s planning for the national meeting. The formation of a representative training squad early in the season and the adoption of more rigid standards in the selction of the final team were measures which contributed in no small way to the heartening successes achieved in Auckland’s Olympic Pool. One of the most pleasing aspects of Canterbury’s performance was the fine swimming by Miss S. A. Nicholson. She ended a long period of frustration at national level by winning four titles, breaking the medley record and establishing a best-ever total of

23 points in winning the Harold Pettit Trophy. Her capacity for hard racing wu enormous: she took a seemingly exhausting programme of 10 races in her stride. It is interesting to speculate .on what fresh heights Mias J. Reid may attain before her days as a junior competitor are over. Her remarkably mature ap-* proach to the winning of the girls’ 440 yards freestyle

was one of the indelible memories of the meeting. Her best time of Smin 13.Seec—O.Scec faster than the record—indicated that her name should have a similarly lasting effect on the New Zealand record book.

In support of these two champions, W. Wateonwon, W. Pearce, W. G. Andrew and Items C. Hopper. J. Cteric and L Cox sffl gained second or third pieces for Canterbury in pool events. Williamson, the team captain, sei a aptendid example early in the ctempknfaaps by swimming the tartest tames of hds career in 110yds and 220yds bactatoote. The others responded spiritedly, far in a charnpaourtap meeting in vdttch naw records were set in 27 events orfty the best sufficed.

Faßoaring in lira towiaHf of her noted cousin. C. ir-fiU-LAM, Y ww - MoraKNn, mb Ju. iustow aroefat a handaotne wto to her fint Hampt at 4he natkxMl womenfe ttme-* mfte want lor good . immun, tKiutnpteadl hi Uni iwuudiflhp nattton lor the Annette KefiSenoMn One ••

outstanding woman in the open waiter race; her nearest rivals were tamest Utenin behind.

R. U Hodge and Ates H. Hutton rounded off Canterbury's penfcemonce by again winning the men’s

and women's spningtxwrd diving respectively—gfodge by a gradually widening margin and Mas Hutton by a bewttderiJOg burst from behind. But, as usual, both were adi grace and ataH.

No-one really toiled at Auckland. Those who did oat share toe limelight generally found thesneetoraa m an event in which foe stefadatd had risen apectecuiiKly since last summer. A. Harrow, for instance, recorded Imdn 17aee in a beat at toe boys' 110yds badratroke, a time equal to fate beat rate one which would have earned htea toted piece in last year's national ctaamionsMp. tn fids instance, however, it won not even good' enough 'to gain fata a piece to file fin*. In Me Ante ranfijete, Canterbury aartenntag eotdd be ratal to hove iwtafinid its confidence at Aucktond M moat not be dterarad to lose it again.