TRAINING CAMPS

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30125, 8 May 1963, Page 17

TRAINING CAMPS

Olympic Rule Disputed

Strong representation to the International Olympic Committee to reverse its ruling on the length of training camps is to be made by Australia. This information was contained in a letter from the secretary-treasurer of the Amateur Swimming Union of'Australia (Mr W. B. Phillips) which was received by the council of the New Zealand Amateur Swimming Association last night. The letter expressed pleasure that the New Zealand body was behind the union in the matter. The ruling given by the committee totally disregarded the differences in climate between the northern and southern hemispheres, wrote Mr Phillips. "Here, in Australia, 90 per cent, of the swimmers come from New South Wales where we have no public indoor facilities for the training of our swimmers out of season,” he wrote. “Therefore, if this ruling is enforced, Australia could not be represented a| the Olympic Games and I am sure that the majority of your swimmers would be in the same predicament.” Mr Phillips pointed out that as a great majority of Northern Hemisphere swimmers were either high school or university students they could train from June until September full time without breach of any rules of the international committee, as studies were not conducted during this period. Mr Phillips suggested that the N.Z.AS.A. should arrange for the New Zealand Olympic and British Empire Games Association to request the New Zealand member of the international committee to support tha withdrawal of the ruling. The chairman of the council (Mr A. J. Donaldson) said it was not easy to impress this view on the New Zealand Olympic Association. Rowing and swimming, he said, were sports which would suffer from the ruling; but others would not be so affected. The council resolved to send a copy of Mr Phillips’s letter to the Olympic association in support of its views.

Record Granted Posthumously Posthumous recognition of a national swimming record was made by the council of the New Zealand Amateur Swimming Association at a meeting last night. It ratified a new short course mark for the 220 yards junior boys* backstroke tsablished by A. B. Pike (Auckland), 10 days before he was killed by falling scoria in a Takapuna quarry last month. The chairman of the council (Mr A. J. Donaldson) said the sympathy of the association had been conveyed to the boy's parents immediately after the accident.