Swimmers 7 Secs. From Fame

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30562, 3 October 1964, Page 11

Swimmers 7 Secs. From Fame

XTEW ZEALAND’S two “ L ' swimming representatives at Tokyo are, in many ways, the direct antithesis of each other. Miss V. J. Haddon is tall, dark haired and olive skinned, and has a quiet and reserved nature. D. F. Gerrard, on the other hand, is short and fair with a bright,, almost chirpy,' . front But they have one thing in common: both are about seven secbnds away

from the world records in their respective events. .Seven seconds in a 200 metres swimming race seems a tremendous gulf to bridge until it is remembered that both Gerrard and Miss Haddon are eighth in pre-Olym-pic rankings. They are therefore certain semi-final-ists and possible finalists—and the atttainment of the second goal will be achievement enough.

Will New Zealand win a swimming medal? The prospects, from this distance, seem remote. But once in the finals Miss Haddon and Gerrard have as much chance as anyone else and should one or two of the favoured candidates succumb to the tension of the occasion a medal could very well go to New Zealand. Miss Haddon proved her ability at international level

with her silver and bronze medal swims at the 1962 Empire Games. Two weeks ago she recorded 2mln 53.35ec for 220yds—2sec better than her Perth performance—in a pool which was at a temperature of nearly 88 degrees. Her best time of 2min 51.9 sec is 6.ssec outside the world mark established by the 15-year-old Russian, Miss G. Prozumenshchikova. Miss Haddon’s coach, Mr C. R. A. Williams, who is in Christchurch at present, believes his charge will have to break the world record to win at Tokyo—and believes she is capable of doing this. He describes her as “rising like a barometer set to reach its peak in Tokyo.” Since he was left bobbling in the wake of the Japanese butterfly swimmer, Y. Sato, in January, 1962, Gerrard has improved out of sight in speed and technique. In the space of 18 months he reduced his 220 yards time by 13.7 sec and smashed Sato’s all-comers’ record. Gerrard has more than speed, style, suppleness and a strong physique to aid him at Tokyo. He is an intelligent swimmer, quick to adapt himself to new sursoundings and adept at analysing his rivals and assessing the demands of the situation.