Swimming Assn Warned Against Complacency

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31440, 5 August 1967, Page 17

Swimming Assn Warned Against Complacency

A 17.7 per cent rise in membership was recorded by the Canterbury Swimming Centre last season, bringing the total number of swimmers to 2456.

But the annual report of the centre, to be presented to the annual meeting next Tuesday, warns that the increase should not give officials a feeling of complacency.

“We have still not as great a number of members as we

should,” says the report “We feel sure that fewer club units of greater number and strength would help in this direction.”

The report notes that the drifts to clubs with better facilities was even more marked last summer than the previous year. Sockbum Park, with 504 members, has the highest total, followed by Jellie Park (360) and Wharenui (348). Greater Efficiency

“It is encouraging to find that those clubs with minimum facilities are making determined efforts to improve them,” the report adds. Increased membership would bring increased responsibility, and it was hoped that the efficiency of the centre would keep pace with the rise in numbers, it says. A remit to be presented at the annual meeting proposes that the management commit-

tee should be reduced in number, to relieve some honorary officers from compulsory attendance at committee meetings. The report believes that this is desirable in view of the number of meetings. Covered Pool Needed

On the subject of pools, the report calls for support for the voice of the Commonwealth Games Promotion Society in its plea to the City Council on the need for a covered Olympic pool in Christchurch.

“It is an amenity required not only for the Games, but also for the general use of the citzens,” it says. “Beaches will not attract the swimmers in a Christchurch winter, but a covered pool would.” The report reviews Canterbury’s comprehensive season —which included the holding of the New Zealand and South Island championships—and pays particular tribute, on the competitive side, to Miss Tui Shipston, for her memorable efforts at the national meeting, and, on the administrative side, to Mr M. R. Duckmanton, who piloted the organising committee. The meeting, says the report, earned praise from every quarter and was being regarded as a model oh which future championships should be based.