N.Z. Half-mile Record Broken In Solo Swim

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31584, 23 January 1968, Page 12

N.Z. Half-mile Record Broken In Solo Swim

Exceptional fitness and an uncanny judgment of pace enabled Tui Shipston to smash her own national senior record for 880 yd freestyle at the third session of the Canterbury swimming championships in the Centennial Pool last night.

In a splendid solo swim, she recorded lOmin 14.2 sec for the distance, cutting 3.lsec from the mark she set in the same pool last month.

Later in the evening she fought off another spirited challenge from Miss J. Wright in the 220 yd backstroke, and came within l.lsec of the New Zealand record. She reduced the Canterbury mark for the event by 2.ssec. These brilliant efforts helped swell the records tally for the session to 16, with another mark equalled. At the half-way mark for the meeting, two New Zealand and 31 Canterbury records have been bettered. In her memorable half-mile effort, Miss Shipston covered the first 440 yd in smin 4sec —only ssec outside her national quarter-mile record. Her fitness enabled her to maintain a consistently hard pace for each length and she finished in good style. There was general disappointment at the absence of Miss Shipston’s fellow New Zealand representative, A. B. Kindred, who ricked his back during the day and was unable to defend his 220 yd freestyle title. But many compensations were to be found during a night of exceptionally keen competition. Geoffrey Walker, who had won titles in medley, breaststroke and freestyle on Saturday, smashed the boys’ 220 yd butterfly record by 15.3 sec, after a close race against James Johnston. Angela Bunt confirmed her potential as a breaststroke swimmer by bettering the under-13 marked for 220 yd for the fifth time in two months: this time she broke the under-14 record as well, and then beat the best girls in the

I under-16 class for the 110 yd title. The Commonwealth butterfly champion, D. F. Gerrard (Ashburton), swam his favourite stroke in the men’s 220 yards freestyle final, finishing second in 2min IS.lsec, his fastest time of the season. B. Ward (Wharenui) won the race to gain his third title of the meeting. One of the encouraging factors of the night's swimming was the breaking of centre records by more than one competitor. In the strong under-12 boys’ section, Roy Gray, Michael Lee and Brent Lewis all bettered the 55 yards butterfly figure. Catherine Whiting, Glenys Dacombe and Shona Hallam displayed excellent form in girls' races and Frank Murphy and Mark Harding were two boy freestylers who caught the eye. There was considerable merit, too, in the swimming of John Tillson, an Elmwood junior, who won the men’s 110 yards backstroke title in convincing fashion. His time of Imin 10.4 sec broke the junior record and equalled W. R. Williamson’s five-year-old senior mark. Wharenui has n,ow won 19 titles at the meeting, followed by' Elmwood 16. Spreydon 13, Sockburn Park 12, Jellie Park 3, and North Beach and St Albans 2 each. Abbreviations used in the results are: A., Amberley: Ash., Ashburton; B„ Beckenham: Chev., Cheviot: C., Christchurch: E., Elmwood: J.P., Jellie Park: N. 8., New Brighton; N.Bch., North Beach; St.A., St Albans: S.P., Sockburn Park; S., Spreydon; W.. Wharenui. Rsults were: 220 Yards Freestyle.—B. Ward (W.) 1, D. F. Gerrard (Ash.) 2, M. Johnston (J.P.) 3. Time. 2:15.1. 110 Yards Backstroke.—J. Tillson (E.) 1, D. S. Bowman (S.P.) 2, R. J. Wilson (S.) 3. Time, 1:10.4 (record). 4 x 55 Yards Medley Relay.— Sockburn Park 1, Elmwood 2, Wharenui 3. Time, 2:12.7. BOYS Under 15 220 Yards Butterfly.—G. Walker (E.) 1, J. Johnston (St.A.) 2. Time, 2:43.7 (record). 220 Yards Medley.—G. Walker (E.) 1 J. Tillson (E.) 2, J. I Cook (S.) 3. Time, 2:38.5. Under 14 110 Yards Freestyle.—Heat 1: D. Barton (S.) 1, F. Murphy (S.P.) 2, G. Campbell (W.) 3. Time, 1:10.2. Heat 2: P. Butler (W.) 1, Mark Lewis (S.) 2, R. Faulding (E.) 3. Time, 1:9.5. Final: Murphy 1, Butler 2, Faulding 3. Time. 1:7.6. 220 Yards Medley.—Mark Lewis (S.) 1, R. Faulding (E.) 2, F. Murphy (S.P.) 3. Time, 2:51.3 (record). 4 x 55 Yards Freestyle Relay. —Sockburn Park 1, Wharenui 2, Spreydon 3. Time, 2:11.1 (record). Under 13 220 Yards Backstroke.—R. Ross (J.P.) 1. Time, 3:8.8, Under 12 110 Yards Freestyle.—Heat 1: M. Harding (W.) 1, B. Lewis (S.) 2. G. Haines (W.) 3. Time, 1:14.1 (record). Heat 2: M. Lee (W.) 1, J. Dixon (N.Bch.) 2, T. Tinga (W.) 3. Time, 1:14.9. Heat 3: R Gray (W.) 1, H. Hoffman (N.Bch.) 2, P. Hanrahan (E.) 3. Time, 1:16.2. Final: Harding 1, Lewis 2. Lee 3. Time. 1:13.6 (record). 55 Yards Butterfly.—R. Gray (W.) 1, M. Lee (W.) 2, B. Lewis (S.) 3. Time, 39.3 (record). Under 11 55 Yards Breaststroke.-M. Wardell (W.) 1, T. Atkinson (S.) 2, P. Adams (S.) 3. Time, 50.7. 55 Yards Butterfly.—M. Trem-

bath (J.P.) 1, M. Wardell (W.) 2. T. Atkinson (S.) 3. Time, 46.7. Under 10 55 Yards Backstroke.—B. Sexton (N.Bch.) 1, Mathew Lewis (S.) 2, I. Croft (A.) 3. Time, 49.3. WOMEN 880 Yards Freestyle.—T. K. Shipston (E.) 1. Time, 10:14.2 (a New Zealand record). 220 Yards Backstroke.—T. K. Shipston (E.) 1, J. Wright (S.P.) 2, E. Barth (E.) 3. Time, 2:35.8 (record). GIRLS Under 15 440 Yards Freestyle.—G. Dacombe (W.) 1, B. Braithwaite (W.) 2, S. Hallam (S.P.) 3. Time, 5:18.9. 220 Yards Backstroke.—S. Hallam (S.P.) 1, M. Darch (S.) 2, G. Dacombe (W.) 3. Time, 2:53.5. 110 Yards Breaststroke. —A. Bunt (W.) 1, M. Richardson (W.) 2, K. Crawford (S.C.) 3. Time. 1:29.9. Under 14 220 Yards Medley.—C. J. Whiting (W.) 1, J. Hay (E.) 2, F, Bunt (W.) 3. Time, 2:49; (record). 4 x 55 Yards Medley Relay.— Elmwood 1, Wharenui 2. Time, 2:29.9 (record). Under 13 220 Yards Breaststroke.—A. Bunt (W.) 1, S. Truscott (E.) 2. J. Barton (S.) 3. Time, 3:7.5 (record). Under 12 55 Yards Breaststroke—S Hunter (S.) 1, J. Kear (B.) 2, S. Bell (E.) 3. Time, 44.7. - 4 x 55 Yards Freestyle Relay.—Jellie Park 1, Sockburn Park 2. Wharenui A 3. Time, 2:32.8. Under 11 110 Yards Freestyle.—Heat 1: P. Truscott (E.) 1. H. Rowe (S.P.) 2, A Lewis (S.) 3. Time, 1:22.5 (record). Heat 2: S. Croft (A.) 1, A. Millar (E.) 2, A. Hunter (S.) 3. Time. 1:38.3. Final: H. Rowe 1, P. Truscott 2, A. Lewis 3. Time, 1:23.3. Under 10 55 Yards Backstroke.—Heat 1: L. Rowe (S.P.) 1, B. Bunt (W.) 2, M. McManus (C.) 3. Time, 44.1 (record). Heat 2: R. Lundy (A.) 1, S. Perry (E.) 2, K. Smith (S.) 3. Time, 50.7. Final: L. Rowe 1, B. Bunt 2, R. Lundy 3.