Rewarding season for Cleland

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31941, 19 March 1969, Page 11

Rewarding season for Cleland

\ S if to mark the first year -£X in existence of the Eastern Districts swimming centre in appropriate fash-

ion, the tall Timaru allrounder, Paul Cleland, has established himself as a prospective national representative by winning a number of important titles.

Already a dominant figure in South Canterbury swimming, Cleland came to Christchurch in January and swam off with the provincial junior 110 yd and 220 yd freestyle and 220 yd medley titles. Later, in the South Island championships, he won the junior 110 yd freestyle and 110 yd backstroke events and was run-ner-up in the 220 yd medley. In spite of these successes, Cleland went to the New Zealand age group championships in Masterton unheralded and unsung. Imagine the surprise, then, when he beat the fancied ’ Auckland boy, Colin Herring, in the prestige event, the under-16 boys 110 yd freestyle final. Cleland swam with tremendous power and determination to equal the six-year-old short course record for the distance of 58.1 sec. This time entitles him to sixth ranking in the country among the seniors. Cleland compounded his success by defeating the current national junior representative, Selwyn Pohio (Hawke’s Bay) to win the 110 yd backstroke gold

medal, and he rounded off the meeting by taking second place in the medley. At the national open championships in Auckland,

Cleland was a finalist in the 110 yd backstroke and narrowly failed to reach the 110 yd freestyle final, losing to the title-holder, P. J. O’Carroll (Auckland) in a swim-off for the sixth place. Christchurch is likely to see a good deal of Cleland in the future, for he must seek the strongest competition to maintain his rate of progress. With his good temperament and ideal build, he seems likely to

make a big name for him self—and Eastern Districts—within a year or two.