Carnival for pool opening

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33370, 31 October 1973, Page 32

Carnival for pool opening

The Canterbury Swimming Association had a pleasant surprise earlier tli is week when it was asked by the Christchurch City Council to organise a carnival at the Queen Elizabeth II Park pool on November 25 after the official opening of the park.

The association has accepted the offer and will hold an inter-club carnival to give Canterbury swimmers a final chance of qualifying for the New Zealand open championships at the same venue from December 12 to 15. “The offer to organise a i carnival came out of the blue, but we are very pleased to make up a programme on the opening day,” said the convener of the selection panel (Mr T. J. Whitta). The carnival, he said, would be an extra inter-club meeting this season and would be the fourth on the season’s programme. The president (Mr R. D. Truscott) said the association

, learned of the offer in a letter from the City Council after 'the last council meeting. “I ■ presume that as there will be many people at the official opening, the council feels it would be far better for them to see something happening,” he said. The association had previously planned to use the Queen Elizabeth Park pool for the first time on December 8, when the teleprinter finals will be held. The carnival will mean , that Canterbury swimmers | will have their first and last I chance this season of qualifying for the New Zealand 'Championships in a longcourse pool. Mr Whitta said that a programme of 20 events would be drawn up, and the full eight lanes would be filled for each race. Only Canterbury swimmers and competitors from outside Canterbury but now living in Christchurch would be eligible to compete. i The latter category i includes the Commonwealth Games squad members, J. Coutts and Miss B. Tynan, formerly of Hawke’s Bay, and the former top Taranaki swimmer, S. Bond.