Girl must swim for N.Z. team on post-Games tour

Press, 8 July 1976, Page 6

Girl must swim for N.Z. team on post-Games tour

Monique Rodahl, a member of the New Zealand Olympic swimming team, has been refused permission to swim for an American club at the United States national championships after the Olympic Games, and has been told she must swim for the New Zealand team.

Miss Rodahl has been training with the Mission Viejo club in California for the last three months and sought permission, through her parents, to swim for- the club at Philadelphia next month. However, the New Zealand Amateur Swimming Association’s council decided on Tuesday evening that because the New Zealand team will also be competing at the United States championships after the Olympics, Miss Rodahl must swim for it. The chairman of the council (Mr M. R. Duckmanton) said the association’s office had received several calls from Mr and Mrs Rodahl asking if their daughter could be included in the Mission Viejo team. Mr Duckmanton told them that a decision would have to be made by the council, but that if the New Zealand team’s post-Olympic tour to Philadelphia and Vancouver did not eventuate he could see no bar to Miss Rodahl

swimming for the American club. Dr A. D. L. Hunter said that Miss Rodahi’s duties lay with the New Zealand team. She would be a member of the team at Montreal; and as it was going on to the American and Canadian championships as a New Zealand team, she should remain a member of it. Mr D. R. Truscott agreed, and said it should be pointed out to parents of swimmers that in any future case they would have to await a decision by the council rather than “pressuring” the administration of the national association for a decision. “What would happen if Miss Rodahl decided to compete for the club?” asked Mr R. Trembarth. “If that was the case, she should be immediately sent

home, and I would like to think she would never swim for New Zealand again” said Mr J. Wakefield. Mr Duckmanton said that the team manager, Mr R. N. Smith, should be given the power to act if this happened; and 1 a motion was later passed given the council’s backing if such action should be necessary. Mr Truscott said it would be wise to give the manager this power, as it appeared there might be repercussions from the council’s decision.

“Mr Rodahl has asserted that he was led to believe his daughter could swim for the club before this evening’s decision was made,” he said.

A car-sticker appeal launched by the association to raise funds to send the Olympic team of 10 to Montreal and on a post-Games tour, has raised $13,750, the finance sub-committee reported. Although this is below the cost of the tour, expected to be about $20,000, there are still several returns to made.» The convener of the finance committee (Mr G. S. Brockert) said some centres with a good representation at the Olympic Games had not supported the project well, while other centres with no representation had given good support to the project. Four records, including one each established by Lynne Rowe and Susan Hunter, both of Canterbury, while training at Toronto for the Olympic Games, were ratified by the council. They Short-course (25m). — are:

Women: L. Rowe (Canterbury), 200 m butterfly, 2:23.0; S. Hunter (Canterbury), 400 m individual medley, 5:5.7. Junior girls: P. McCarthy (Auckland), 200 m butterfly, 2:23.1. T. Grayburn (Auckland), 200 m freestyle, 2:9.3.