26 swimming around S.I.

Press, 25 August 1976, Page 13

26 swimming around S.I.

r By KEVIN TUTTY A 1947 Ford bus that a year ago was a chicken roost, will be “home” for 26 Auckland swimmers and their coach, Mr Bob Mclntyre, for the next two weeks. They are members of the Marlins club and are on a “swimming holiday” in

the South Island, which included competing in the New Zealand winter championships at the Wharenui pool at the week-end. The bus was dragged from a farm near Auckland complete with motor, drive-shaft and wheels, and the only price the owner asked was a replacement chicken run. The club obliged with a new coop built from car crates.

Since then $3OOO has been spent renovating the bus, said Mr Mclntyre, who was assistant coach to the 1974 Commonwealth Games and 1975 New Zealand Games teams.

From the outside, the bus looks its age, but the club hopes to rectify that with a little panelbeating and a professional paint job in the club’s colours of red and white, on return to Auckland. Inside, however, are all the comforts of home. It has been painted and insulated and half the windows that were broken, have been re-

placed. There are two heating systems — one run off the radiator and the other off the generator.

There is room at the back of the bus — formerly the baggage compartment — for two primus stoves — and the bunking is on a threetier system, with the middle tier dropping to form seating.

Foam has been put under the floor coverings so it too can be used for sleeping, and to make the swimmers feel’ even more at home there is a cassette/stereo radio and a portable television.

All the mechanical repairs — except those which have required precision machine work — have been done by the club members under the supervision of a parent, a lecturer in mechanics. The team was in Christchurch for a week. Six swimmers who could not get the week off school joined the party on Friday and the group of 24 and Mr

Mclntyre left on a tour of the South Island yesterday. Queenstown, Mount Cook and the West Coast are among their destinations before they arrive back in Christchurch next week-end for a carnival with Don Inkster’s squad. A budget of $lBOO has been set for the three-week tour for the party of 27, averaging about $65 — a cheap holiday ’ considering the amount of food young swimmers in training consume.

The group did its weekend shopping on Friday and among its requirements were 20 loaves of bread and 201 b of meat.

The New Zealand open championships in March next year will be another tour for the club, and it may come to Christchurch for the New Zealand Games next January. The vehicle has its uses during week-ends too, said Mr Mclntyre. The group can relieve the monotony of pool training by going surfing.