Fledgling club’s swift success

Press, 24 June 1978, Page 12

Fledgling club’s swift success

After a stormy start 14 months ago the Pegasus Swimming Club has overcome initial opposition to its formation and completed a highly successful first year. It is different to other clubs in Christchurch in that it caters only for competitive swimmers. It does not teach youngsters to swim, and to join the club swimmers must achieve the Canterbury centre qualifying standards for open carnivals. Opposition to the formation of the club, came from other clubs in the eastern suburbs of Christchurch who felt the Pegasus club would poach its members.

These problems have been ironed out and the smaller clubs now serve as feeders to Pegasus which trains at Queen Elizabeth II Park and has

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the benefit of all year facilities essential to competitive swimmers. Finance has been a problem for the club but with regular housie afternoons and a kick-a-thon which netted nearly $lOOO the club has raised sufficient money to give its swimmers, divers and water-polo players at national championships, 30 to 50 per cent subsidies. The club’s first representatives at a national event was a team of 13 who represented Canterbury at last year’s New Zealand winter championships in Wellington. Its first medals in a national competition came in the Speedo Teleprinter carnival in December, Grant Forbes and Garry Mason

KEVIN TUTTY

both won gold medals. The New Zealand agegroup championship at Nelson in February was easily the most successful carnival for the club. Eleven swimmers and seven divers returned with 10 gold, five silver and two bronze medals, an impressive return for the coaches, Don Inkster (swimming) and Jim de Malmanche (diving). Of the 8u long-course Canterbury records in the various age-groups, swimmers from Pegasus hold 41.

Easily, the club’s most successful water polo team was the women’s side, runner-up in the Wella national championship, and its coach, Bryan Mustchin, a New Zealand

selector, was also the New Zealand coach and has been appointed to this position again for the coming season. Also, Linda Clarke (captain), Colleen Coulter and Jackie Sharpies were selected for New Zealand for its Australian tour.

Some of the opposition encountered was to the formation of another highly competitive club in Christchurch. But Pegasus has proven the need for a club to challenge the supremacy of Wharenui whose members have for many years dominated the composition of Canterbury teams. If its second year is as successful as its first it will be pressing Wharenui for the position as Christchurch’s premier club in another year.