Beaches, pools crowded

Press, 2 February 1982, Page 6

Beaches, pools crowded

Schoolchildren will be able to return to school today confident that they got the . best of the summer weather. A north-west airflow over the South Island has brought fine and very warm weather to Canterbury, with a maximum temperature of 33 degrees recorded at Christchurch Airport about 3 p.m. yesterday. The heat drove thousands of people to seek relief in swimming pools and at the beaches. About 8000 people visited the Jellie Park pool yesterday, and even more than the number that visited the park during the very hot weather last month. The West Coast was cloudy I and mild yesterday, but most I of the rest of the country I was having hot weather. I The record temperature ! for February was recorded in February 1973, when a reading of 42 deg. was made in Canterbury and other areas. . ' The weather today will be cooler than it was yesterday,

with a south-west change in the early morning keeping temperatures down to the low 20s.

The Canterbury Life-Sav-ing Association had a busy time yesterday. Eighteen people were rescued at Taylor’s Mistake and extra patrolmen were needed at Sumner and New Brighton.

Mr Geoff LeCren, spokesman for the Life-Saving Association, said - that the extra patrolmen were necessary not only because of the number of swimmers, but because many were not keeping within the patrolled areas.

At Sumner 32 people were helped from the water. Three members of the paid patrol at Sumner were helped by two members of the Sumner Surf Lifesaving Club and both groups stayed until 6.30 p.m. The wind and low tide brought rips and many swimmers were caught in a hole at the back of Cave Rock.