Forgotten swimmers surface again

Press, 24 April 1984, Page 37

Forgotten swimmers surface again

Eleven hundred swimmers from 15 countries are assembled in Christchurch for the start of the Arena first international masters swimming championships at Queen Elizabeth II Park this morning.

Masters swimming is the aquatic equivalent of veterans track and field, but is still very much in its infant stages in New Zealand. Overseas however, especially in the United States, masters swimming is a highly popular form of recreation and fitness, with a following of tens of thousands. New Zealanders are less enthusiastic about swimming, but the sport is gaining popularity fast. A few years ago anyone over the age of 25 who churned out length after length of a pool was either training for water polo or surf life-saving. Those who actually swam for the good of their health were a rarity.

Now not only is it becoming fashionable to swim for your health, it is the logical form of fitness for older people. There are no sore shins or muscles to worry about. Many doctors advise sportsmen or women with injuries to swim as a means to maintain their fitness while they are not able to run.

Swimmers qualify for the .title “master” at a younger 'age than their track and field counterparts qualify for the title “veteran.”

That is not surprising though, because most swimmers have finished their international careers by the time they reach 25 — the qualifying age for masters.

While they might have ended their international careers, some of the masters still maintain a tight training schedule judging by the list of world best times which appears in the official programme. Take the 100 m freestyle as an example. The world best time in the youngest age-group — 25 to 29 years

— is 51.25. That is two seconds faster than the New Zealand record.

That mark is not likely to be challenged during the championships. The fastest qualifier is Mike Bottom, a former American Olympic swimmer, who won the silver medal in the 100 m butterfly at the Montreal Olympics in 1976. His time listed for the 100 m freestyle at these championships is 53.05.

Bottom is the best known of the overseas visitors who has recently been in the top competitive ranks. But in the 40 to 44 years age-group is Stephen Clark, who was a prominent member of the American team at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964. At those Olympics Clark won three gold medals in the American men’s relay teams. He can still reel off a 57.8 s 100 m freestyle. The best known of the women attending from overseas is also an American. Sandy Neilson caused a few raised eyebrows in 1972 at the Munich Olympics when she beat two girls favoured to finish ahead of her in the 100 m freestyle final. She beat her team-mate, Shirley Babashoff, who won the silver medal, and the Australian sensation of that time, Shane Gould, who won the bronze. Miss Neilson, who will swim in the 25 to 29 years age-group, is still a very competent competitor. She has a time of 59.6 s for the 100 m freestyle. Lining up beside Miss Neilson in the first heat of the women’s 100 m freestyle on Friday will be a woman who will be remembered with warmth and pride by New Zealanders who saw the 1974 Commonwealth Games in the same pool. She is now Jaynie Hudgell, but was then Jaynie Parkhouse, the hometown girl who had a stroke for stroke battle with two Australian girls throughout the 800 m freestyle final, and won the gold medal by the slightest of margins. It will be a family re-

union for the Parkhouses. Also swimming are Jaynie’s father, and coach when she won the gold medal, Pic, her mother Betty, and her husband Craig. Former New Zealand representatives have arrived in force for the men’s events. Hilton Brown, Dave Gerrard and Alan Seager were all members of a successful New Zealand swimming squad at the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica. They will be reunited again during these championships. Of a more recent vintage is Brett Naylor, who swam for New Zealand at the 1974 and 1978 Commonwealth Games, and the 1976 Olympic Games. He is now a coach in Christchurch. Brent Lewis and Michael Toomey, who swam at the 1974 Commonwealth Games, and Colin Herring, who was a member of the 1972 Olympic team, are also among the mass of entries. Alan Kindred and Geoff Walker, who swam for New Zealand but never at a Games, are other entries. David Costill, from Indiana, will deliver the Tom Anderson Memorial lecture at the Town Hall this evening. This afternoon he will swim the 400 m freestyle. His lecture is: “Key Factors for Optimum Performance.” He is obviously well qualified to speak on the

subject. He has a time of smin 12.0 s for the distance, one of the best in the 45 to 49 years age-group. It must be highly gratifying for the organisers to know that before the championships start today, they are assured of success, and that there could be a modest profit at the end which will be channeled back into sport.

To assume the burden of the first international championships (they were prevented from using “world” championships by the governing body of swimming, FINA) was an onerous responsibility, but the organisers have worked silently but efficiently for the success of the competition, which now seems a formality.