SWIMMING.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 116, 8 February 1908, Page 9

SWIMMING.

■ ' (BY SPLASH.) : • . ■ ! - • j

COMING CARNIVALS. 1 Feb. 15.—-Swifts A.S.C., at: To Aro Batliu I Fob." 29.—Wellington A.S.C.y at To Aro " .-> ; > Baths. ; ' 'j Mar;.-14; —Wellington Contre,'at Thorndon.' ! Mar. 19 and 23. —N.Z. Championships, at , i t-'*"'VNi'Ricfc'';':., - . ■' ■■■' -v.j Tho fourth .annual carnival of the. Young j Men's. .Christian Association Club,- held at ' Te'Aro last Saturday, was - a' successful ' gathering, although nothing ' striking' was • i dono in'the way of performances. ' . Tho ,j writer could not: help' contrasting the. meet- '] ing with the club's first caririval.held at tho .".1 Same'baths. 11l doing : so'it must lie 1 admitted ■ ; that' tho 'club' his progressed a great deal/: It j has.' brought out,, some fair average .swim- j mers from' tho raw' material, it" had to,'work , j on when it-was formed, and with its-advan- ; ta'ge's over the other clubs- the /.YiM.C.A. " ] should develop into this strongest club iiitha •> ! city?' '.Thcr.6'is./ plenty' of 'promise'.'in / tha v : yourtger:.sfrimmersf.and;some|of them should '- turn out ;well, above ;tbc average. /One strik' 'ing featuro- about, the Y;M.C.A. carnivals'it. thejway , the- club's Supporters: rally - round. - -jao other-club holding" atraMval'oii jday."asVtlro;'duanpidii|' . ~ ship'athlot'ic' meeting, would, have "drawi-..hal •; the:attendancb;.,K';,, x .•■.v-!.:., i •,l Thirteen . turned', out ; in , th« 30yds. ••YiM.CiA. - handicap, which was won by W. Lv. .Wilson v with Ssect handicap. Ar.. thurj. Baker,. and Chartres all-s^amtwell,lth't two first-mentioned swimming .into. , second and:third:places, 'respectively: in'the finaL.i, v Th6;.soyds.:Uadies' .bracelet-was' .the; best race of -.the day: 'After: the four .heat's had .been decided-the final looked-very open. 'Gandy, -Blank (a • Canterbury College swimmer), M'Lcod, Nelson, and Jenkiii.all looked to have a' big -say.'in the' final; but this was reckoning'without Blick, who.had only, swum into third place in his heat. M'Leod and ' \ V aney wero tho first to show out, but they got tangled up and wero overhauled, leaving the' field - close,,together* until, a few. yards , from .home, when; Blick and ' Blank had a set-to, which resulted in tlio judges declaring a doad heat. Garidy . was a good second j . with , , several of the-others close up., -Young,. Nel- A ■son; of the Thorndon Cliib, is a greatly inj- ' proved swimmcr, : and swam a capital raco in-his heat. ■, On present-form he-bids fair ' . to develop into, one of the champion'"sprinters about tins"quarter. '■ \ The diving competition fell to Nelson, although', in the writers opinion, Mooro, who ' was placed sccond by tho judges, gave tho best performance.;.. Jenkinson,:,who securcd ■ thW placeV'was-not consistent,", some, of his ' .. dives being very good. , J;. ,:'. -. : There were orily three competitors for-tha' . life-saying'competition,ywhich was also car- > ried . off by -Nelson, who got his man home-a : foot' an'd a half 'ahead 'of C-' Moore. '- y' 1 , : . : , , The 100 yds. ihter-club handicap';: which was set down to bo raced in three/beats, was got . oif in one, on' account- of 21 ; nifen scratching. ' This left .lG : to: ;: faco" thc start-er,' and -thoy - ' .we'ro all'got '.off'at 'oncoi with tho result that the bath'was overcrowded, and'the race was practically spbilcd'. : ' M'Leod-looked a winner • all over-up to ' about 'nmoty yards, when ha ' . . had:to gi.ve' way: to.'Patterson,-„who fairly ; easily, ttlio men could not fight, their way'througb -the crowd: ? ■ An cxhibitiqn game of water polo provided ■ a good, deal of .amiisemont , for' the (specta-tors,-but the water was too cold for tha • plajrers to enjoy it. , .' Mfessrs, Lv'AV. L'udwig',and',T. / Shields. wer® absent fronv tho'Y.M.C;A., carnival'on Satijrdaj\ > -Businoss /matt-ers/must'-havo been' re-.-.: .'' ! ..sponsible,-/as ! it ; i's', very ; exceptional;to'find . ; 'thcse.;crithusiasts missing .from, any, carnival. ; -Mr."; Shields: spent tho .holiday, on' Wednesday . .' afternoon at-To' Aro Baths, and had a very busy timo/initiating tbo small boys in the • " art of, . swimming. There was a greater number of :lads offering themselves for tui • t 1 tion than Mr: Shields, "couldi do justitih, toi :, ■ • and: it ■ is' hoped that - volunteers will' > ' forward to* assist in this most commendable / ■ work.. . ' : • f 1 , Tho'study and practice of lifo saving is ' progressing favourably.' v This is'a veryiiri- ! portant work, and ' it , is hbped that con--1 'iiiderablo .progress, will-bo inado before tha ' end of tho season'in. the methods of handling ' a drowning man properly. R. Nelson of tha , I Thorndon Club is becoming quite expert at- ' 1 rescuo work,, and can v bring his "drowning"- . I man along ill excellent style.; v i - C. Mooro inado His first attempt at 100 i yards,at tho .Y.M.C.'A. carnival. Hitherto ■ his : longest distance ,'has ~ been 75 . yards. , v !. Mooro swam very, well,' especially , for tho ; first 80. yards, but failed t-o get placed. Ho, . i howover, made' amends at the : Swifts'loo . /yards" hand.icap on .Monday evening, when ha ■ • -succceded/in .\nnniug;'from ; six others. . N. J.. .Gandy':':- swam -. consistently at the ' i . YiIJ.C.A. carnivalv In the Ladies' Bracelet. - ho scoured'first'placo in his heat, and third v / i placo ill 'tho'.-/final. Gandy also finished ' third in ,the .lQfcyards interplub handicap. :• ',' *.'. ; " Tho Thorndon, Club held a 100 yards han- :" ': dicap oil ■ Wednesday, and. .the; adjustments 1 reflected great-credit:. on." tho hmdicapper, * [- ~'Mr^,/\V;"BviSmith'SsMoro,especially/was.this ' . ja"featuro.:of: tHo': ; first;heat,twhere only, about --teo^yards^separated^the-first and last maa - at the iinish...-. In tho secoiul heat all tho , competitor j:' wero" ; , close", up,\ with i the excep- , ■' | tion of H. C.. W. .Blick .and R: Nelson, who : t-oo ;.-much,. for - tliem on their handicaps.:/ G. Bruce, the wintier,' is " iif / good" for'm'j //'winning'; hisV Ke'at -'-arid tha ; .. y. !' ;final by .well-timed'sprints''when closo;.homo: R/ R,onayiio sH'am .well, botli in his heat'and. ': : [ ,inv tho.'- final. J /V,''IIo;; fully:/ay , "second in recovering, his- starting' plutiga, : '/- . /iri'tho final.N -/Bpiiajuio/is.a' vigorous'fiuisher, ': "■ '" r4nii''imts\rimttinfey.'iiiiucU;:iiast«r:Vthaif.-'th«-'-.:, /other; competitors ;.'whcn , ;'nea'ring;the;finish-,. , ■ ing- board... /.-. -. ■ ' - I '' :.'"-■ ."■...*/ V : " . . How Mr*'-"William Henry,-hon. secretary of , I the Royal' Society, London, views ■ [.. tho erav,d: stroke,' forms:intorestitig reading. " ■ ' . ;•• ■*'.;, . ■ '■ j> /."The crawl stroke; as swum by -Daniels, : Healy, 3ud others, is distinct: from/any o'ther ' ' swiuimiug "stroke,/inasmu6h as' 1 the legs from ;; the knee, upward, are kept in lino with ,tho ; .ho'dy--and' almost- icloscdthere is : no' "opening : ' ' of- the .legs" or' drawing, up 'of? tho knees' as in 1 tho,"slde,'"breast , ) ;,br''b'ack.:Stroke.': The .summer lies flat.iip'on" his: breast, and'the loVer . parts-pf'the,,lcgs":froni.the'knees downwards are alternately-lifted above-the water/ and they, a;'o. : struck':'dow'n upon the:surface with, tho instep. ..The-striking is'dono from-an up- .- ward.to a downw'ar'd'direction; on to-the,sur- .. : ; face of the '.water,, one-leg at;-a timo. Tho -/-:';■ arms'-aro' used,i somewhat similarly - to 1 tho v trudgeoii /stroke ;*/they are''.ben't'.at: the . el- ~ bow?,: dipped;'iii£just beyond and drawn smartly: backward till they come: out '■ ' of tho -water at'the hips. The right ami-is : ' : dipped in when, -tlio left foot' strikes down- / < ward, and vice Thus wo have liearly • always ono ■ limb-. liullirig or propelling ' tho , ■ body..throUgh"thp:.water;at the very'moment ; when another/ limb is beiiig recovered/for tha - next stroke. .In this, way , fewer dead'or re- ■ t.arding : iioints ,-are produced, than in any - other method 'of /iswimriiing, and, less resist-' ance is caused in the lino of,-progress. . In | the other .strokes'".tho limbs aro '.mostly/ recovered through:;tho .water.: ' '.. / : . ■ . "The one -great, disadvantage ' of this ■ ■ method of swimming relates' to the question • 1 of,. breathing. -' Fbr'a^"novice it is a..very diffi-, ! cult -matter/ at- first,'as ".tho'/intalte ,'pf air : must'be carefully,timed''.with the.stroke., and the/head mustVbe turned well to the right or to tho that, 1 as tlio a/rm-is, passing face in-'.its...downward l pull,, tho air may. / enter tho mouth. Tho practice of breathing - alorio"takes a.'considerablb timo, for if'oho wishes,to bc ablc to'stay,, one imist breaths •regularly/" It/is no-use 'attempting-'swim-' / uiing; a. distance, by holding the b'roath ; any exercise ■hhdcr^sueh'conditions lis', ha'riiifui.' . "In order to learn ho*v to iiiako use of th« • : legs correctly,'the swimriier should taJio'hold ■ ' of tho rail of/'tho bath /mth oiie hand and place thfc'other about lSin. below it on tlt« wall, and press,the body upwards 'full-longtb on the surface of' the water, taking: care tc keep tho knees together arid the thighs ir line with tho body. Then; commence to niise ono\ foot out of tho water as far as. thf middle of the calf, and .. strike it down smartly on'to the surface. Immediately this foot lms struck tho water, the onposite log should-bo similarly raised, and aathouph at. , first these movements will ■ necesjarilv bu slowly performed,' they should-be continued until such as the swimmoi' can make regularly.'timed'kicks without .'having to s think of what hp is actually doing; The' kick < J«\uld to made Dart ' of nimsolf. and f-mm : '

k will,not>bo wasted m doing this,■•as once the rVv•;•'■:Y.kioL.is'learntji:and one gfets used'to keeping' h• .* *.|the thighs in lino with tho* body, tho ciiiof a , drfßculty of;the .stroke will , be' overcomo.' t'- ::- -.After tho leg-luck has been acquired,' the , .. . next thing is to get the arms -to ■ act■ : in' . proper timo with tho legs, and, to do this, fc : y commence by swimming what is known as' tho .'dog. stroke/ keeping the arms under the' v. . : water,; and moving them alternately by pull- • !# • ;m 5 with the left hand'when' tho right leg is » kicking down, and so on ■ ''Onceithe timing of tho istroko hnij heetf accomplished, tho liovico may-then 1 procaed' ! v :,. .Jo lift :his .arms abova the surfaco-' of- {ho i later as .previously described. v Of course i:: nuch practice wdl bemecessary,'for no swim-' lv.:ining stroko can bo learnt-m a-lesson, f.. :"I can;.woll remember-when Jarv-is,won. his lfrst; championship,, many .said it was ■■ owing l:v to an accident.; Owmg to theso remarks, hp: decided .to acquire the 'northern kick,' , and i 1 ■V' ho.has frequently- told me ..that for : sixmonths, hfc daily .hung on to ..tlio. side of ..tho bath to make himself efficient in the move;.. '. /i: jnent.l do not think it-.would take, six i months to iacquire tho crawl stroke, hut J ■j',j : ..:-v.r:.sin^ly','mention:.the'/factf- mi order that the | I - ;novico making tho first attempts may not.be-i c discouraged " ' iv - Mora- interest is . being-,, evinced .in polo >i!■■■■■.;:' latterly, ami nearly -every t ovenmg - ..at To Aro Baths -ii: scratch, gamo ,: may bo - wit-: ' ne?scd Play is, however, vet somewhat" k , . erudo on .tho part of. imost - rof: tho- p;rrtici" j ! pants , , , ) a;:-. ( Tho - dates .for 'tlwseqond round of.'tho' .water- polo fixtures havo been ;.drawn up by' fthe. Wellington Centre,' and ard as • under:—*.: /■ ' Wellington v.-Swifts, Te. Aro Baths, Fob: 17, 5 30 p m v }v t'Swifts V;'Thorndoh;' Tliorndon Baths,. Feb:' 18 '•S 30 p m Y-.M.C.A.-,v.; Wellington,.To ■•■ -Aro•'.•Baths;• j Feb 19, 530 p m ' ' ' i.HCA v Ihorndon, To Aro TSaths, March 3 530 pm '* ' "