SWIMMING.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 140, 7 March 1908, Page 9

SWIMMING.

(By SriASH.)

COMING CARNIVALS. Mar. 14. —Wellington Centre, at Thorndon. Mar. 19 and 23— N.Z. .Championships, at • Napier. ; - ;

Tho Wellington Club's ;- thirteenth annual carnival held at To Aro' last - Saturday was outertaining without furnishing:' anything over which it is possible to' wax, enthusiastic. Tho opening races were no more than average,, and tho same level was maintained throughout. . . ' The 60 yards Novice "Handicap '/brought forth somo capable swimmers,, tho'final resulting in a win for A. B. Card, who scored rather easily. A .close".race' for •'second place saw R. A. Alpo gain the verdict by a touch.

The schoolboys failed to , respond when it camo to their handicap, the majority: of tho entrants preferring tho role of spectator. The raco resulted in a :win for J. Hopkirk with several yards to spare, : J. Dpvine and N. Watson finishing second and'third respectively after a good set to. , The four heats of the Bracelet were wellcohtestod. The last heat was exceptionally good. Frank Roberts was out, on his own for a good way, but was challenged by D. Jenkin in the last few yards, the result being a dead heat. , Roy Nolson was close; up third, and the others finished .in a..bunch. Tho final saw N. J. Gaudy get homo from R. A.. Alpo by about 3 feet after an interest-, ing race. Alps is a powerfully built and beautifully developed young fellow, who should bo heard of in the future. '' ' .

Once again R. Nelson and C. Moore fought out tho finish: for, tho neatest header competition. The. former was placed first; and Moore second. Both havo dived better. : ;

Tho 100 yards inter-club handicap fell to C. Ward after a well-contested. race'. Fred Roberts swam into second place,' but could not get on even terms with, his young rival, who ..had 12sec. start of him. Tho Clyde Quay combination;, had ; a runaway victory in tho 200, yard's schoolboys' relay championship. The result ; of the race was never m doubt. Clyde, Quay, have held tho Duthio Cup ever since it was donated, three years ago.

Twenty-tjvo entries were handed in for the life-saving race, but only ■ three competitors camo forward. - R. Nelson- dragged his "drowning-Iman" homo .first and tooki first prize. .. ..

Tho 200-, yards teams Tace' was won by Ronayne's team with ;Ranna. and Co. second. The first three men in Kelly's team inado the' race look a certainty for them, but tho fourth man was. not in: the .same,'fclaks ,as, the-'others, and; was overhauled as he. was; labouring on ■towards tho tape. . . \■ Charlie Hegglun, ,ono of the finest sports the Wellington Club has ever seen, took-part' in . tho teams race last Saturday and swam into second place. Earlier in- tho afternoon bo had rowed in the senior fouft'at i: tho rWellington , regatta at • Petone, .and,,helped-' to bring tho Blenheim boat'honio first. Immediately after tho raco ho.,' boarded tho train for Wellington so as to .'put in an appearance at his old swimming .Club's carnival.'!' ;Dick H6gglun was also one of, tho' successful Bicnheim senior'four.

Tho entries for. tho.various events;at tho Wellington carnival. totalled, about ,267, and tho non-starters .numbered 129. '; Tho '50 yards schoolboys handicap was • responsible for tho greatest number"- of' scratching?—no ; less than 40 of the entrants failing to too tho mark. : Thero wero ;22 entries for tho lifesaving'competition, but-only three-faced' the' ■starter. ; ' ' '' /-V : :

Tom Shields is deserving of every credit for his "whale" act a't ; the. Wellington: carnival.' .Tho idea' was.' an. original one, and tho success of tho,."turn" must, in.a.mear sure, havo repaid its originator for tbo time' and labour, he put in building, tho, whale. : - :. Tho' spoi't owes :a ; great deal to tho little band of: enthusists who; year- in and year out,, give up 'their time for, tho good ,'of swimming.. There aro probably no greater enthusiasts any wh6ro'than' A;A. Somerville, Gcorgo' Sadd,- W.'.-B. Smith,,'H. : AJvAnder-! son,' "Jock"; Fleming,' and. T. Shields. '.. A. St. Clair is another true worker, and G. S.. Hill is always to. tho foro. where his ; Club or tho Wellington/Centre'. are. -.'.concerned,:. . It. recalled old times to see''George at tho baths again on Saturday, .and 'a carnival would hardly be complete without D.' Joslin. Practically everyone'of tho foregoing havo dropped off tho .starting board at some time or other, and most,of'them havo been good performers, but their work, now is purely a labour of loro to push swimming along. ; There .are many, disappointments and few' victories f6r; .tho workers, but; tho enthusiasm ilever appears'" to. wane and tho result is a slow but surg,,advance.; , 1 i ■ • By- winning the' '250 -yards handicap at. Thorndon Baths oil Wednesday evening, A. W. Smith, an old and vajiied member of the Tliorndon Club, clearly demonstrated that lie is still a force.to.be reckoned with" in "swimming. Ho led the field 'for, the. wholo distance; swimming An easy steady- stroke throughout. The win was very popular, and the victor received something .of an ovation at tho conclusion of the race. ■ Fred Roberts, on scratch, swam a' good race, -finishing, fourth. R. Ronayne, also swimming'' from scratch, put in some good work, as did C.. A.; Macdonald, swimming jfi:om- the same mark. I understand that ; Roberts " and .-Ronayne are to make an 'effort; to : bcat. the .standard time , for the ; 220 yards' (2-miii. ,50sec.), and' on- their present form both .swiritmers should; be able to gain the cap and : badge. ' ' ' . . . . - ...

C. Aston is still in winning form— He won tho Swifts 50 yards on Monday in ■ the fair time of 37 4-sse<s. His previous best performance in public for the distance was 40sec., although he is .reported to have covered the distance in ,a private swim in the excellent time of 34sec. Aston.has shown great improvement during-the season, and .deserves his' wins, for the hard work he-is doing iii the-matter of training.; • . - < : Dr. Chappie,' president of the Wellington Club, is still a great enthusiast and advocate of swimming.. Dr. Chappie'sdaughters nro excellent performers in the : water, ' and on Tuesday evening Miss; Nestle Chappie, with ■one sccond from_ her sister,' Miss I. Cliapplo, won the Swifts' 30 yards ladies' handi: cap in the good time of 18see. Miss; 0. Smith was second,, and, Miss; E. > Chapplo third, with Miss I. : Chappie- close up for fourth.- AH the swimmers used tho trudgeon stroke. It is hoped that' many, more ladies will come forward to'takepart in these races as'the branch gets older.,

The second distance of 100 yards for the cup given to. the Wellington. Club by its president, Dr. Chappie, was swum at Te Aro baths 011.-, Thursday, and despite the unfavourable weather 19 swimmers competed. A. Wine swam very well, and well deserved his win. C. Ward, who camo second, is a hard worker in tho matter of training,' and swam into second place close lip to Wine. H. Jonkinson, a promising swimmer just emerging from the schoolboy division, was third. 13. o'Neil and A. W. Croll gave up Rt tho 50 yards mark,'which is somewhat surprising,, as O'Neil especially has been in the habit of training over much longer distances than 100' yards. It would have "been-advisable for them to have finished, as from their performances they should not have: been very far out of the running. P. J.. Kivell and A. B. Card, who aro both nen* qu the starting board, swam well, but were hardly capable of sustained effort for the . distance. More, however, should be heard of these swimmers in the future. L. Bridge swam up to his usual good form, but was asked to

concede too much by the handicapper. Both tho heats and the final were well contested, and the swimmers were well bunched at the finishes. , In spite of tho extension of tho time for closing entries;.for the championship meeting; very few swimmers are able to make the trip (says tho "Press"). A. Russell, of tho Sydenham Club, will compete in the 50 yards and 100 yards handicaps, and also in the 220 yards breast-stroke championship. G. L. Bull (Richmond) competes in the 50 yards and 100 yards handicaps, also tho 440 yards and 880 yards New Zealand championships; P: Schwartz (Addington) in the 50 yards, 100 yards, and 150 yards. handicaps; F. E. Dodge (East.Christchurch) in the 100 yards, 220 yards, and *440 yards * championships; and H. Rich in tho 440 yards, 880 yards, and ono milo championships, • An effort will be made to have a representative polo team from Canterbury for the championship' banner at /Wellington on March 14 (says the Christehurch "Press). '