SPARTAN MOTHER

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 110, 3 February 1931, Page 9

SPARTAN MOTHER

Maori Swimmer’s Courage

TEST OF ENDURANCE Destitute Family Saved SECOND PLACE SECURED By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. (Rec. February 2, 8 p.m.) Sydney, February 2. Miss Mercedes Gleitze (Mrs. P. Carey) won the Manly endurance swim, beating her Maori rival, Mrs, Nehua, by 23 minutes. The official times were : Mercedes Gleitze, 48hr. 15min. Katrina Nehua, 47hr. 52}min. Lily Coppiestone, 40hr. 7} min. Miss Gleitze, when Interviewed, said she could have gone on for a week, but the officials decided that no good purpose could be served, and beckoned her to cease.

When Mrs. Nehua, who is the mother of four children, one only nine weeks old, left the water "Miss Gleitze announced that in admiration of her plucky effort she would give the Maori £lOO of her prize if she won. Miss Lily Coppiestone gave up after 40hr. 7mln.

Mrs. Ashcroft, of Manly, retired after 17hr. 24min. Fervent scenes marked the end of the swim, and twice the police had to intervene to stop community singing. The baths lessee dived in and kissed the hand of the winner. Four other men lowered a blanket beneath Miss Gleitze and lifted her bodily from the water.

Mrs. Nehua, who ran Miss Gleitze so close, entered the contest in order to save her family from starvation. Her husband, a motor mechanic, had been out of work for nine months. It was decided as a last desperate throw that the baby should be weaned, and the mother should try for the rich endurance prize. Unable to buy special grease, the plucky wife entered the water coated with olive oil, glycerine, and black axle grease, and special .nourishment was provided for her by officials while she was competing. In addition to £lOO out of the prize money magnanimously offered to her by Miss Gleitze, Mrs. Nehua receives £lOO second prize money, and to-day all is changed in the Nehua family due to the mother’s grit. There are four children, and all reside in a small cottage at the seaside resort, Collaroy.

Miss Gleitze received a tremendous ovation, after which she took an ambulance to a leading city hotel and went to bed. Her prize is £5OO. ,

Nehua! The name is a North Auckland one, writes a contributor. It is such a well-known name that it goes back to the days of Governor Grey and Patuone, the Maori chief, whom Sir George Grey placed in Auckland to ward off the Waikato danger. Nehua is a descendant of that Patuone. Her uncle, Wire Nehua, toured England with the Maori footballers.