AUSTRALIAN SURFERS

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 113, 6 February 1937, Page 11

AUSTRALIAN SURFERS

Outstanding Performers GOVERNMENT RECEPTION Members of the first Australian surf life-saving team to visit New Zealand arrived at Wellington from Auckland yesterday. They were welcomed bj members of the New Zealand “tut Life-Saving Association and the Wellington Surf Life-Saving Association and were given a reception at Parliament Buildings in the name of the people of New Zealand. They will travel to Napier and Hastings to take part in carnivals and beach displays, and, returning to Wellington, will take part in the New Zealand surf litesaving championships at Lyall Bay.on February 13 and 14. They will visit Wanganui and Taranaki before concluding the tour at Auckland. The team consists of eight men—J. King (captain), A. Hart, A. Hodgson, J. Miller, H. Scott, W. Scott, K. Foster, and A. Carrier. All have won either district or club championships, and W. Scott was so successful as to be the open surf champion in 1935. The manager is Mr. J. C.ameron, chief superintendent, examiner, and instructor of the Surf Life-Saving Association of Australia. Accompanying the eight members of the team are two official visitors and a photographer, Messrs. H. M. Meyn, C. W. Schartl, and J. Sherlock. The equipment carried includes a surf reel of the latest pattern and a number of surf planes. No skis have been brought, although all the team are experts in their use. In the words of the captain, the visitors have come in search of some keen competition, and expect to get it. They are confident that the surf men they meet will have to produce their best to outstrip the beltmen they have brought with them. The chief beltmen will not be picked until the team has compared local conditions with those in which they train at home; more than half the members are outstanding performers in the harness. The primary object of the team will be to give Dominion surf clubs a helping hand, and to show them the latest methods employed on the other side of the Tasman. Government Welcome, Many Wellington surf life-savers attended the reception at Parliament Buildings. Several members of Cabinet were also present. The Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage welcomed the Australians on behalf of the Government. He classed life-saving as not only a fine sport but also as a great service. He did not know of a better service than that of young men, mostly working men, giving up their time to save life on the beaches. Life-saving was an undertaking which deserved appreciation from the public and every possible assistance that could be given by a Government. Mr. J. R. Cameron, manager of the team, said he considered life-saving to be one of the greatest humanitarian services in the world. It was an ideal sport, for the pleasures of the sand, the surf, and the sun could be enjoyed by both young and old, and was a service to the community, for bathers were protected from the risks of the surf.

In 1900 a ban was placed on surfing in Australia. The ban was broken by a few, and ultimately lifted, and now surfing was the most popular sport in Australia, with 30.000 to 40,000 on the beaches on a fine Sunday. Over 33,000 lives had been saved by the life-savers of Australia. Last year alone 3005 persons were rescued from the surf. People had now become so used to the presence and service of the life-savers that they ventured into the surf whatever the conditions.

The Australian team was the first, though he hoped the first of many, to visit New Zealand. The members hoped both to teach and to learn. If they could do anything to assist the sport in New Zealand they would be more than pleased. Mr. J. King, the captain, said the team had already made many friends in New Zealand, and took it as a high compliment to be welcomed by the Government.

Mr. P. Coira, president of the New Zealand Surf Life-Saving Association, welcomed the team, saying its tour was a red-letter day in the history of surf-life-saving in New Zealand and Australia. He acknowledged the assistance the sport had received from the Government in New Zealand, and commented on the personal interest of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Internal Affairs, Hon. W. E. Parry. He was confident the surf life-saving enthusiasts of New Zealand would be able to show that the assistance given by the Government and the public had not been misplaced. They looked to the day when surfing would be as popular and as well organised as in Australia. The visitors were taken for a drive yesterday afternoon and had dinner last night with members of the New Zealand Surf Life-Saving Association.