Swimming.

Evening Post, Volume LXVI, Issue 152, 24 December 1903, Page 14

Swimming.

[Bt Side-stroke.] ' Tho officers of the Swifts Club have every reason to bo satisfied with tho success attending their carnival last Saturday. There was not a hitch in tho arrangements, and tho racing was of a high order. The club's handicappor, Mr. J. Evans, carried out his work well, and every event resulted in a oloso fin- !• « G V en fcho full takings at tho gate the Swifts should make a small profit out of tho gathering, which will bo quite a, novel experience for thorn. It is to bo regretted that soino deflnito decision wao not given nt tho finish of the 100 yds Inter-Club Handicap. There was little or nothing separating Canty and Gill, who, in tho writer's opinion, swum a dead heat. Howover, nothing was ugrml on until some time after 'the event was got off, it being at length, decided to swim tho i-flco off at a date to bt> arranged. This was probably one of the best ways out of the difficulty, but a straight-out decision would have been moro mlisfactory to' the two men coucerned mid to tho spectators. A notkwiblo feature in connection with Saturday's gala was tho number of new swimmers competing in tho varloun evenLs. The SwiHa ahwiya manure to get a good deal of new b.ood, und men who never turn out at any of thootuet carnivuls "wmo to hsrht" for this fixture. Sonic inconvenience \vn« caused at lns>t week's aporta through two or tlnee of tho oflicials not turning up. This shows ft lack of coiirjderatiou on the part of .the absentees- to say the least of it.

and it would only bo an act of courtesy for an ollicinl to lei the club know in good time when ho findH ho will bo unable to attend. H.'Freyberg, la.st year's schoolboy champion, added another win to hia already lengthy lifit. by annexing the 150 yd« Club Handicap. The l:ul only hud ssec oil' tho scratch man, and ho swam v. line race. Roberts, on tho scratch mark, also swam well. lie looked to be hundusapM out of tho race at tho start, but he made up his ground in fine stylo, and' finished v good third. In the Bracelet, T. Hamer swam nn though he had some defined use for tho trinket, and had set his mind on winning it. He got it aftor an exciting race. F. Williams, with a liberal ban. dicap, ledl for the greater part of the journey, nnd looked liko winning up to the last three or four yards when he died away mysteriously. H. Preston, the winner of tho ibydn ,Da«h Handicap, is a much improved swimmer this season. Tfio wrm ho sliowed on Saturday was above any of his performances last year. Tho regularity with which Mr: X JFleming attends at the Swifts' sporte, and the enthusiasm with which toe carries out the duties of atarter, cannot be too highly commended. Mr. A. W. bmith, is another regular worker at the clubs carnivals, although he is primarily a member of another club. A writer in an English paper gives the following simple but what he states to be woll-tried directions to new swimmers in case of falling into deep water— "If a man or boy, thrust your hands rosolutelj into your trousers pockets and keep them there; turn your noso up to the skies. If a woman or girl, clutch your dress about your thighs and hold it there, also looking upwards; and you will float in safety, like a corked empty bottle." _____