SWIMMING

Evening Post, Volume CIII, Issue 53, 4 March 1922, Page 16

SWIMMING

THE KELLERMAN CUP

AND MATTERS OF INTEREST ,

(By "Header.")

The initial contest for the Annette Kellerman Cup and the first kmg-dietance event of its kind to be held in the Dominion, which was swum during championship week, was a, huge success, and the officials controlling the event must have been, more than gratified with the results of their efforts and of the great interest shown by 'the public. Prior to the event, several doubts existed as to the wisdom of holding such a. long race, especially from the viewpoint of the fair sex, ljut these have been dispelled, and it seems assured that this race is destined to become one of the most popular events in. swimming throughout the Dominion. Of the 24 starters,- 10 completed the course, including two ladies, one of whom i (Miss G. Nuttall) was the winner. It is doubtful if there were many of the large crowd of spectators present who expected any of the lady, competitors to finish the course, and many competent judges were of the same opinion, but the close, friends of Miss Nuttail were very confident, and, barring accidents, would not hear of her defeat. She. had been doing some good training for. the event, and it was this factor that.J contributed largely to her very meritorious win. The other young lady who .finished the course (Mies P. Giblin) siwam into fourth place, and here, too, was a. splendid .effort, especially remembering that she had not trained for the race. She suffered somewhat from having_ steered a' slightly zig-zag course, otherwise' she might have got third place, but most of the competitors suffered in a similar manner. The honours of the race were with Peter Hill, the scratch man, who put up a remarkably fine performttnoe in getting third plaoe and gaining fastest time, averaging 30 minutes to the mile, in> dead water. He is undeniably the best distance swimmer, in New Zealand at the present time v ' ' The second place-getter, J. Enwright, surprised even his most ardent supporters by hie effort, which was a really good one, and a oon : siderable improvement on anything he has yet achieved beyond a middle-distance. His chief mentor, "Scotty." Davidson, never allowed him to cover a yard more than was necessary. The veteran, iJert 'Rish, who was one of those to,complete the course, io something of a marvel in tho w&y ho retains his form. When it is considered that he was competing at "New Zealand championships before many of his. opponents in this race were born, his performance is something to wonder at, and he wa6 one of tho back markers, too! Mu-rrell, Morpeth, and Winstanley finished close together. They swam weli. The last-named suffered from cramp for the last mile, but gamely battled it out. Atkinson, the last to finish, was not disgraced, and it. was a good effort for a practically novioe .distance 6winimer. Ho steered a. very good course. The day was beautifully fiijp, and conditions were ideal, which materially assisted in-mak-ing the first Kellerman Cup. race a> very pleasant and memorable "one. „.', ■ LIFE-SAVING. . Tho serious side' of swimming—life-sav-ing—came in for its share of public api preciation on the Thursday of championship week, when teams representative of all the leading surf,life-saving clubs of the Dominion, competed for the Nelson Shield at Lyall. Bay. This contest, which is the. premier event of He class, was .easily the most spectacular yet held, and the 1 large crowd present were keenly interested and agreeably surprised; at. the , high standard displayed by the various teams, who, when they were formed up; for the Governor- 1 General's address, made a very imposing sight, both in general appearance and physique. The winning team, New Brighton B, gained their victory by highclass water work, for which they scored heavily in points, and balanced up on a moderate display of land drill. Canterbury, who were second, performed consistently, while not at any time brilliant in their work, being more on.the .careful side, they made very' few mistakes.' A little more snap in their movements would have been an improvement. Maranui A and Lyall Bay, third and fourth respectively, were the, two best trained teams in ,the competition, and it was unfortunate for them that different phasos of' their work on which they had spent much time, and which greatly improved then displays, were of no value insofar as points were concerned. This was no fault of the judges (who had a very strenuous task), but it is apparent that a little more uniformity in the system of ' judging is , required, as, also is a more up-to-date interpretation of the • various conditions governing the contest. These matters, it is understood," are receiving attention from the controlling body, and will no doubt ba remedied before the -next competition takes place. INTER-PROVINCIAL RIVALRY. An effort is being made to revive the annual inter-provincial contest for the Nordern Shield, between Canterbury and Wellington, and ,the. local selectors have been asked to select a team to visit Christchurch at Easter time. The shield has not been competed for. since prior to the war, and the endeavour to revive the contest, again is a commendable one. Each team. is composed of seven men, and the tests are water polo, flying squadron, 500 yards (teams of 5), and diving, (3 men each), whereby it will be seen, that the allround swimmer is encouraged, as well as the specialist in one particular branch. If the best of the local men'are; available, they should be able to wrest the shield from Canterbury, the present holders. / - . WATER-POLO. Eleven years ago, when the championship^ were held in Wellington, the final of the water-polo was fought out between the representatives of this centre and Canterbury, and it was the brilliant defensive work of Rich that enabled the latter team to win. This year,; when the championships were again held here, the same two provinces fought out the final, the same flayer's defensive work was also tlie means of Canterbury's win—surely a record to beVproud of, and a very unique coincidence. ; ■-"■-. ■ , ■;

The people of Otaki are endeavouring to form a life-saving club,, and at the same time popularise their beach; With, this end in view they have donated some very fine trophies for' the different branches of life-savinc,' and these will bo competed for on Saturday afternoon next on the Otaki beach. Trophies are also being given for surf races, novelty events, etc., so that ■ a very entertaining afternoon's sport should eventuate. The Lyall Bay' and Maranui Clubs are sending up teams, and all those who make the trip are assured of a pleasant outing. Intending visitors should leave by early morning trains.