N.Z. CHAMPIONSHIPS

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 24, 29 January 1924, Page 10

N.Z. CHAMPIONSHIPS

GREAT FINAL IN 220 YARDS

BACKSTROKE RECORD BROKEN.

(BI TELSORAPH.—BPKOIAL TO TH» POST.} ■ WANGANUI, 28th January. The national championships were advanced a further stage this evening, under good swimming conditions. The racing was of.a good class, and there -were several/close and. exciting finishes.. The surprise of the night was the defeat of Miss Piri Page in the intermediate girls' championship. The winner,' Miss Jepson, swam brilliantly. Several Standards "were- broken during the evening,! and Moorhouse's time for the backstroke was a record, Batchelor's previous record being lowered by two seconds. i The senior' 220 yards' heats were con- ! tested- in the morning,- but the Wellington representatives did not show up favourably. In the first heat Atkinson immediately took the lead, and going well within himself maintained it to the finish, " having two yards'to spare from Bradley,. who overtook .Fairgay in the sixth lap and beat him by a similar distance.. Patterson ' did not start. -Tii« second. heat was a tussle between' Cunnold, Batchelor, and Claridge, and there was not much between them over the first hundred yards, .but from there on Batchelor got to the front, followed by Cunnold ; and „ Claridgq. With fifty yards 'to go, Batchelor ;had drawn further in front, while Claridge had dropped -slightly behind Cunnold, and although Claridge was doing, his best, he could not make any impression on the other two, and thus did not qualify, for the final. Murrell was expected to ■ get a place in the finals,/ but he could' only get a poor third to Enwright and Smith. Smith immediately went to the front, and stayed there all the way. Enwright and Murrell were together for a hundred yards, but frail there on Enwright drew away, and went after Smith; but although he gained considerably it was obvious that only.second place was his aimy- ; The final was a brilliant race, and one of tlie finest races ever witnessed over this distance. All got away" to an even start;1, and .over the first lap the competitors were' all together; but at fifty yards Smith was a foot in front of Enwright and Batchelor, who turned together v When the hundred mark was reached, Smith had a lead of a yard from Batchelor. and Enwright, and a similar distance separated them from Atkinson. This portion of the race had taken 65 4-ssec—an indication that the pace was on; and excitement began to rise. At 160 yarde Smith was still in front, but Batchelor was gaining on him ; and was slightly in front of Enwright and Atkinson. The spectators were now on their feet, and supporters were wildly urging on ; their respective champions. As they raced over the next two laps it was seen that it would be a desperate finish. At the final turn Batchelor was slightly in front of Smith and Enwright, with Atkinson coming strongly. The race to the post was a .slashing go, and although Enwright and' Smith and Atkinson made desperate efforts to catch Batchelor, the title: holder maintained his lead and won by a touch from Enwright. Smith, a touch away, was third, and was only sjs inches in front of Atkinson. The intermediate boys' half-mile gave Lindsay an easy -win,/and although the field were together for the first hundred, from there on he went to the front, and^ finally won by fifty yards. Stokes was catching Barber towards the finish, but over the final sprint Barber went best, and. He was'ten yards to the good for second place. Watson, the Wellington boy, could not go the pace 'in the early part, and retired after the quarter-mile. Miss Breen swam well in the girls' breaststroke, and was slightly in the lead at the first turn, but Miss Anderson finished strongly and won by a foot '^ In the^" senior ladies' breaststroke, Miss Imandt took the lead and turned first at the fifty yards, but when half-way was reached, Miss Friedrnan had caught her, and after that Miss Friedman forged ahead. Miss Potaka came at Miss Imandt, but the Wellington girl got second place by three yards. Fitch started in the boys' breaststroke, but as he had not previously swum this style, he was not expected^ to gain a place. He did well to get close up fourth. The heatg of the ladies' intermediate gave evidence of a close final, and it .proved a'fine race. Miss Jepson was in front at the first turnjjrom Miss Bell and Miss Page, with the others all close up. In the first^ fifty yards the leader gained slightly, while Miss Bell and Miss Page turned together. Racing to the' finish Miss Jepson swam splendid- : ly, fand still further' increased her lead, and ahe won by one and a half yards. Miss Bell and Miss Page touched practically together,- just in' front of Miss Farquhar and Miss Mather. The backstroke, heats were contested in the morning, and the final at night. Atkinsprt was first to turn at the end of the firs,t lap, but on the next stretch Batchelor went to the front, only to be displaced by Moorhouse, who from then on clapped on. the pace. Meanwhile Fairgay had made a*forward move, while Atkinson was dropping slightly back. Swimming with a graceful stroke, Moorhouse went on to win comfortably by four yards, in record time. Fairgay beat Batchelor by a touch. • Auckland played a good combined game in the water polo, and led at half-time by 5 goals to 2. Enwright and Smith worked well together, with tricky play. The second spell was not so strenuous ag the first, and owing to a Wanganui player developing cramp, the northerners had an easy task and added five more goals. The winners should beat both Canterbury and Wellington. There was a slight demonstration against C. Atkinson as referee, but it was uncalled for, as he gave a fine exhibition.