AT THE CARNIVAL

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 79, 30 September 1924, Page 5

AT THE CARNIVAL

WELLINGTON AUDIENCE DELIGHTED. ■ 'The Tepid Baths were crowded last evening to .see- the team that had represented Australia, and New Zealand at the Olympic Games, and the acconiJnodation was quite insufficient to hokl the Crowd, which included a party from Government House. The visitors were accorded a great reception as they entered the baths, the party including Gharlton, Henry, Christie, and Eve, of Australia, Miss Shand and Purdy, of New Zealand. After several weeks, during which tthey_ have had littde opportunity of keeping fit, the swimmers were not. in their best form, though in" the competitive events they easily left the best that Wellington could turn out. The great attraction of the evening was Charlton. Charlton was so much out of form that it was considered inadvisable for him to compete in the 440 yards invit«ion, bo he swam -four lengths in • demonstration, while the swimmers were greatly interested in his style. There is nothing particularly attractive about it, except the ease of the long strokes— typically a long-distance style. The left arm is. pulled right back to the left leg, where . there is a distinct pause. The lef t_ shoulder is raised in the overarm action considerably more than the right, which takes a deeper sweep through the water, and' finishes shorter. Both the hands are slightly cupped, and it was noticeable that the moment they entered the water they were pulling. The hands did not enter the water flat, but thumb-side first. There is a regular slow beat with the feet. The exhibition was a most instructive one. Henry and Christie, of Australia, swam in a hundred yards invitation race with M'Hardy, of Maranui. Henry is one of those swimmers who rolls a lot in slow swimming, and in a dash liiU his shoulders from the water and makes a great pace. Christie has the more even style, and changes little in slow and fast swimming, his motion being .a pattern of ease and regularity. Both used the crawl beat with the feet. Stoadman (Australia) swam .220 yards breaststroke with Evatt, easily showing the ]ocal boy the way. His was the perfect stroke, and the feature was the turn. He gained a second, at every end, a kick at tho moment of coming up maintaining his momentum ojj each occasion.

Miss Shand swam 100 yards by herself in exhibition. The most delightful event of the evening was a demonstration of diving by Eve, world's champion. The board at the Tepid Baths was too low for his work, but he gave what would be considered locally an absolutely finished display, mixing plain diving with fancy stunts. The manager of the team (Mr. 0. G. H. Merrett) stated afterwards that his display was fairly "rough" compared with what he did in winning the championship, so That these who saw him can judge just what a wonderful diver he is. Eve remarked that the Wellington divers were working on absolutely wrong principles, being arched in the flight instead of having, the perfect curve necessary from the hands under the body and up to the pointed toes. Eve showed in his exhibition the ease of a perfect take-off, a flick in his flight, and he was stretched out to enter the water with a slidu that finished in a perfect recovery. Christie swam 400 yards with C. Claridge, (Olympia), and had no difficulty in winning after a fine display. The various events resulted: —

33 1-3 Yards Handicap.—Finalists from six heats: Darling (3sec), U. Shannon (2sec), R. Wheeler (lsec), E. Patterson (scr), G. Leask (2sec), W. Cameron (2sec). Final: Cameron, 1; Darling 2. Time 17 2-ssec. Wheeler, who won, was disqualified for crossing. 100 Yards Invitation.—Henry, 1; Christie, 2; M'Hardy, 3. . Diving.-—Patterson, 1; E. Pocock, 2; M. Griffin. 3. 220 Yards Breaststroke Invitation.— Steadman, 1; Evatt, 2. ' Balloon Race.—L. Turner. 1; L Salek, 2. 66 2-3 Yards Handicap.—Finalists: W. Cameron (4sec), J. Cameron (sex), L. Jones (4sec). Final: ,W. Cameron, 1;! J. Cameron, 2; Jones, 3, Time, 44 3-ssec. 400 Yards Invitation.—Christie, 1; C. Claridge, 2. 33 1-3 Yards Ladieg.—Miss L. Coppleton (lsec), 1; Miss A. Imandt (2sec), 2. Ribbon Dive.—R. Eve., . _ Relay Race.—Australia (Henry, Christie, Eve), 1; Maranui (Eversleigh, Adams, M'Hardy, Fletcher), 2. The visitors were accorded a hearty demonstration of appreciation. The carnival was run by the Wellington Centre, and was to assist the funds to help Mr. J. W. Butler, severely injured some months ago in a motor accident.