COOK STRAIT SWIM

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 10, 12 January 1929, Page 10

COOK STRAIT SWIM

MERCEDES GLEITZE

ARRIVING ON MONDAY

PAST PEEEOKMANCES

Two attempts arc to be made to swim Cook Strait within the next few weeks. Miss Lily Copplestonc, of Ashburton, will be the first to essay the task, starting next Saturday from Cape Koamaru in the South Island and attempting to end her journey somewhore in the vicinity of Capo Ohau, in the North Island. Good' swimmer as Miss Copplestone is, she will find her greatest difficulty that of overcoming the very cold water, which defeated Webster's attempt last February. .But he had been used to swimming in the warmer waters of the Auckland province, and . the cold was too much for him. On the other hand this trouble may not hinder Miss Copplestone's success, as women are notably better able to withstand colder temperatures than men. Miss Copplcstone, however, is not the only "Richmond" in the field, for an English girl, Miss Mercedes Gleitze, of proved swimming ability, also intends to try and swim the distance between tho two islands, and will arrive at Wei-' lington on Monday by the C'orinthic for tho purpose. ,

Miss Gleitze has come' into world prominence because of her pluck and endurance, as a long-distance swimmer. Just prior to leaving England on 7th December on the Corinthie, she stated to a newspaper representative that she was tired of. bathing in cold water, and that she longed to try "tho warmer conditions of New Zealand's sea." In this she will probably be disappointed, as the "waters of Cook Strait are wellknown to be very; cold, and just as the English seas are open to the icy waters of the North Polar regions, so are New Zealand's sea areas similarly open to the. South Pole. ;. . In the summer of 1922 Miss Mercedes Gleitze made her' first attempt to conquer tho English Channel, and she tried on eight occasions before she attained her ambition. She claimed to have succeeded on 7th October, 1928, but as the swim was not officially attested, and some doubt was cast on her Channel performance by Dr. Dorothy Logan's confession as to her own Channel swim hoax, Miss Gleitze made another, trial in icy water on 22nd October. The accompanying boat was manned by pressmen and official witnesses. After swimming for over ten hours she. was taken out of the water exhausted when a little' over five miles from.Dover.,

REWARD OF PERSEVERANCE. Miss Gleitze then proceeded to Gibraltar, with the intention, of swimming the straits, a feat never before -accomplished. She had a competitor in the person of Miss Millie Hudson, another typist, and the two swimmers left England in "the same steamer. Miss Hudson, however, failed to achieve the feat, and returned home. • ... . , Miss Gleitze 'a first, effort was made from Tangier on 16th December, 1927, but she. gave .up when half-way across. On 2nd January, 1928, she got to within a mile of Tarifa, but was overcome by the cold. On 25th January she was nearly- drowned on her third attempt, being caught in a whirlpool. Other unsuccessful attempts were made on 12th March.and on 3rd. April, the.latter.-left. fort being from •Tarifa; she gave -i up when about a mile from the Moorish coast. I"'''.," ■'" .','..'■".■'■■'" "■ "■• . But victory.'came'on Oth April. She started from Tarifa, the most southerly point of Spain, and arrived at Punta Leona, on the coast of Morocco, after swimming for 12 hours 50 minutes. "I enter, d the water at 7.55 a.m. on the morning of. sth. April," she said, after she landed. "After fifteen rnin-, utes I,almost decided to return owing to the rough sea and unfavourable tide. I swam on, however, and, the tide becoming gradually more favourable, I began to -make good progress. The water continued rough. During the last four and. a half hours of the swim it was raining,all the!time; i HOST OF WITNESSES. "Two fishing smacks carried about sixty Spanish witnesses. Feeling very fit, I swam steadily, being carried up and down the'straits until I landed at a deserted spot on the Moroccan coast after a 12£ hours', swim. In the middle of the straits it was very rough owing to a freshening wind, but I struggled through, using the breast stroke. I was .ravenously hungry the whole, of >the. time. ■ "There is no.doubt'about the authenticity of my swim. Sixty or seventy people would not lie about it. None but the ■ malicious-minded can question . it. A fulled affidavit, signed by a large number of witnesses who aro being sworn, will be forwarded to me. These signatures will include Dr. Benigio 3ilspinosa, my medical attendant, Professor Mora Roja, and eight others who were in the rowing boat. There was no Englishman aboard except Mr. Henry Solis, who is the son of a retired Britisher."

Armed with a jagged fragment of, rock from. Morocco and a handful of Moroccan sand, Miss Gleitze returned to Tarifa by boat. She was greeted with the strains of "God Save the King" from a band and by cheering crowds. Apparently the actual distance swum was 24 miles, although by direct line it is only nine miles. During this summer Miss Gleitze was at Blackpool taking part in swimming carnivals, and then she went to Ireland, hoping to conquer the Irish Channel. But after four attempts she decided to give up because of the intensely cold water. "I just long to feel some warmer water,in New Zealand," she said, "far removed from ice floes from the North Pole." Miss Gleitze was asked how wido Cook Straits might be, "Ninety, miles the widest part," said the dauntless swimmer, "but I would cross at the narrowest, where it is sixteen." Whereupon Miss MGleitz smiled with that wistful bewilderment which is said to have had a remarkablo effect upon the grandees of Tangiers. Miss Gleitze says,that she lias heard so much about the Afaoris that she longs to see them, ana what she has heard of the Dominion inspires her with enthusiasm. She was born at Brighton, in tho south of 'England; and learned to s^im there before she was ten years old. She was educated at the East Hoe Higher Grade School and •■went to London eight years ago, \vhero she follows the calling of a typist. '. She has never, been keen to: attempt swimming speed records, her interest being in long-distance events. If successful"' in crossing Cook Strait she intends to return to England, and will then make a further attempt to swim the Irish Channel, which has so far defeated her.