BORG'S GREAT FORM

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 25, 30 January 1929, Page 12

BORG'S GREAT FORM

HIS STYLE AND METHOD

NEW ZEALAND TALENT

i (Specially Written for "The Post.") Those fortunate enough to bo present at the New South Wales swimming championships, held at Sydney from the 12th to the 19th January, were ainazod at the performances of the lean Swedish marvel, Arne Borg, acclaimed throughout the world as the greatest swimi mer ever known. Wellington is to ' have a, visit from Borg early in March. In build Amc Borg, who, by the way, has had his estwhile irregular teeth straightened to real symmetry, does not suggest tho super athlete, as he possesses almost thin round shoulders and long thin arms and legs. His lower chest is well developed, and discloses where ho gains his marvellous stamina. He is very ungainly in his walk, but is very active and alert, and has the crowd on the "gui vive," as he is most unconventional and does anything 1 that comes into his head. He is a great showman. METHOD TRAINING. To the average "fan" Borg's method of getting into racing condition' must come as something of a shock. His cardinal rule is not to let training become an irksome and monotonous grind To develop heaps of wind) Borg be- j lieves in long runs, followed'by a hot bath and massage to loosen the muscles. When training for 440 yards, Borg swims a hard 500 yards every other I day, and if he becomes tired in the race he says to himself: "I can't be tired, i as I have been swimming 500; I must have something left." Borg's chief training must surprise many—water polo! * Ho is a real enthusiast at the game, and plays about three hours a week at least. He considers this form of training invaluable. To gain a, longer arm action (on tho advice of Backrach, the famous coach of Weissmuller), Borg constantly practised befor a mirror for two years. Likewise to get a good "pigeon-toed" ]eg drive, I he exercised continually by placing his ' feet, turned inwards and insteps downWards on a towel, resting his hands ' oa a chair and raising his body up and j down. Borg holds the opinion that J whatever suits ono swimmer for training does not necessarily suit all, and ! as ho gets such phenomenal results by his own methods he naturally looks to 1 no other. HIS RACING STROKE. To the ardent student of scientific racing strokes, Borg's action confounds all the alleged principles of perfect, style. His arm stroke is very fast and short, and apparently he does not relax much.. Of course this can-' not be the cas.e, as he could never cover distances as he does. He places both arms directly in front of each ear, and with a very high elbow arch. On striking at the catch, which is made about 18 inches out from his head, the arms continue forward under the water for, about six more inches before sweeping straight back towards the hip. Ho doos.not pull/right back past the hip, however, but the elbow breaks tho surface first, about the middle of his body, and tho forearm whips around in a small somi-circlo and the arms move forward to tho next catch, which is mado with tho elbow noticeably higher than the hand. His pull is very vigorous, and his shoulders add great power | to the arms, for he utilises his shoulders without rolling a great deal. His head barely turu3 to breathe, only sufficiently for his nose and check to j create a littlo wave which leaves a small air space for a fraction of a second. Tho head alone turns, and no body movement, is noticed. He turns just after his underarm (that is, the arm on the side from which lie turns to breathe) has made the catch, and he brings his head back with the recovery of the top arm and keeps it perfectly square to the front till the next breath.

Borg's leg stroke is unique, It consists of four beats to, a cycle of both arms. A major or big scissor kick occurs with the left leg at the catch of the right arm, and another big scissor at the catch of the left arm with the right leg. Between the two kicks Borg puts in two small minor | "flutters" and then trails his legs straight out without any motion whati over. He also breaks the surface with his feet, and one can only wonder whatever ho does correctly with his legs. His turning and starting are per excellence, and his judgment superb. IN GREAT FORM. Probably the best performances in his life have been put up on this present tour. On tho night carnival, when hampered by x>oor lights, and with a stiff southerly wind blowing down the course, ho covered 220 yards in 2min 18 l-ssec. He lost a second at least by a yard and a halt' glide to tho turning board, as he could not see the board very well ■owing to the salty water smarting his eyes, and to the poor light. Over tho long 110 yard Japs his swim was an epic, and ho covered the first 100 metres in 62 l-ssee, which is 4-ssee better than Grier's best I by an Australian for the distance. That time would mean 56sec for 100 yards, rind to give a comparison, the New Zealand record for tins distance is 57 2-, risec.

On the Saturday afternoon he was in even better form, by breaking his own world's record for 880 yards. It will probably be 1 a decade before such swimming will again be seen here. Ho

swam tho first 50 yards in 23 3-ssec, equalling Alick Wickham's New South Wales sprint record, 110 yards in 64sec (equaly to 57sec for 100 yards), 220 yards in 2min 22 l-ssec, 440 yards in smin 1 l-ssee (approximately the time the Olympic 400 metres was won. in by Zorilla), and the full distance in lOmin 27sec. SUPERHUMAN EFPORT. To crown his great performances Borg attacked the world's mile record at the Manly baths at a night carnival. Never will Australians forget that almost superhuman effort, when he clipped 34 5-10 sec off his own record. Unpaced, and hampered by poor light, he at once jumped into top speed by covering 110 yards in 6G 3-ssee (equal to about 59see for 100 yards), and 220 yards in 2inin 24 2-ssec (which is 1 3-ssec slower than Charlton's best by an Australian for a furlong). The 440 yards was passed in smin 4 3-ssec, and the 880 yards in new world's record time of lOmin 26Jsec. At 1100 yards 19feet in excess of 1000 metres, Borg's time was 13mia ssec, which easily beats his own world record of 13min 4 l-ssec. At 1320 yards ho chopped no less than 53 l-ssec offl his own Australian record. . At 1650 yards he was clocked at 19inin 48sec, which bettered his time in winning the 1500 metres Olympic title (in which ho defeated "Boy" Charlton) by 3 4-ssec, despite the fact that the distance was over 9J yards in excess of 1500 metres. The" full mile was covered in the almost incredible time of 21min 6 4-ssec. To gain some idea of his average pace, which actually gets faster in various laps, take his successive 220 yards time— 2min 24 4-ssec, 2min 39 4-ssec, 2min 42sec, 2min 39 7-10 sec, 2min '39sec, 2min 38 l-ssoc, 2min 42 l-ssec, 2min 40 4-ssec, Within ten minutes of this epochmaking feat Borg was back in. the water and gave the cleverest exhibition of comic swimming and water polo ball manipulation ever given in Australia. Before his mile Borg swam 110 yards on the breast'roke, and crawl, to loosen up, and he invariably has a preliminary swim just before racing. Wellington is indeed fortunate- in being given the opportunity in March of seeing Borg, whose personality, pep, and swimming prowess have left an. indelible impression in Australian swimming history.

Noel Eyan, a slightly built 17-ycar-old Australian, is undoubtedly the best distance swimmer ever produced in Australia with the exception of "Boy" CUarlton. "Tiger" Byan, as he is called (most appropriately), is about 5 feet 8 inches in height, and would not weigh nlore than lOst 71b at a rough estimate, but, although of slight build, ho has the heart of a lion. Eyan chased Borg relentlessly in the 880 yds, and his time of llmin 2sec is 22 l-ssee better than the best of Norman Boss, ■ex-world's champion, 14 2-ssec better than I/udy Langer's best, and only 3 1-5 see insido Charlton'a best, put up in the same bath in 1920, 1922, 1923 respectively, when they then were world's records. When Borg was defeated over 880 yds in the Domain Baths by Charlton in 1924 (when Charlton established the world's record only broken last week by Borg) Borg did lOmin 59 1-5 sec, or 2 4-ssec better than Byan did, consequently it is no wonder Borg rated Eyan as a very fine swimmer. Eyan, on the same day, swam in a relay race for Manly Olub, and covered 220 yds in 2min 28 4-ssec, and he registered smin 20 2-ssee on the previous Saturday for 440 yards. He has a "rough" stroke, and, like Borg, a short fast arm action, with an orthodox six-beat crawl kick. High flotation and exceptional stamina seem t.o be the secret of Eyan's success. other'evbnts. Tin- 100 yards N.S.W. championship was a wonderful race, and to give some idea of the closeness, all the finalists registered 58sec or better. The winner, Arthur Besomo, has made the meteoric rise from being the winner last year of a second-class 100 yards scratch race to a 56sec man this,year. Frank Doyle, Australian record-holder, showed a good return to form by staying well at the finish, which has been his failing, and registering 57sec. Hans Eobertson was expected to win, as in the previous week he had covered 100 yards at Manly in choppy water in the great time of 56sec dead. He could only touch third, dead-heat with 220 yds champion Owen Grifliths. George St. Heaps, who holds the Australian 100 metres record and has equalled the 50 yards record of Alick Wiokham (23 3-ssec), could not secure a place. The 100 yards backstroke championship was also a great race, and was won by Marsden Campbell, ex-title holder, by a very narrow margin from an exWellingtonian, A. J. Watson. Unfortunately for the latter, he drew the outside lane on the shallow water side, and as it was low tide this was a big disadvantage at the finishing post. Watson's time was 1 2-ssec faster than the N.S.W. championship was won in last year, and 2-ssec behind that of this year's winner. NEW ZEALAND'S BEST. Having seen the best in both countries, the writer is firmly of the opinion that N. Dowsett and W. Cameron, the two best sprintres in New Zealand, would more than hold their own with the best in Sydney. "Lindsay would, I consider, defeat all here but Eyan over 440 and 880 yards and a mile, but would fiud Owen Griffiths a tough proposition over 220 yards. W. Cameron would defeat all but Boast on backstroke, and with practice no doubt would amaze the critics. The water is more conducive to fast times, and the sunny air and competition would, I am sure, bring the New Zealand champions right into the forefront of the Australians. Leslie Olds, now in America, in a miniature of Borg in. the water, and the Australians cannot credit his times (lone in New Zealand as being correct. His stylo of arm action is very similar, and there is no doubt he will some day figure as an American representative at the Olympic Games, to New Zealand's great loss. The New Zealand lady swimmers are acknowledged to be superior even in Australia, and I am sure the men would surprise the public also, if given the opportunity."