SWIMMING

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 41, 18 February 1933, Page 6

SWIMMING

By "Header" NATIONAL MEETING

RIVALRY FOR TITLES

LOCAL CARNIVALS

FIXTURES. I February 20 and 22.—Senior National Championships, Napier. ' February 21.—Kellerman Cup, Napier. February 23.—Hutt Valley Club Carnival, . Eiddiford Baths.

On Monday and -Wednesday next, the senior national championships will bo concluded at Napier. The- racing on the first day : (today) will give some indication as to the chances of the various competitors, but on the form already shown the prospects of several stand out. On Monday featured events are the men's 220 yards,and 880 yards freestyle, 220 yards breaststroke, and women's 100 yards. • Of these races, the 220 yards free-style promises to be one of the keenest struggles for a title at the meeting. Thomas, Frankham, Lindsay, and Stokes wiir probably be the main contenders, and the recent brilliant performance of the first-named indicates that he wilj be extremely hard to beat, with Frankham and Lindsay pushing him all the way. Over the half-mile Lindsay should take the honours, as well as in the quarter-mile on Wednesday. Local followers will be; Interested in the breaststroke event,- in which Spry and Hepburn will be starters. The former swam really well in the centre championship, and on that performance should be capable of putting up his fastest effort at Napier! If L. Smith, the title-holder,"has not been able to strike form, (he is working in the country), Spry will be hard to beat. Hepburn- may fill a minor place. • The J.OO yards -women's championship should find Miss Farquhar retaining her title without difficulty, and chief interest in this event will centre on the time registered, as it is expected that record figures will be set up. On. Wednesday most of the competitors mentioned above will again be prominent' in the decision of the: titles, and Miss Leydon can be added as one who should secure her first senior championship. Finals of the water-polo will be decided, and also, the diving championships. In the latter, Calder has only to show his usual consistent form to again, secure the honours in the men's section, while Miss Fgote should fight out a keen contest with Miss Eggers in the women's competition. . Miss Price, the local representative, may as yet be inexperienced for a senior championship/ but should she strike form on the day, will run the other contestants very close. Kellennaa Cup Prospects.' • The Kellerman Cup harbour race on Tuesday will be interesting from a local viewpoint, as the field will comprise six representatives" from. Wellington—F. Clark, F. By an, A." Hepburn, G. Balfour, J. Lefort, and-Ji Logic. All of these swimmers completed, the course in the recent Peck Shield race, so that, they can be relied upon to put up good efforts in the longer race at Napier, with prospects of being prominent at the finish. . ' ' ■' .. The. Hutt Valley Club has. been allotted the local junior and intermediate championships, and the decision of these events will constitute a portion of the interesting programme which has been drawn up for their carnival next Thursday. It was originally intended that the main items of the evening should be the annual contest between Canterbury and "Wellington for the Norden Cup, but advice has been received from Canterbury that, owing to the "different dates on which their representatives will return from Napier, it is impossible •to arrange a date. However, with the above-mentioned championships, to-gether-with, senior championship events and a variety of other races, a good programme will, be offered, and it is more than likely that two or three outside champions will be competing. .. Diving Championship. The dives set out for the men's diving championship, which is to be decided at the Wellington Club carnival, are as follows:—Low board, No. 17a, backward spring, forward dive, No. 21, halfscrew foWard, high -board, No. 1, plain, header, forward, No. 8. backward header, and No. 13a, islander, half-gainer. In addition each competitor will perform five voluntary dives, making a total of ten dives. Blakeley's Consistency. . The Worser Bay Club were again favoured with good conditions for their annual carnival, although earlier it looked as if their good fortune was going to desert them. During the afternoon several good contests were staged, and in the majority of the events there were close and exciting finishes. The 100 yards centre championship resulted in another triumph for J. Blakeley, of the Lyall Bay Club, who registered hia third consecutive win for the season,' From an even start, the four competitors were together for a short distance, but at the 25-yard mark, Plank and Blakeley had drawn ahead of Fookes and Balfour, and at the'turn, Plank had an advantage of a foot over Blakeley, with Fookes and Balfour in close attendance. Racing back over the final stretch, Plank was still in front at "the half-distance, but here Blakeley made his effort, and, swimming strongly yet easily, he outpaced his rivals to win a good race by six feet from Plank, who was three yaTds in front of Fookes and Balfour. Blakeley Js time of 58 4-sseo was the best he has yet recorded, and is a new centre record. ' (W. Cameron 'c 55 4-5 see was established at a'national championship meeting.)- It is unfortunate that his services were not available for Napier, as it would have been interesting to have seen how he would compare against the Aucklanders. Their times were certainly better, but with different conditions probably favouring Blakeley, he wouldhave been very close at the finish of the 100 yards. It is at least certain that he would improve on last Saturday's time. Plank swam a good race, but did not appear to be in the same racing condition as Blakeley. However, he moved very fast for threequarters of the journey, and mainly assisted in the smart time recorded by the winner. Fookes and Balfonr swam gamely, but found the other two superior. Balfour has made rapid improvement since last season, and will yet do better. „ ■ ' * Maramii produced a smart flying squadron team to win the Walker and Hall Cup, and an average of a little over 63 seconds per man brought them an easy victory,- with a fresh record established for the race. A feature of their performance was the good time returned by De Costa, who swam the fastest 100 yards for the team. This swimmer has trained in a constant manner to reduce his time to the present standard, and can be expected to improve upon it later on.