SURF CHAMPIONSHIPS

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 19, 24 January 1938, Page 11

SURF CHAMPIONSHIPS

WELLINGTON FORM

SIX TITLES GAINED

REPRESENTATIVE TRIALS

(Special to the "Eveninfl Post."). • SUMNER, This Day. As usual, Wellington teams put up a very fine showing at the New Zealand surf life-saving championships at New Brighton on Saturday and- yesterday, the Maranui and Lyall Bay Clubs being among the most outstanding competitors. Neither has missed a Dominion championship meeting for many years, and though Wellington lost the Nelson Shield, the premier surf trophy of New Zealand, the championships will go down as among the most successful enjoyed by the club. Of the ten championships contested, Lyall Bay and Maranui won three each. ' . ■'■'.-.■ The conditions, on both days, were not of the best. On Saturday afterr noon overcast weather prevailed, and a strong drift ,to the right soon had the beltmen in trouble. Though two sets of buoys were useU, one for low water and one for high, the swim in the afternoon was so difficult that all three teams in the third heat of the Nelson Shield contest exceeded' the beltman's time limit, of ten minutes, and the heat had to be reswum yesterday morning: Owing to the drift, several teams were forced out of. the competitions in which they were swim-, ming through the lines becoming entangled in the high-water buoys when the beltmen were swimming tq the low-tide buoys placed about a hundred yards further out. Yesterday was cold, with continuous rain, but the championships had to be continued. TITLE RETAINED. The four-man alarm championship was won by Marantii for the fifth time, by the same team which gained the trophy last year, The team was second to the buoy in the heat by a few seconds, but superior land work and an excellent resuscitation won it its place in the final. The club's A team won the third heat, thus placing two Maranui teams in the final. The final swum yesterday afternoon provided one of .the closest contests of the championships. The beltmen stayed together all the way out, and A. T. Dalton (North Beach), J. T. Clark (Maranui B), and F. Pennington (Maranui A) touched in the space of about four seconds. Again the superior land work of the Maranui teams turned the scale. The.B team was placed first and the A team second. •' Competed for for the first time, the Cambrian Shield, for resuscitation was awarded to K. F. Hoy, captain of the Maranui B team in the four-man event. E. B. Hughes, captain of Maranui A, \vas runner-up, half a point behind. The shield is awarded for the competitor doing the best- resuscitation, in the four-man championship. It is quite possible for the reelman of any team in the competition, whether first or last in the heat, to win the shield, but it was more than a coincidence that the reelman of the winning fourman team won the resuscitation shield, as resuscitation is responsible for, many points in the four-man contest. CHAMPION BELTMAN. The New Zealand beltman's championship was-won for the second time by J. C. Blakeloy (Lyall- Bay), who previously won the title in 1930. >He won the heat by a fair margin, and defeated Buchanan, of Watfemata, and his team-mate Pelham, by a few seconds in the semi-final. Tho second semi' final resulted in A. T. Dalton, of North Boach, the holder, narrowly defeating J. Clark, of Maranui. In the final the two veteran surf men 'fought out a bottle in which- wits counted as much as swimming ability, Swimming the better course, Blakeley went ahead in the fast finishing effort, and touched the buoy five seconds-ahead. Six. teams' contested the junior rescue and resuscitation event for the William Henry Memorial Trophy. The first heat, which was regarded by many as practically deciding the final, resulted in a convincing win for Lyall Bay, who wore well ahead on time RQints, and who put up the best performance on the land. The Maranui beltman, Wootton, put up a game struggle against the drift, but was hauled in, still swimming strongly, when'it was discovered that his line had become entangled in one of the nearer buoys. It was touch and go at first whether or not he could get clear, but at last he managed to free the line, and was hauled,in. In the final, Lyall Bay went like clockwork on the land,' and in the water befit St. Clair by a narrow margin. The heats of the Nelson Shield, won six times by*Maranui and five times by Lyall Bay since its inception In 1915, were disastrous to Wellington hopes. In the first heat, Maranui B were nosed out by Taylor's Mistake, whose minute advantage in time was too great to make up. In the second heat, New Brighton A got there first, and Lyall Bay second. Maranui A drew Pennington, in the belt, and his lack of experience in th'c-surf told heavily. He put up a game battle, worthy of the champion he is, but no smooth-water swimmer without sun experience could have foretold thq effect of the, drift. New Brighton, swimming on their own beach, took the heat, with Lyall Bay second and , the others disqualified for exceeding the time limit. The veswim of the third he.aVresulted in St. Clair winning, and the Otago,team repeated its solid performance to carry off tho coveted trophy in the final. THE SURF RACES, The junior individual surf race resulted in a clean-cut victory for H. Goldsmith (Taylor's Mistake), whose chances for selection in the New Zealand representative team to visit Australia are considered amongst the^bost. In the senior individual event, G. flyan (Taranaki), well known as an ox-Lyall Bay man with a Jong championship record, won narrowly from J. Clark (Maranui), with A. Stokes (New Brighton) third. Ryan has a shrewd head for a surf race, and used it to good advantage when he cut across the drift on the way in. He also made good use of the breaking waves to gain ground. Wellington teams did splendidly in the march-past ■ championship, the sple.ndid spectacle of which was marred somewhat by rain and cold. Lyall Bay won, with Maranui, close up, second, Both teams gave a fine display of marching, and looked extremely well. In the junior surf teams' race, St. Clair, holders since 1936, won comfortably, with Taylor's Mistake second and Lyall Bay third, The senior event resulted in a win for Maranui, the hold' ers, by about 30 yards, Lyall Bay being second, D, Evans, Maramii's first man off, produced his finest swim to date when he, outdistanced R. Pelham to place his team in an easy lead. Pennington increased the lead, and the two other swimmers went as they pleased. Trials are being swum today to determine the final selection, for the New Zealand representative team. At the championships the following nominees were particularly prominent:—J- C. Blakeley (Lyall. Bay), J. T. Clark (Maranui), A. T. Dalton (North Beach), H. Goldsmith (Taylor's Mistake), F. G. Ryan (Ohawe), A. T. F. Stokes

(New Brighton),.D. K. Ev>ans (Maranui),.and C. A. Buchanan (Auckland). Indications are that the team picked finally will be a very strong one. There were no real surprises in the competitions, and all those who did well were nominees.