SWIMMING

Evening Star, Issue 20635, 7 November 1930, Page 5

SWIMMING

COTES AND NEWS

[By Hooker.]

Club Hours.—Monday, St. Clair Life Saving Club; Tuesday and Thursday, Kiwi Amateur Swimming Club; Friday and Saturday. Dunedin Amateur Swimming Club, Club hours arc held at the Municipal Baths from 8.45 p.m. to 9.45 p.m. FIXTURES. November 27-28.—Schools’ swimming championships. December 2.—Dunedin Amateur Swimming Club’s carnival. December 13.—Otago intermediate and junior championships. January 20.—Kiwi Amateur Swimming Club carnival. _ ' January 24.—Kiwi Amateur Swimming Club’s harbour race.^ January 30 and 31.—New Zealand intermediate and junior championships, at Ashburton. February (Date to be Fixed). —Otago senior championships. February (Date to bo Fixed).—Batt Cup harbour race. March 5 to March 9.—New Zealand national championships, at Wanganui. KIWI JOTTINGS. The Kiwi Club had the best night of tho season to date on Tuesday, over fifty members mustering and some splendid work being accomplished during, tho hour. Seven now members joined. up, including Roy Geddes, a younger brother of Reg.. G.eddes. The younger Geddes is a promising little novice, and in a year or so should be well qualified to take his place in, junior ranks. Dr R, F. Wilson was concentrating on long-distance work, and ho has improved out of sight during the last week or two. He should be capable of making a good showing in the club’s harbour race.

.H. D. Gillies has been moving along easily, but he will -need to get down to pretty solid work from now onwards if bo is to make a convincing showing in the half-mile championship of Otago which will be decided on December 13. Reg. Geddes is getting down to hard training now, ana should bo right ■ in form for the intermediate events at the championship meeting next month. He is a member of the life-saving class which is being conducted by Mr Findlay, of the Otago Head Centro of tic Royal Life Saving Society, and will y the test for his .bronze medallion next week.

Miss E. Beck -is a young swimmet who has come on Splendidly, and she will probably take her place on the mark for one of the short-distance handicaps at the Dunedin carnival. Miss C. Manning is another improving handicap swimmer. She has been deelvoping her stroke along the right lines, and should perform creditably in the ladies’ handicap. Miss P. Lang and Miss C. Lang were both swimming well, and both aro championship contenders—the former in the senior division and tho latter in intermediate ranks.

Miss Nancy. Olds is now trailing regularly in view of the forthcoming schools championships and the junior events at the Otago 'championships. Miss Olds has grown since last year, and should considerably improve upon last year’s times in the free style events.

The club is bettor oif for lady divers than has been the case for, some time past, and Mrs Isaacs, Miss M. Bewlcy, and Miss J. Munro were all doing good work on the boards on Tuesday night. Tho first-named, along with P, MathieSon, inn., gave a neat exhibition at the carnival staged for the ‘ Evening Star ’ staff. Young Peter Mathieson is' the most improved diver in Dunedin. Ho is niaking a success of some of the more difficult dives, and will have to bo reckoned with in the intermediate championship. A. Murdoch, A. Thomas, J. H. M'Gregor, and B. Leslie aro intermediates who take their training seriously, and the first-mentioned three should bo , worthy supports to Geddes at the intermediate championships, while Leslie ought to do well in handicaps. M'Gregor may devote attention to the breast stroke, in which ho is a very fair exponent. C. Rackley is another who has resumed training. Bliss J. Campbell has made a reappearance, and a promising young swimmer who has started again is Bliss A. Griffiths. . Bliss O. Buckland and W. W. Buckland are a couple pf the more promising junior swimmers who have been training steadily. The former should do well af the schools’ championships. Blisses P." Taylor, N. Grant, and Bliss 81. Wright were doing steady swimming, and ds usual Bliss Wright devoted a good deal of time to the learners, the same applying to W. H. Buckland, H. D. Gillies, and J. Fox. Bliss Taylor is moving well over'the shorter distances.

Tho Thursday night hour last week was devoted to the staging of tho carnival for the ‘ Evening Star ’ staff, and this proved a thorouglily enjoyable and successful affair. It is worthy of mention that a prominent business man lias written offering his congratulations to tho ‘ Star ’ on tho success of the tournament..and expressing tho hone that other linns would follow suit. .He said it would bo a grand thing to see competition among different firnis and trades in Dunedin. Another argument in support of the centre instituting an interhousc carnival!

DUNEDIN DASHES. Miss 81. Mathieson will soon lie getting on to fast work in her preparation for tho intermediate events at the championships next mouth, ft is confidently expected that tho. New Zealand champion will show an improvement on her limes of lust year.. A new and keen' addition to. the ‘-'lab is G. Thom, who .is a very regular attendee at ilie baths. Jt ho . used his weight' to tin; best advantage he won' i certainly gel. sonic spring out ol tindiving hoards, lor ho is gafno enough to try anything. Some of the Dunedin juniors shaped well at. the Normal School .carnival. Rustou and Williams being two who wero prominent. Both aro the sons of keen swimming enthusiasts.

Mips (). Crowley is now niaking a .start with her diving activities, and Miss J. Eggers is another who has con .euced operations. Miss Staples is practising on the boards, and vyitli such keen competition as is promised in the ladies’ diving championship this season it is a pity that tho New Zealand Council has not issued the compulsory dives. The Otago Centre has already written drawing attention to tho lateness in issuing the dives, but the same state of affairs seems to prevail c.ery year. It is not fair to the competitors.

Clive Elliot is a neat little diver, and with serious training, would bo a worthy representative of the club in the intermediate boys’ diving championship. Val and Don Newall, the club’s intermediate boys, are doing good work, but could do with a little more distance swimming. . , More serious work might bo done on the Saturday club night, when members should get down to training, as the time is drawing near for the championships. Although Roy Calder has not started bis diving activities yet he has attended the club hour regularly, and H. E. Walker is also going through most of tho dives on the handbook. At the Dunedin Club’s carnival they will give an exhibition of fancy and stunt diving if Calder is able to put in any work before then. A suggestion lias been made that a clown be included in the troupe, but it would hardly be possible to provide more amusement than do Calder and Walker once they start out on their stunt numbers. NORMAL SCHOOL CARNIVAL. The second carnival held by the Normal School surpassed tho one staged last year, and the management was all, that could bo desired, . the events being run off in quick time. The competitors in tho finals particularly showed a higher grade of swimming than was the case last year, the. times being better, while the diving was very neat. It was a good idea oil tho part of the authorities to so limit the programme that 'many pupils were attracted to compete who would have been: unable to do so Had the distances been longer than 33 l-3yds. Still, distance swimming should bo encouraged, . and it would have been all to the good had an open race of 100yds been included on the programme, for there are not a few swimmers at home over this distance ‘more than they aro over the length, and youngsters should, every encouragement to participate in races over championship distances. However, the fields were splendid last week, and tho handicaps so drawn up that some keenly-contested races were witnessed.

Some very good divers were seen in the primary girls’ event, tho winner being Bliss Nancy Olds, who, of course, is one of the school’s most outstanding performers and a New Zealand junior champion in addition. In the primary school girls’ senior 25yds championship Miss Olds was well pushed by another promising girl, Miss E. Green.

The primary school boys’ diving was really good, Ruston and N. Williams showing real finish. They did not display that carelessness which is often apparent in boys’ diving events. Huston also accounted for the primary schools’ 33 l-3yds senior boys’ championship in the fair time of 23sec. Alcorn was the best of the secondary school boys and Bliss O. . Wright the best of the girls. Alcorn is a fair sort of swimmer, but ho does not take Ids training seriously enough, having rather a rough stroke. Tho relays were well contested, and the keenness between the houses showed the advisability of encouraging such competition.

KIWI, CARNIVAL. Tho Kiwi Club’s carnival _ is to be bold on January 20, and an attractive programme has already been drawn up, tho events being as follow: —soyds' interclub handicap, diving handicap (rhnning off low 'board standing off top board, and two voluntaries with points for difficulties), 50yds ladies’ interclub handicap, 220yds interclub handicap, JSJyds junior boys’ and junior girls’- handicap, 100yds interclub breast stroke handicap, life-saving handicap (rescue by third method), mixed relay handicap (two men and two ladies in each team, irrespective of club), 50yds boys’ and girls’ handicap (under 17), Gdjjyds back stroke handicap, and diving handicap (tinder 17'; back dive, low board, standing swallow, top board, and one voluntary with no points for difficulty). The usual novelty events will bo arranged, and a water polo match will also bo played. ST CLAIR NOTES. Now that the St. Clair Club’s annual meeting lias been held indications point to a good deal more keenness being shown this year than has been tho case for two or three seasons past. Tho club has ,the competitive swimmers, and it requires only a little more keenness on tho part of the officials to again make this club a strong organisation in local swimming. . S. M'Kenzie is one of the fittest men in Otago at tho present time, and whoever beats him in the SSOyds championship should just about secure first place, though C. Turgis is another who is reported to be in good form. V. Fletcher will take some beating over tho shorter, distances, for he is another who has been- training most consistently. Outside of C. Durand,' J. Durand, and J. Durand, none of St. Clair’s stalwarts have yet put in an appearance, hut the next week or two should make a difference. SPLASHES. A suggestion has been mooted that the Du noth n and Kiwi Clubs might hold their harbour swims on the same day, and the idea is a good one if it could be worked practically. The Otago Girls’ High School swimming sports are to bo held next Tuesday afternoon at 2, and as the competitors will include such swimmers as -Miss Lang and Miss M. Bewley compel .it,ion is expected to be keen. A novel event to bo staged at the Dunedin. Amateur Swimming Club’s carnival on December 2 is the family relay for teams of three a side, and a keen follower of tho sport has estimated that there are at least seven or eight family trios widely will be capable of averaging 64 or 65 seconds for ,tho. 100yds, which is tho total dis-

tanco of tho race. Some-of those likely to bo competing are the Taylors (three prominent Kiwi swimmers), the Flemings (an equally prominent Dunedin family), the Lewises (of St. Clair, one of whom, C. B. Lewis, was the New Zealand. 220vds breast strpko champion five years ago), the Jarvises (a Dunedin trio of whom one is Otago’s big hope for the New Zealand junior championships this year), the Rix family (a Dunedin troupe of whom A. 81. Rix was the New Zealand intermediate boys’ diving champion on two occasions and is a fair handicap swimmer), the Kerrs (another Dunedin Club troupe which includes B. Kerr, runner-up ■in the New Zealand men’s 150yds back stroke championship last season), the Langs (throe swimmers, with the Kiwi Club, two' of whom are prominent in ladies’ and intermediate ranks respectively), the Vallises, the Clarks (two of 'whom have figured prominently in the Dunedin Club and one'with Dunedin), the Staples, Newalls, Eggers, and Williamses (all of the Dunedin Chib).' Practically' all'of those mentioned have taken part in competitive swimming in Otago. Swimming among . ladies will bo given a decided impetus this season by the presence of Bliss Natalie Stratton, of Wanganui, who has taken up her temporary residence in Auckland in order to be coached by J. Emvriglit (says the Auckland ‘Herald’). - Bliss Stratton is one of the most promising of the dominion’s younger swimmers, and she has achieved many notable successes as an exponent of both free style and backstroke swimming. As an intermediate in 1928 she won the Wanganui championships and the 100yds girls’ New Zealand championship in record time. The next year she won the Wanganui ladies’ titles, and at the dominion championship meeting at Wellington, although she did not secure a place, she performed impressively Last season she won the 100yds Now Zealand backstroke championship,. and also finished second to Miss K. Bliller; in the 100yds free stylo event. With tho coaching assistance of Emvriglit, added to that which she is sure to receive through competing against Auckland’s lady swimmers, Bliss Stratton should distinguish herself still further this season. She has decided to join up with tho Waitemata Club.

The Training College Club lias yet to have its affiliation approved, but already members are snowing commendable keenness, and have been attending the baths fairly regularly. A promising diver at tho Training College is Rosevear, who, however, is still attached to the Dunedin Club.

D. P. Lindsay is expected to be well to the fore in Auckland competition again tins season, and the rumour that Bliss G. Pidgeou was to retire appears to have been unfounded, as an Auckland paper recently announced that she should meet with considerable success in forthcoming competition.

Although the attendance was not ns largo as might have been desired, the annual meeting of tho St. Clair Life Saving Club indicates that a good season is in prospect for the suburban club. Tho election as secretary of Mr 1. Turnbull should bo . exceedingly popular, for not only is ho a good swimmer bub a keen .life-saver and whole-hearted enthusiast for the sport. Turnbull is a good all-round athlete, and it may be recalled that last season in company with F. Coxon, another St Clair Swimmer, he effected . a difficult rescue at the beach for which the Royal Life Saving Society (Otago Head Centro) has made application to the Royal Humane Society for recognition.

lb was a good suggestion on the part of Blr E. L. BTacassc.v that a swimming carnival should bo hold at St. Clair Baths during the season..