DOMINION SWIMMING

Evening Star, Issue 21007, 22 January 1932, Page 2

DOMINION SWIMMING

INTERMEDIATE AND JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

OTAGO'S CHANGES

[From Our Own Reporter.] WELLINGTON, January 21. The stage is set for the New Zealand intermediate and junior swimming championships at Riddiford Baths, Lower Hutt, to-morrow and Saturday afternoons and.evenings, and the meeting promises to be marked by some of the most startling performances yet recorded in dominion swimming. In these divisions competitors are taking part from centres as far apart as Auckland and Southland. Added interest is being given to the meeting by reason of the fact that quite a number of champions will be defending their titles. The baths in which the fixture is being held is a finely-constructed open-air pool with seating accommodation for over 1,500, and the water promises to be fast. The opinion here seems to be that the points for the shield will be well scattered, which is all to the good from Otago’s point of view, as the Dunedin representatives should be capable of collecting four or five firsts, if they swim according to form. Only four swimmers have come forward for the intermediate boys’ 100yds backstroke, W. Jarvis and P. Mathieson being Otago’s representatives. On the times of G. Low, Canterbury should win comfortably, but it will not surprise if Mathieson finishes second, though P. M'Grath (Southland) is also a useful backstroke performer. Reg. Geddes should have no difficulty in collecting the 100yds intermediate boys’ breaststroke championship lor Otago, judging from his recent record performance. Second place will likely by filled by Shanahan, whodid 83 2-osec at the Auckland championships, 7sec slower than Geddes’s record.

The 220yds intermediate boys’ championship has drawn the big entry of eleven, but most interest will centre on the doings of Noel Crump, who recently broke the New Zealand record at Auckland, also Reg. Geddes (Otago champion), W. J. Jarvis (Otago), P. M'Grath (Southland, who is the present holder of the title), and C. Bullivant (Wanganui). The last named was second to M. Redman in the 440yds championship last year and is swimming very strongly at present. Geddes and Jarvis should bo in at the finish, and fast time is certain. Jarvis, as at Ashburton last year in the junior division, is in the second heat along with Noel Crump and H. Singer (Hawke’s Bay). Geddes is in the third heat, his opponents being R. Watkins (Hawke’s Bay), F. W. Springford (Southland), and K. Walters (Wellington). The 100yds intermediate boys’ championship should be the classic race of the programme, with the winner very difficult to choose. Crump, Redman, Geddes, and Gleeson comprise the first heat, and the present holder (M'Grath), Singer, and Jarvis the second heat.

The 440yds intermediate boys’ championship will find Geddes, Bullivant, Crump, and Redman probably outstanding, and Crump, Geddes, and Bullivant may wrest the title from Redman. Crump, who is reported to have done fast time for this distance, Springford, Bullivant, and Walters (Wellington) are in the first heat, the second comprising ,Redman, Watkins (Wanganui), and Geddes. The intermediate diving championship should find P. Mathieson (Otago) very hard to beat, but he will _ have good opposition from G. Kirkley (Hawke’s Bay), who shaped well in training this morning. There will be only four competitors in this event. Otago is not represented in the intermediate girls’ division, in which good entries have been received. _ P. Sporle, last year’s junior champion, from Manawatu, is appearing in this division, and is likely to contest the issue in free-stylo races with Shona Campbell (Canterbury) and N. Ludlow (Auckland). J. Webster and D. Dowman (Auckland) are likely to fight out the issue in the intermediate girls’ breast-stroke championship. The latter is the present title-holder, and Webster beat her in the Auckland championship recently in record time.

The junior boys, with the exception of S. Jarvis (Otago) are newcomers to championship swimming. Jarvis will he in the first heat of the furlong, with M. Hopping (Wellington), R. Ri miner (Canterbury), and Pascoe (Auckland), and the Otago boy ought to be well placed, while in the second heat J. Barry (Otago) will he opposed by Cleary (Auckland), C. A. Baigent (Manawatu), Barry, who is in his first season of competitive swimming, may figure as the winner of the final. The junior boys’ breast-stroke is being contested by Caldwell (Canterbury), Jarvis, and Barry, and here, again, Otago may pick up points. The 100yds )tinier girls is a straightout race with Edna Rainey (Auckland), a previous champion, Winnie Newall (Otago), and Rhoda Low (Canterbury) likely to be fighting out the issue. The same competitors will be most prominent in the 50yds event, while in the breast-stroke race in this division, heats have_ been arranged, although only six swimmers have come forward. G. Rix (Otago) is in the first heat, with E. Heaps (Wellington), R. Low (Canterbury), the second comprising Newall (Otago), K. Broad (Manawatn), C. Walters (Auckland). In the 100yds junior boys’ championship, S. Jarvis is in the first heat, with Hopping (Wellington), Rirnmer (Canterbury). and Cleary (Auckland). The second heat will comprise Baigent (Manawatu), Barry (Otago), and Pascoo (Auckland).