SWIMMING

Evening Star, Issue 22798, 5 November 1937, Page 5

SWIMMING

NEWS AND NOTES [By Hooksb.] FIXTURES. November 6.—Secondary school boys’ life saving and relay competitions, at Oamaru. November 15-20.—Otago Centre’s “ Learn to Swim ” Week. , November 18.—Secondary schoolgirls’ life saving and relay competitions, at ■Dunedin. November 24.—-Kiwi Amateur Swimming Club’s carnival. November 27.—Taieri Amateur Swimming Club’s opening carnival, at Mosgiel. December 8 and 11.—Otago senior, intermediate, and junior championship carnival. December 15.—Dunedin Amateur Swimming Club’s carnival. December (date to be arranged).— Batt Cup Harbour Race, at Macandrew Bay. January 8, 10, and 12.—New Zealand National Championships, at New Plymouth. January 15, 17. and 18.—New Zealand intermediate and junior championships, at Nelson. January 29.—Country clubs’ championship carnival, at Oamaru. SOUTHLAND NOTES SWIMMERS IN TRAINING P. R. Malthus is training hard, and is swimming better this year than last. He is very fit, and_ looks to have ' Southland distance titles in his_ keep-, ing again this year. He is going to the Empire Games as a spectator. Last year he won all Southland titles from 220yds up. Doug. Berry, who represented Southland at the national championships as a schoolboy at Dunedin in 1936, has begun training after a season of successful running. He should go well in .championship events, but will concentrate mainly on back stroke. He holds Southland title and record for 400 metres and the record for 110yds. Southland has a promising back stroke exponent in C. Martin, a young collegiate swimmer. He is getting better with racing experience. He deadheated with Alan Brown over 110yds last year. He has a rather unusual style, swimming very high. Brown ia in regular training on the back stroke. He is very tall and showing quite good promise. He had a 'tussle with Martin at the last carnival, just getting home first over 100yds. He is also a fast sprinter on free style. Miss Nancy Basstian is doing no training as vet, but always starts late. ’lt is possible, however, that she may not bo seen in competition this season. Miss Moira M'Grath is training well, and looks a certainty for all Southland free style titles. She is at present doing 70seo for 100yds, but will probably improve on that. Last season she beat Nancy Basstian over 100yds, 110yds, and '44oyds, her 440yds time being 6min 13sec. She was second to Miss Basstian in- the* 60yds and 220yds after ■ great tussles and very close finishes in every case. She has an ideal temperament for swimming and is a great stayer. She ia also trained by Mr H. 6. Smith. _ Two. very promising Southland girls are Beryl Westerby and Kathleen Westerby, who came to Invercargill from Hamilton. Beryl and her sister Kathleen (15 years old) were primary school winners in Hamilton, but were not coached until they went to . Invercargill. Beryl swam her first 50yds back stroke race in 44sec, and was caught under the rope for a very slow turn. The New Zealand record is 42 3-ssec, held bv J. Richardson, of , Auckland. She looks, to be one of Southland’s most promising swimmers, K. Shaw and Miss Claire Lynch are ; showing speed on the breast stroke, but have not done much training. They will win all Southland breast stroke .events, but will need to get down to more solid work before the national titles are contested. With training both will take a lot of beating. Arnold Branks is being coached for diving by Eddie Salisbury and Arthur Wesney. He is showing great promise, although he is a poor plain diver, and has. yet to master screw dives. He is very game, and if he sticks at it will be a very good performer. ' , , T~ KAIKORAI ACTIVITIES ' The club’s water polo team has now begun to develop some combination, and everything promises a good season. Lou Highfield, in goal, played a very creditable game against St. Clair on Saturday night, and undoubtedly helped to save his team from defeat. In the backs, Eric Moore, Bill Duncan, and Les. Laing would do well to pay more attention to marking their opponents more closely and by spending some time in improving their throwing. Ralph Smith is developing into a good player, but is inclined to wander from his position. Dave M'Lachlan and Ettrick Sonntag are also playing well, and one goal of Ettrick’s on Saturday shows that he is ready to grasp opportunities. The junior and intermediate members • were notable for their absence on Saturday. They should now be getting down to hard work, as the competitive season has begun. Jack Ness and Earle Still would profit by some training either during the lunch hours or at club hours. Jack’s stroke in particular, with attention, could make him one of the leading swimmers in the club. ST. CLAIR SURF MBTES The 1937-38 surfing season was opened at St. Clair last Saturday afternoon by Mr H. H. Henderson, president of the club, in the presence of about 40 members. Mr Henderson, who has been prominently associated with the club over the last 21 years, expressed his pleasure at seeing so many members present, and wished the club every success in the coming season. He then headed a parade of members into the surf, and the first combined swim of the season was enjoyed. Following this there were races for .the children (the treacle bun race being especially popular both with the participants and with the spectators), canoe raceSj and a life saving display. Altogether it was one of the most successful opening days held for some years. The Sagar Cup competition is to be held on November 21, and the following teams have been selected to compete : Newbound (linesman), Williams (patient), and G. Withnall (captain and reelman). royv, N- JBewley,

No. 3.—C. M'Gregor, W. Hudson, V. Robinson, E. Lewis. No. 4.—H. D. Gillies, J. Cranston, J. Foster, I. Hay. No. 5.—E. Toase, W. Kaler, H. James, H. .Devlin.

No. 6.—C. Gladwin, R. Watts, C. Gore, W. N. Wood. No. 7.—A. Beadle, A. Wren, A. Pritchard, I. Rodgerson. No. B.—H. Callender, A. Tyrie, C. Eckhold, J. D. Alexander. No. 9.—J. Roberts, H. Lewis, A. Raines, J. Swan. No. 10.—W. Warren, R. Campbell, W. Carr, V. Aldous. No. 11.—J. Clulee, A. M'Taggart, W. Dyson, H. Gore. The captain of each team is responsible for getting his team together and arranging for practices. Teams to represent the club at the Otago at Oreti and the New Zealand championships at Christchurch will be chosen from the following;— Seniors.—H. D. Gillies, J. Durand, W. Warren, J. Roberts, C. Gladwin, H. Lewis, H. Callender, E. Lewis, H. James- W. Hudson, J. Cranston, J. Swan, E. Toase. F. Muir, W. Kaler, A. Tyrie, V. Aldous, V. Sparrow, A. M'Taggart. Juuiors. —A. Wren R. Watts, R. Campbell, J. Foster, A. Pritchard, I. Rodgerson, C. M'Gregor, V. Robinson, A. Raines, W. Carr, Williams, J. D. Alexander, J. Clulee, C, Lawrence, W. Dyson, and J. G. Reid. The following instructors will be in charge of the teams:—Seniors, A. Beadle and N. Bewley; and juniors, W. N. Wood and I. Hay. _ Training will be carried put on Mondays and Wednesday evenings at halfpast 6, and Saturday afternoons and Sundays, commencing next Sunday. The bronze medallion must be held by all members competing in championship events. KIWI JOTTINGS With the club carnival and the Otago championships drawing near; members are down to solid work and it is pleasing to the club coaches to observe that so many of the youger swimmers and divers will be entering competition during the next few weeks. very good work is being done among the learners by the club’s coaches, and the assistance of the leading intermediate swimmers _is appreciated. For “ Learn to Swim ” week some 30 instructors from the club, have offered their services. Miss June M'Culloch has made a reappearance at the club _ hour. She should practise her breathing, and similar remarks apply to Jack Quenell, who shapes promisingly on the crawl. Mr A. Findlay has been doing great work with the breast stroke exponents, and club members who show any aptitude for life-saving work find him a very able instructor. Mr Findlay’s record of successes in life-saving examinations over a long period of years is 100 per cent., due to the fact that his pupils have to undergo a thorough preparation before being _ presented. Edward Griffin will obtain better balance on the breast stroke by getting his feet up higher. ’ Brian Wren should endeavour to loosen up to obtain better results. As a breast stroke exponent Miss Valerie M'Gavin shows distinct promise. A natural crawl swimmer is Miss Betty M'Donald. This girl is only 12, and although just learning the rudiments of the crawl, shows promise of being ready for competition this season. She has a natural kick, good flotation, and makes use of a long reach. She does her training thoroughly., and is bound to do well. Cliff Fraser is making good progress on the crawl and will soon be swimming about freely. Misses Islay Purdie, Agnes Brown, Winnie Dunn, and Elma Abernethy are doing good work among the juniors and intermediates, many of whom will be making their first appearance at the club carnival on November 24. Miss Joan Hodgkinson is beginning to swim on her own, and with practice will soon show steady improvement. Miss Valerie Clark fs a real trier, but she must watch her arms and keep her head and shoulders up. A now junior who will be in competition before long is Eugene Loughran. He has quite a fair arm dive, but must concentrate on his kick for a few weeks. The Cunningham brothers are keen members, and Alex shows promise as a diver, Dave Caddie, one of the club’s small members, is a keen diver, but he must keep his legs together. In a year or two ope of the club’s best juniors will be Miss Val. Brown, who ,is a fair breast stroke exponent and shows a natural ability on the crawl. She did no fewer than 25 widths on Tuesday night. Miss Beverley Brown has a good kick, but must endeavour to get her elbows up higher, and she should also practise her breathing. She will be ready for club races later in the season. lan Chadwick should watch his kick and get his elbows up higher, and Miss Doris Lee is another who should try to get her elbows up higher. The early morning class is proving a success, and those who are attending are reaping the benefit of coaching. As many as 12 swimmers are present regularly. The senior members include the club captain (Arthur Thomas), who has done fine work as a coach, and Misses W. Dunn, E. Abernethy, and I. Purdie. Among the juniors are J._ Houston, Ron Blanchett, C. Sell, Misses Edna Goldthorpe, M. Goldthorpe, Olwyn Armour, Annette Armour, and Betty Reid. Fred Lee is showing marked improvement on the crawl, but he should try to (keep his balance in the air just a little longer. Miss V. Payne is swimming very well at present, and is entering competition this season. If she could shorten her arm stroke she would swim more freely. Fred Sharp is hack in training on the diving boards after a short spell. He will have to do plenty of hard work, as he has plenty of opposition. Les Dyson is a much improved swimmer. He requires a little more confidence, and must learn to lift his elbows and keep his fingers closed.

WATER POLO COMPETITIONS WELL UNDER WAY The Water Polo Match Committee is to be complimented on having got the water polo senior and B grade competitions well under way, and already the first round of the senior grade has been completed, Kiwi A holding a 2point lead from Dunedin A. Kiwi A beat St. Clair A by 7 goals to 1 last week, but they had the advantage of having had a friendly game and one grade match already this season, Kiwi showing more combination and handling better than St. Clair, whose shooting was inclined to bo wild and whose players too often failed to get into scoring range before shooting. Taylor played an outstanding game for Kiwi, his clever handling and anticipation of the run of play being a feature. Geddes made several good openings, and Dyson and Lawrence both shaped well. For St. Clair, J. Swan played a very useful game, and A. Tyrie indicated that with experience he would develop into a first-rate goalkeeper. _ ' This opinion was confirmed on Tuesday night when St. Clair A met Dunedin A, the latter winning by 5 goals to 2. Tyrie made several very fine saves, including one really brilliant effort. The game was of rather a scrambling nature in the first spell, but St. Clair showed improvement on their form of the first game and led by 2-1, Dunedin missing many opportunities through faulty shooting, especially on the part of N. Williams, In the second half, play brightened up considerably, and Dunedin quickly went into the lead, largely as the result of excellent work by B. Kerr and j. 0,. Byrnes. A fault that the St. Clair goalie must guard against is that of dragging the ball back into the goal which may prove costly to his side if persisted with. Swan got through a lot of work for St. Clair, and Aldous was another who played a good game. H. D. Gillies showed that he is still a fast swimmer, and with more training and practice in handling St. Clair should give a good account of itself in the second round. Dunedin B looks like being the hardest team to beat in the B grade competition. They scored a comfortable win over Kiwi B in the first match of the B grade competition, and Kiwi B went down again to Zenith on Monday night by four goals to two. This was Zenith’s first match in water polo, and the team gave the impression that it will develop into a very sound combinatioii with a little more experience. Kaikora.i won its first match against St. Kilda by default, and drew with St. Clair B. . > NEWELL TO COMPETE KIWI CLUB’S CARNIVAL A field that -would not disgrace a National championship race will line up for the 440yds invitation event at the Kiwi Club’s carnival on November 24, and much interest will centre on the appearance of Len Newell, the New Zealand 440 yards, half-mile, and mile champion, who has accepted the club’s invitation to take part. His great race with J. D. O’Driscoll at the National Championships in 1936 is still fresh in the memory of the Dunedin public, only inches _ separating them in the 440yds title event, and Newell will again be opposed by O’Driscoll at the forthcoming carnival. It is interesting to note, too, that Pat Malthus, who was third to the other two in the National event in 1936, has been invited to compete, and the Southland champion will compete if he is able to make the trip. D. LI. Symes, the national 220yds champion, is an unlikely starter owing to examinations, but the field will con? prise such fine performers as W. Johnson (tho Auckland half-mile and mile champion), E. Toaso (Otago 440yds champion), and D. Reid (Otago mile champion). Two ladies’ invitation events have been included on the programme, a 100yds short limit handicap and a 100yds back stroke handicap, and Miss I. Purdie will probably have opposition from the south in the free style event, invitations having been extended to Miss Moira M'Grath, tho most promising free style senior swimmer in Southland, and Miss Joyce Macdonald, who is a candidate for inclusion in the New Zealand team for tho Empire Games in the HOydi back'stroke event. The other events are 50yds junior handicap, interclub diving handicap (standing plain header from the top board and a voluntary with points for difficulty), 133 l-3yds Otago relay championship, interhouse 133 l-3yds relay, 220yds breast stroke handicap, 100yds interclub handicap, 100yds back stroke handicap, 100yds three-a-side medley relay handicap, back stroke breast stroke, and crawl), 100yds open back stroke handicap, 100yds intermediate and junior handicap, and 76yds intermediate and junior breast stroke handicap. A diving demonstration has been arranged. There will bo a life saving display m costume by tho St. Clair Surf Life Saving Club, and one of tho most outstanding features presented at a local carnival for a long time past will be the mannequin parade, arranged by Messrs Arthur Barnett’s Ltd., which will comprise a display of tho latest bathing costumes and beach attire. SPLASHES C. Cliff, who represented Canterbury in freo style events at tho national championships at Auckland in 1935 and Dunedin in 1936, is concentrating on back stroke this season, and has entered a challenge to P. E. Mathieson, tho former Otago swimmer, who is now in Wellington According to Christchurch reports, Cliff is swimming well at back stroke up to 440yds, but Mathieson’s performances are much in advance of -anything else ever registered in tho Dominion. Adolph Keifer, the Olympic champion and greatest back stroke swimmer the world has known, afforded fresh evidence that he is developing into an all-rounder in a free stylo race recently when he gained a decisive victory in the Chicago River marathon. Leading throughout, Kiefer crossed tho

line nearly a minute ahead of his nearest rival, and added his name to the list of 22 former winners, a galaxy of famous stars, including Johnny Weissmuller, Norman Ross, and Perry M'Gillivray, Kiefer won in 47mm Miss Catherine Rawls, winner of four titles at the American women s national A.A.U. swimming championships in San Francisco, shattered another American long-course record on the way home. Pausing en route at Tempe, Miss Rawls_ negotiated 50 metres breast stroke in 39 9-10 see and wiped out the listed mark of 40 3-ssec, established in 1925 by Miss Agnes Gevaghty, of New York. Attention has been directed lately to the need of mejnbers of the police force and school teachers having a more than elementary knowledge of lifesaving, and it is gratifying to he able to report that classes in life-saving for police and school teachers have been conducted in Dunedin for some years past. The work in connection with the police classes has been carried out largely by Mr A. Findlay, and tho co-operation of the police officers has always been readily forthcoming. Inneed, there are several very good swimmers in the local force, several of whom take part in competition and engage in water polo activities. For sorao years past the Kiwi Club has staged a ‘ Star ’-Police carnival, and this year’s meet is to be held at the Baths next Thursday night, when, besides the polo match between the Press and the Police and Police-Press swimming events, there will be staged demonstrations by Kiwi members and the St. Clair A-Kiwi-A water polo game.

Jack Medica’s position as American Vo. 1 swimmer has been seriously challenged by the 20-year-old Olympian, Ralph Flanagan, who recently, defending his national mile championship, eclipsed Medica’s lonsc-conrso records for l.OOOvds and 1.320yds ' 1.500 metres, and a mile. For I.oooyds_ his time. 14min 37sec, bettered Medica’s world’s record by 4-ssec, and for the other distances his times, lomin 28sec. T9min 18 l-ssec, and 20min 42 3-ssec respectively, created new American figures.