WIN FOR ENGLAND

Evening Star, Issue 22890, 23 February 1938, Page 6

WIN FOR ENGLAND

' DISTANCE SWIM TO LEIVERS / ■ OLIVER LOWERS BACK STROKE RECORD CWritten for tie’ ‘ Evening Star ’• by ;-v ! : SYDNEY, February 15. L Tie swimming programme at-the Emhire Games was brought to a close on Friday night, and the 1,650yds free style final was one of the events of the 'meetings providing a contrast in styles ►as well' as a battle of tactics with the kEnglishman,- Bob Leivers (whose father [died during the week), the hero of the occasion. ; . -V . . f Leivers was the' winner in 19mm .46 itl-lOsec, which • displaced Arne Borg’s Ixeoord of Iftmin 48sec. Second place fcfeli to Bob Pirie, of Canada, in 19mm 62-10eec, and in registering this pernance Pirie further demonstrated his at all-round brilliance, as he won the yds and 440yds, and also set an Australian record of 2mjn 13sec in his furBong of the relay. , _ , , I, Normap Wainwright,. of England, 'filled third" place in 20inin 17 4-10 sec, land, having regard to the fact that a ‘poisbhed'hand hampered his training at (the crucial stages, bis . swimming has ■ibeen exceptional especially his 2.15 1-5 (for 220yds- Wainwright is, to tour New iZealabd in.April,iamyihg in Auckland lon April .4,' aiid appearing, at Dunedin Jabout April 30.- . • \ : i George Devlin, one of the best Canadian 'swimmers, was fourth in 20min ,38 5-10sgc, Robin Biddulph was fifth, and Noel Ryan, who seemed completely off, finished well hack. Una- of the highlights of the meeting ;taas the introduction' to the crowd of ’"Andre w(“ Boy ”) Charlton, Australia’s most famous swimmer, who was given a great-, ovation.' In the lone distance event Leivers and Wainwright turned together at the end of ,220yds in 2min 26sec, ybut by th£ time 440yds had been reached in 6 l-10seo Leivers was leading by a yard from Wainwright .and Piru. who were swimming together. At 880yds jjsirers led in lOmin 28 7-10 sec, the (Australian record of lOmin 22sec being beld by Charlton. Leivers forged ahead ,and sprinted over the last lap to win by 16yds from Pirie, with Wainwright 530yds back third, Devlin beating Biddulph for fourth place by 4yds. 1 had from Tommy Walker, the Canadian swimming mahagef-coach, some idea of the schedule followed by Bob Pirie in-his preparation for the Empire Games. - Beginning last November, he. swam 1-,oooyds daily at three-quarter pace, : and then indulged in light kicking until he was tired. ; The only fast work indulged ! in was a certain amount of sprinting in relays with other (swimmers training with him. -His fast work did not begin in: earnest until-about three weeks before the Games, and during that'iime he was-put against the watch. His preparation was altered a little because of the boat trip,, which made it necessary for' him to indulge in slow work for a while after he arrived in Australia, Tommy Walker being of opinion, that for. a swimmer to commence’ sprinting before he is in condition is ruinous.tp one’s stroke. Percy Oliver carried off the 110yds back 'stroke men’s, final in decisive fashion,, and the more one,sees of him the more one is convinced what a great race he would have with Peter Mathieson .(with the latter in form). Oliver’s style is not dissimilar from Mathieson’s, . and .he swims .with the same determination' and energy. He was well placed ; at the turn, and, moving strongly over i the "second lap, won'by 4ft from George Kerr, .of Canada, M. N. Taylor (England) being a foot, back third. The i winner’s time was Train T 9-10 sec, 3sec outside the world’s record and well inside" the Australian record. ,' , , : With a Scratch team taking, part it was not expected that New Zealand would he in the picture in the 330yds : medley.Tfelay, but a pleasing feature of this event was the display given by the young Southlander, Miss Joyce Macdonald, who in her 110yds section registered 86sec at back stroke, being well up with the leaders, and clocking two seconds faster than she did in the 110yds women’s back strtike championship. This girl has speed, and with the development of more stamina Miss Ena Stockley, one of the greatest swimmers Australia and New Zealand has developed, believes that Joyce will reach top class. It took Miss Stockley several seasons to produce the finish that , brought her the highest honours, and •Miss Macdonald has it in her to do the same thing. : The women’s medley relay was rather a boil-over, England winning by Byds : from South Africa, with Australia ,2yds back third. New Zealand finished 22yds behind the winner. The starting at the Games has been of a high order,-and there was not one instance of a false one. The presence of the New South Wales diving troupe was a big asset, and there is no doubt that their efforts have contributed treatly to the success of- the carnivals, ome of the Canadians have expressed the view that this troUpe is equal to anything in the world. The work from the 32ft tower at the Olympic pool and from the 42ft, board. at -Enfield is a

revelation to those with but a casual acquaintance with high-board diving. The Sydney public is a patient, goodhumoured, and sporting one. I cannot imagine a New Zealand crowd paying six shillings or more to witness four events ano-a polo match. The organisation of the programmes was scarcely what one might expect of an Empire Games meeting. Indeed, at some of the club carnivals visited it was of a much higher standard. The -trouble at the Games meetings was that some officials seemed inclined to have too many duties to perform. There were sufficient officials on hand to have made the burden much lighter. VISIT TO DUBBO. Throughout their stay at the Empire Village the New Zealand swimmers wore admirably looked after by officials of the New South Wales Amateur Swimming Association, and the hospitality extended by officials and members of all the Sydney clubs was greatly appreciated. It would be invidious to mention all but a few of those who did so:much.to ensure the enjoyment of the New Zealand team, but Mr H. R. Kelly, chairman of the New South Wales. Amateur Swimming Association, Mr E. H. Sandell (hon. secretary), and Mr B. R. Galland (hon. treasurer) were always .well to. the fore. These three were among those who comprised the parly of 50 to make the trip to Duhbo, the only country town in Australia visited by the Empire Games swimmers. The contingent included New Zealand, Canadian, and Australian swimmers, Percy Belvin (Bermuda’s solo reprelehtative), And Douglas Tomalin (English' diver, . who won the Empire Games high-board ; diving title). "We left Sydney at 9 p.m. on Sunday, arriving at Duhbo at 9.10 next morning.. . ; Duhbo is in the Central. Western district, and boasts a population of about 9,000. It is a pretty town, beautifully laid out, with a climate that is. the envy of many other parts of Australia, and the centre of a rich wheat growing district. ■ '

The town possesses" an Olympic swimming pool, second, to none in Australia, and it was here that the carnival was held. The fixture was sponsored by the New South Wales Amateur Swimming Association, which plays its part" in encouraging its country, clubs, and the controlling body had the loyal support of the Duhbo Amateur Swimming Club. . • The visitors were given a great welcome at a civic reception in the Roxy Theatre, the mayor (Alderman E. B, Serisier) extending a welcome to the visitors. After' luncheon a visit was paid to “ Dulla Dulla,” owned by the estate of the late C. A. Wright, Here we were met by Mr W. Martin, manager of the property, who had yarded a few of the stud’s best Corriedales for inspection. Mr L. H. Beveridge, departmental sheep and wool expert, gave a, short talk on the history of the Corriedale, one of Australia’s two pure varieties. Those so inclined—and this meant nearly everyone—had a great deal of fun riding the quiet hacks that were made available by Mr Martin, and, due to the thoughtfulness of the Mayor of Duhbo, afternoon tea was partaken of on the banks of the Macquarie River, in the shade of , the tall gums. The carnival itself attracted a crowd of about 2,000 spectators, and began with a parade of the visiting international swimmers Among those present was Mrs W. Chambers, who has been hon. secretary, of the New South Wales Amateur Swimming Association for the last 25 years, and was chaperone for all the lady visitors. She has accompanied Australian teams overseas on many occasions, and is one of the best-known officials in women’s swimming in any part of the world. Mona Leydon swam a great race in the 220 yards international ladies’ scratch race, leading with Miss Evelyn de Lacy (Empire 110 yards champion) over the first 110 yards in 78,2-ssec, and going on to win by a yard in 2min 44 3-ssec, Miss D. Hobson (Canada) filling third place. Evelyn de Lacy swam splendidly to win the 110 yards women’s international scratch race in Imin 12 3-ssec from Miss Flo Humble (Canada), Miss Baggaley (Canada) being third. Miss Humble pushed Miss de Lacy hard, but the Australian girl was swimming at the top of her form, and finished with great dash. , Bob Pirie won the 440 yards invitation international scratch race in the comparatively slow time of smin 10 4-ssec, R. Hooper (Canada) being second, and L. Newell (New Zealand) third. The field remained together nntil the, last 110 yards, and Pirie then drew away to win as he liked, the rest of the field being fairly well together. G. Kerr (Canada) and Jean Demers (Canada) tied in the 110 yards international back stroke race in comparatively slow time, 75 l-ssec, while in a 110 yards international women’s breast stroke race Miss Joan Langdon (Canada) beat Miss Winnie Dunn (New Zealand) in Imm 36 l-ssec by three yards. In the 110 yards international scratch race Clem Walsh (Sydney policeman), edged George Burleigh (Canada) out of first place in 64 3-ssec, and Peter Hanan (Now Zealand) came up fast to divide second place with Burleigh. Hanan has improved on this tour, and should be a fast swimmer when he returns to the Dominion. Ena Stockley and Tommy Walker both speak well of

him, and Harry Hay (Australian coach) also regards his prospects brightly. Demers swam for New Zealand in the medley relay, and was duly initiated as a member of the New Zealand team.

Gwen Rix has given diving exhibitions at several of the carnivals at North Sydney, and she also gave a display at Dubbo, her work on the board being greatly appreciated by the spectators. Among those to accompany us to Dubbo was Arthur O’Connor, who was third in the Empire high-board event. He is held in high regard by everyone associated with swimming in New South Wales.

A very fine exhibition of fancy swimming was given by a team of Canadian girls, the demonstration they provided being not dissimilar from that given in Dunedin by those who have passed their award, or diploma tests in life saving. Properly staged, this should be a popular part of any exhibition. No more popular or genial fellow was met at the Games than Tommy Walker, coach of the Canadian team. At Dubbo the cry, “ Where’s Tommy Walker?” was universal (this being the usual call for Tommy when his pupils looked for him at tho North Sydney pool). Following the dance after the carnival a party of us made for a farm not far out of Dubbo for an early breakfast of hash and eggs, and I will never forget the look on Tommy’s face when from one egg came something which led him to scream; “It’s a chicken; it’s a chicken! ” Someone had raided a hen’s nest, and Tommy was the victim!