CHAMPION SWIMMERS

Evening Star, Issue 23178, 30 January 1939, Page 5

CHAMPION SWIMMERS

INTERMEDIATES AND JUNIORS OTAGO AND BAY OF PLENTY TIE SOME OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCES (SI’ECrAX.- TO THE ‘ STAR.’] ROTORUA, January 30. In one of the most interesting competitions on record for the War Memorial Shield at the How Zealand intermediate and junior swimming championship meeting, which concluded at Rotorua on Saturday night, Otago (the holder) and Bay of Plenty tied with seven victories each.

At the beginning of the final session Otago led with five wins to four. By a victory in the furlong intermediate boys’ free style S. Sewell brought the Bay of Plenty level, and then another Bay of Plenty representative, M. Loffley, won the 75yds junior boys’ back stroke, and the borne team was a point in the lead. However, Miss Christine Garvin (Otago) equalised the score with her win in the 100yds intermediate girls’ event. With this the position, tremendous interest was taken in the intermediate boys’ diving, in which Sewell and the Otago boy (V. Eckboff) were opposed, as in the only championship event remaining after that, the junior girls’ breast stroke, Bay of Plenty was not represented, and Otago bad Miss Noeline Peat. Sewell won the diving by slightly more than one point, and Bay of Plenty bad seven wins to six.

NOELINE PEAT’S WIN DECIDES ISSUE.

So far as Otago was concerned everything then depended upon Miss Peat. She played her part grandly, and so

Bay of Plenty and Otago each gained •fill© right to hold the shield for six months. Four wins for the shield were gained by Southland, and South Canterbury and Auckland had one each.

MISS GARVIN’S RUNAWAY WIN

Another dashing victory went to Otago when Christine Garvin sped to a runaway win in the 100yds intermediate girls’ free style championship. She put up sterling time in view of the fresh water conditions, being clocked at 66 2-ssec. This was 1 3-sseo slower than the Dominion record put up in fresh water, also at Hamilton, three years ago by the Dunedin girl, Miss Islay Purdie. The Rotorua water is considered slightly heavier than Hamilton water. However, so decisively did she win—the margin being 9yds—that with more competition Miss Garvin would have put up a time closer to the record.

It will be recalled that in a handicap event at Dunedin recently she was timed at 64seo. Miss Garvin sprang to the lead from the start and steadily increased the gap between herself and her opponents, and . sped away from them in such a manner that the whole crowd was with her.

Subsequently Miss Garvin won the 50 yards invitation scratch race for girls in 29 4-sscc. A GAME ATTEMPT. The diminutive V. Kckhoff made a game attempt to deprive S. Sewell (the Bay of Plenty Maori boy) of the intermediate diving title. Ho dived con-

sistently well, but so did Sewell. In actual aggregate poin Is, Eckboff scored more points, but for optional dives lie bad selected dives easier than those chosen by Sewell, so that when the degree of difficulty was taken into account in the calculations Sowell was awarded the title. So slight was the superiority that Sewell won by 1.27 points. KEEN RIVALS. During the meeting Colin Sell, of Otago, and M. Loffley (Bay of Plenty) have become keen rivals, and their tussles in the two free-style events was repeated on Saturday night in the 75 yards junior boys’ hack stroke race. Loffley set up a lead from the start, but at the cud of 33 1-3 yards Sell was close behind him. However, Sell mulled the turn, and the Maori lad drew further away from him. Loffley’s superiority was now pronounced, and he continued to win by four yards, breaking the Now Zealand record. His time was 55 3-ssec, which cut 2 2-ssec from the record put up last year by M. Bell (Auckland). Sell, officially, was timed 58 l-ssec. Roth he and Loffley were by far the best stylists in the race, the latter having the stronger arm drive. WORTHY OF THE TASK. Upon Miss Noeline Peat (Otago) in the final championship event, the 50 yards junior girls breast stroke, rested the responsibility of saving the shield from going to Bay of Plenty for the whole of the ensuing year. She was not unworthy of the task and scored a clear-cut victory by three yards, from the Southland representative, Miss S. Brown. Miss Peat’s time compared well with the New Zealand record, held by Miss Mary Stewart (Otago) who did 40sec last year. Miss Peat displayed a most exemplary breast stroke style. SOUTHLANDER’S TREBLE. The splendid little Southland swimmer, Miss Beryl Westerby, gained her third title by winning the 100 yards junior girls’ free style_ championship in 72 l-ssec. She was ipi no danger of losing and won easily. The two-mile lake swim on .Saturday afternoon was won by K. M'Kenzie (Nelson) in G3min 31 2-ssec. A. V. Osmond (Hawke’s Bay) was second. R. Simon (Bay of Plenty), who was third, gave the winner eight minutes and a-half start, and scoured the fastest time, 57rain 40sec. The presentation of trophies was made at a picnic at Lake Rotorua this afternoon by the Minister of Internal Affairs (Hon. W. E. Parry). (Results:— 220 YARDS INTERMEDIATE BOYS’ FREESTYLE. S. Sewell (Bay of Plenty) 1 K. Williams (Auckland) ... ... ... 2 N. Davidson (Canterbury) 3 Time, 2min 37 l-ssec. 100 YARDS JUNIOR GIRLS’ FREESTYLE. B. Westerby (Southland) 1 N. Nixon (Wanganui) 2 B. Owens (Auckland) 3 Time, 73 l-ssec. 75 YARDS JUNIOR BOYS’ BACKSTROKE. M. Loffley (Bay of Plenty) 1 C. Sell (Otago) 2 D. Kirkland (Southland) 3 Time, 55 3-ssec—a Now Zealand record. 100 YARDS INTERMEDIATE GIRLS’ FREESTYLE. C. Garvin (Otago) 1 N. Griffin (Auckland) 2 M. Black (Auckland) 3 Time, (16 2-sseo. INTERMEDIATE BOYS’ DIVE. S. Sewell (Bay of Plenty) 1 V. Eckboff (Otago) 2 I. Jason (Hawke’s Bay) ... ... 3 50 YARDS JUNIOR GIRLS’ BREASTSTROKE. N. Peat (Otago) 1. S. Brown (Southland) 2 J. Cowan (Auckland) 3 Time, 41 3-ssec. TWO MORE RECORDS [Per United Press Association.] GISBORNE, January 29. Bettering Miss Rita Stackpole’s recent performance in Auckland by 5 l-ssec, Miss Joyce Macdonald, of Invercargill, swam 200 metres backstroke at Saturday’s carnival in 3min 0 3-6 sec. Miss Winnie Dunn, of Dunedin, improved her 220yds breaststroke record put up in Auckland two weeks ago by 1 l-ssec, swimming the distance in 3niin 19sec.