SWIMMING

Evening Star, Issue 23725, 5 November 1940, Page 5

SWIMMING

NEWS AND NOTES

[By Hooker.]

Fixtures. November 11, Oiago Centre carnival; November 14, Pclico-Press carnival (staged by Kiwi Club) ; November 21, Kiwi Club carnival; November 24, St. Clair Club’s Sagar Cup surf life-saving competition, at St. Clair; December 2, Otago Centro carnival; December 7, Balclutha Club carnival; December 10 and 1 12, Otago women’s intermediate and junior championships; December 14, Kiwi-West End dual raeeti at Timaru; January 18, Batt Cup harbour swim, at Maoandrew Bay; January 25, Otago country clubs championship 'meeting, at Dunedin; February 8, Taieri Club carnival, at Mosgiel; February 22, Balclutha Club carnival. Promising Trio. Put through their paces by Mr C. Durand, of the baths staff, before he left to join the Royal Navy, three promising swimmers in junior ranks are Murray, lan, and Ron M’Gregor, who have been shaping well in Kiwi Club races lately. • Murray has already had experience of junior championship competition, and the other two demonstrated their prowess at the schools’ championship carnival in April. Recently, Ron, who is only nine, put up a. good performance to win the 33 1-3 yards breast stroke handicap, boys, under 12, from the 6sec mark, Murray being (bird olf 3sec. All three arc now being trained by Arthur Thomas, the Kiwi captain. Kellerman Cup Winner in Christchurch. Val Osmond, ex-Southland and Hawke’s Bay swimmer, is now domiciled in Christ’ church. Osmond represented Southland at water polo some years ago, and was also a good exponent of breast stroke and free style. On going to Hawke’s Bay he joined Iho Havelock North Club, and it was as a representative of this club that he. wen the Annette Kellerman Cup three-mile liarhour swim at Bluff in 1939. Osmond’s action in joining the Ghrislchurch-Dnited Club, which is not particularly strong at present, is much appreciated in Canterbury swimming circles.

Opening Carnival Monday Night. The first interclub carnival will be held at the Municipal Baths on Monday night, and although many familiar faces will be missing, most of the leading competitors in the women’s, intermediate, and junior divisions will be taking part, and as the Otago championships are barely a month distant competition should be keen. Most of those who helped Otago to win the War Memorial Shield last season will be appearing, and in the open events a good deal of interest will attach to the performances of Miss Islay Purdie m the free style and Miss Winnie Dunn in the breast stroke, for both of these national champions have been showing particularly good form in training. All divisions from under 12 to senior are being catered for at this carnival, at which the swimmers will be competing for aggregate trophies for the season. A similar fixture is being staged by the centre on December 2, eight days before the Otago championships.

Kiwi-West End Dual Meet. Arrangements have been almost completed for the first of the home-and-away dual meets between the Kiwi and West End (Timaru) Clubs. The West End Club submitted December 7 as the date for the first meet at Timaru, but owing to its nearness to the Otago championships tho Kiwi Club has asked that the meet be held on December 14, and probably thif date will be agreed to. At the annual meeting ot the West End Club it was unanimously decided that everything possible be done to continue the competition between the two clubs. The following programme has been drawn up:—Kiwi v. West End—soyda intermediate boys, 50yds intermediate girls, 50yds senior men, 50yds senior ladies, and 50yds breast stroke'. The points in each of these events will be 5,3, and 1 respectively. There will be a flying squadron race of 200yds for teams of six, the points being 15, 10, and 5 respectively. The interclub handicap events are: 33 l-3yds junior boys, 33 l-3yds junior girls, 50yds intermediate boys, 66 2-3yds senior men’s,, 133 l-3yds four-a-side relay, and open dive handicaps.

New Plymouth the Venue. The New Zealand women’s, intermediate, and junior championships will be held in New Plymouth, the only other claimant for the combined meeting being the Auckland Centre, which had previously been allotted the national men’s and women’s championships before a decision was reached to abandon the men’s title events for the duration of tho war. The Yaldhurst Shield will not be contested for the duration, and the trophy, which was won at Wellingtonlast season by Otago, will be returned to Christchurch for keeping. The War Memorial Shield, at present held by Otago, will, however, be contested bv the centres taking part in the intermediate and junior championships. Those who recall the highly successful meeting staged by the Taranaki Centro in 1938 will look forward to the coming championship fixture with a good deal of interest.

Surf Life Saving Activity. The St. Clair Surf Life Saving Club held its opening day at the beach last Sunday, the official ceremony being performed by the president (Mr H. H, Henderson). In his remarks to the members, Mr Henderson stressed the fact that it would be left to the juniors to shoulder the burden of safeguarding the beaches in the absence of so many seniors on active service, and the life saving clubs-would willingly take up the task of teaching life saving to the fullest extent, especially as the beaches would be greatly used this season by men from the military camps. Mr Henderson mentioned that there would be no national senior or junior championships this year, the senior fixture having been abandoned, while it was thought the services of the junior teams would be fully required on the beach Lieutenant W. N, Wood led the members into the water, after which afternoon tea was provided at the clubhouse. The club hour at the Municipal Baths was resumed on Monday night, and

the Sagar Cup four-man competition will be held at St. Clair Beach on November 24. Splashes. Betty Stewart’s ability is not confined to breast stroke swimming, though it is only a few weeks since she went so close to the New Zealand junior girls’ 50yds record at this style. At the Kiwi Club hour recently, competing in the Vernon Smith Memorial Cup handicap series, she won the 50yds junior girls’ free style handicap in 37sec. With a little more concentration on this style she is capable of improving this time, and should give a good account of herself in free style as well as breast stroke at the Otago championships.

Among those who have enlisted for active service in Invercargill is Mr Arthur Kingsland, who was president of the Southland Swimming Centre for many years and played no small part in th.e success that attended the New Zealand intermediate and junior championships at Invercargill in 1933. He is president of the Oreti Surf Life Saving Club, and one of the leading officials of the ex-J?upils’ Swimming Club. He has been official starter for tho Southland Centre for a long period, and is also official representative and examiner at Invercargill tor the Otago branch of the Royal Life Saving Society. When he is called up he will leave a gap in Southland swimming that will be bard to fill.

At the annual meeting of the Auckland Swimming Centre last week the president (Dr T. H. Pettit) said that the centre looked forward to holding the postponed Centennial Pan-Pacific swimming championships as part of the Empire’s victory celebrations. The Newmarket Club was granted permission to place before the council of the New Zealand Amateur Swimming Association a request that it should negotiate with the swimming authorities in Australia, with, the object of inviting one or two Australian lady free style champions to take part in carnivals promoted by the club. The former champion swimmer of New Zealand, J. J. Enwright, was elected president of the Waitemata Amateur Swimming and Life Saving Club at its annual meeting. Enwright represented the club throughout his career. Mr L. Richardson was re-elected honorary secretary of the club, which has a membership of 154 and has assets valued at over £SOO.

The New South Wales Surf Life Saving Association, at its annual meeting recently, decided to hold State championship carnivals this season, but to cancel the Australian championships. The decision to cancel the national championships was a result of the war. The Queensland centra, whose turn it was to stage the championships, reported that, as 300 of its 900 members had enlisted, it could not accept the responsibility of conducting the carnival, Ray Davis, the New South Wales highboard diving champion, has joined the Royal Australian Navy for the duration of the war. Davis has decided to retire from competitive diving, as his duties do not permit of his training and attendance at swimming functions. J. D O’Driscoll, the Otago and New Zealand champion swimmer, has a number of promising pupils in the Dunedin Club, and a junior from whom good things may be expected this season is Len Williams, member of one of New Zealand’s bestknown swimming families. The Dunedin Club has its coaching scheme under way for the season, and particularly good work is being done among the learners, who are more numerous than usual. Miss Gwen Rix, the national ladies’ diving champion, is ladies’ captain of the club this year, and she is doing good work among young aspirants for diving honours. Secretary of the club this season is Miss Agnes Hill.