SWIMMING N.Z. Championship Finals at Auckland

Grey River Argus, 24 February 1949, Page 3

SWIMMING N.Z. Championship Finals at Auckland

AUCKLAND, Feb. 23 The New Zealand swimming championships opened to-day at the Olympic Pool, Newmarket. Results:—

Men's Breaststroke, 100yds First heat. —Callan (Auckland") 1; B. Murdoch (Hawke’s Bay) 2; J. Shaw (Canterbury) 3. Time 78.8 secs.

Second heat.—D. Dowse (Wellington) 1; T. Logan (Taranaki) 2; S. Savage (Auckland) 3. Time 75.4 secs.

Men’s Freestyle 100yds. First heat. —M. Baliantye (South Canterbury) 1; C. Williams (Auckland) 2; k. Jolly (Waikato) 3. Time 60.8 secs. Second heat.—P. Kotua (Auckland) 1; F. Higginson (Waikato) 2; P. Borrington (Auckland) 3. Time 60.2 secs. Women's Backstroke 100yds

First heat.—Ngaire Lane (Otago) 1; A. Shiels (Hawke’s Bay) 2; J. Hodge (Hawke's Bay) 3. Time 75 secs.

Ngaire Lane swam an effortless heat clocking 70 seconds —three seconds outside her national record. Second heat.—J. Stewart (Otago) 1; M. Holman (Waikato) 2; D. Ponder (Auckland) 3. Time 79.6 secs. LATER The principal surprise of the finals to-night was the defeat of the women’s 100 yards' breaststroke champion, Miss H. Forsyth (Otago) who was beaten out of a place in the event. The women’s 100 yards was a most exciting race between Miss B. Casey, who had won the title in four years, and Miss N. Bridson, a young Auckiander. They swam together tor the whole distance. Miss Casey’s margin of victory, for her fifth successive victory, was not more than an inch. She swam smoothly and well, and the time recorded was exceptional for the pool. Perhaps Miss Bridson was unlucky. Miss Casey was on her’ blind side from the turn to the finish. She may not have realised that she was so close. The men’s 100 yards freestyle championship was almost as close and exciting as the women’s, and M. Ballantyne made history by being the first swimmer from South Canterbury to win the title. He, P. Borrington, and F. Higginson turned together after the first 55 yards, and Bailantyne was first to show out in the ctash over the final twenty yards. He had a lead of slightly less than a yard with ten yards to go, but at this stage he was rapidly overhauled by Borrington, who seemed to have the title-winning sput, until he. unaccountably, slackened his stroke ab.out two yards from the finish. Even so, Bailantyne was ahead by not more than a foot. R. Jolly came fast at the finish and was just a touch behind Borrington.

There were two iaise starts in the first event of the night, the IUO yards breaststroke final, and D. Dowse (.Wellington) had to get his startingboard adjusted before the tield coulci get away. T. Logan (Taranaki) secured the best start, and had a slight lead at the turn, but within ten yards ot the run to the finish, C. Callan had caught him. Logan put a tremendous effort into his dash, but he could make no impression on Callan. Dowse was two or three yards away in third place. The mile was a great race between C. Chambers, tire titleholder, and R. Lucas, the 17-year-old Aucklander. They swam together for the whole distance, with Chambers finishing the more powerfully to win by two feet. In the following results, the centres are detailed as follows. —A. Auckland; W, Waikato; T, Taranaki; H. 8., Hawke’s Bay; Wn, Wellington; Wan., Wanganui; C, Canterbury; S.C., South Canterbury; O, Otago; S, Southland. 100yds Breaststroke Final C. Cahan (A) 1 T. Logan (Taranaki) 2 D. Dowse (W) 3 Time, 75.8 seconds. Women’s 100yds Freestyle Miss B. Casey (W) 1 Miss N. Bridson (A) 2 Miss J. Hastings (A) 3 Time 64.8 seconds. Won by a bare touch. Men’s 440yds Backstroke P. Mathieson (A) 1 D. Eranch (A) 2 W. Pasley (S) 3 Time 5 minutes 48.4 seconds. Women's 220yds Breaststroke Miss M. Sweeney (A) 1 Miss M. Teague (W) 2 Miss H. Smith (West Coast) 3 Time 3 minutes 24.6 seconds. Men’s 100yds Freestyle M. Bailantyne (S.C.) 1 P. Borrington (A) 2 R. Jolly (W) 3 Time, 60.2 seconds. One Mile C. Chambers (C) 1 R. Lucas (A) 2 D. Baird (A) 3 Time, 23 minutes 45.8 seconds. Men’s 100yds Butterfly Breaststroke T. Logan (T) 1 D. Dowse (Wn) 2 Time, 73 seconds. Alter the race it was announced that Logan had been disqualified for a false stroke, but later an announcement was made that the referee, the sole authority, had not made a disqualification and Logan consequently was adjudged the winner. Women’s 100yds Backstroke Miss N. Lane (O) 1 Miss J. Stewart (O) 2 Miss M. Holman (W) 3 Time 73 seconds. Waterpoio, first round.—Auckland 2, Waikato 2; Otago beat Taranaki by default. Second round. —Otago 6, Wellington 2. Yaldhurst Shield points are:-—Auck-land 3, Wellington 2, Canterbury 1, Otago 1, South Canterbury 1.