SWIMMING

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 28 February 1925, Page 10

SWIMMING

Taranaki hardly expected to be in it with the champions from other places, for their times are considerably above their opponents’. However, the experience gained by attending a meeting such as the liominion championships should be valuable. A local enthusiast says that the handicap under which local swimmers suffer in having only one baths at which to practise and getting only a few months of the year instead of, by means of tepid baths, having opportunity the whole year round, and certainly it is a strong argument. The opportunity for regular training all the year round gives the city swimmers a big handicap for the provincial to be up against. It is dvrncult to see how r it is to be avoided, and the latter must just battle on and do the best he can until the day when he rnav perhaps have equal advantages. It is interesting to look back not a o-reat number of years and contrast the position then and now. The conditions in the cities were .not then so good as many of the provincial towns now. Truly the times have moved a long wav. and the swimmer of to-day is given a great lead on his brother ot two decades ago or even less. And there were some great swimmers m those old days who, despite the modern conditions, would have given tne swimmer of to-day a great struggle. -Styles have changed, too, radically, and this is probably the greatest advance made in swimming. It is again inteiestmg and instructive to compare what was then considered the last word in “speed” style with the wonderfully developed trudgeon and crawl, so many heat, of the present day. The strides made are remarkable. Will there be manv more improvements or changes. The performance of Enwnght, the Uickland champion, in the 440 yards at the Auckland championship meeting was a great feat. His time. 0.44 3-o. is-a New Zealand record.-

TARANAKI CENTRE. Very eulogistic reference was made at the annual meeting of delegatee m Christchurch to the formation of a entre in Taranaki. The president said, inter alia, that the association now numbered 13 centres, who controlled over 90 clubs. Since last the conference assembled new centres had been formed in Taranaki and AshbuiLon. The Taranaki centre had proved to be a most successful body, and an evidence of its activity was afforded not only by the presence of delegates at the conference, but by the fact that it had many competitors taking part in the championship events. It was interesting to note that this'centre started out with two clubs, and had now a total of nine, being the third strongest centre in the North Island in that respect. He- added that the Ashburton centre had been formed only since the commencement of the present season, but was already showing signs ot considerable activity. The returns so tar lo hand show that there are 6668 swimmers in the clubs affiliated to the association, this figure exctasive ot associate members. Of this total 33i 0 are juniors. The associate members total only 754, a smaller proportion ot the total than he thoght was geneially believed.

ENCOURAGE SWIMMING. “LEARN TO SWIM” WEEK. PROPOSED BY CONFERENCE.

At the annual conference of delecates a long discussion took place on the best method of encouraging more people to learn to swim. It was eventually decided that the council should set lip a commission to investigate the teaching of swimming in general, especially the lack of improvement m speed swimming, and report on ways and means to improve and remedy these matters. . A Wellington remit urging the inauguration of a Dominion week _ vv as approved, and a commission appointed to go fully into the matter. Another remit from Wellington Centre urged that a swimmer be sent overseas to receive coaching and instruction in swimming for instructional purposes. In moving the adoption of the remit, Mr R. Smith said that they had' good men in New Zealand, but thev lacked that little hit of up-to-dateness that was required. In seconding the motion, Mr Coira said that if a man was sent overseas he could instruct the centre coaches on His return, and they in turn could instruct the club coaches. Occasionally Australia had turned out a good coach, but the standard in Australia was not over high. There would not be any improvement in New Zealand until they adopted the latest methods. He would be satisfied to withdraw the remit if they got representation on the commission which was to be set up. Mr Atkinson said that what was required was a recognised coach from Hawaii or America, who would come to New Zealand and instruct direct. It would be a better and a cheaper method than sending a man overseas. Mr Clouston said that instructors should- be appointed and that children should he taught to swim by proper methods. Although they were out to produce champions, their fundamental principle was to teach the young to swim so that they could save their own lives in cases of'emergency, or as the case may be the lives of others.

Mr W. H. Benson said that when it was all boiled down it was a question of finance. It was necessary to still keep plugging away at the Government to get an adequate sum of money to carry on what was a national work.' , Mr P. Coira said they would need £2OOO, and 'he thought that they would get it. It was not only necessary to teach swimming, but to educate the swimmers as well. Mr J. Clouston said that they had it on the authority of New Zealand’s best lady 'swimmer that they had as good a coach in New Zealand as they could get abroad, and to send a man abroad would be waste of funds that could be used for coaching in New Zealand.

The question of the best means ol coaching ie to be considered by a commission.