AMONG THE SWIMMERS

Hawera Star, Volume LIV, 9 March 1935, Page 13

AMONG THE SWIMMERS

FRENCHMEN’S TARANAKI VISIT pm SURF CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS NOTES BY “TRUDGEON.” Next Monday night, will see tlie Hawera Swimming Club run its final inter-club carnival of the season when a. polo team and a team of swimmers will be present from Wanganui. The final of the ladies’ polo, Inglewood v. Hawera, will also be played. An interesting event to be staged will be the inter-house relay, . this event having been run before with marked success.

Last Wednesday night at New Plymouth saw jF'itzroy take the senior polo championship efi Hawera by two goals to one an ons of the most stirring games of polo yet seen in Taranaki. Fitzroy jilayed a great spoiling game together with a much improved display of combination, 'fhe Hawera team territorially had the best of the game,' but . the defence was too sound, the Hawera forwards being unable to penetrate, try as they might. Appearing at ■ the New Plymouth carnival was Jean Taris, the French 400 and 1000 metres champion, who gave an exhibition swim over 400yds and followed this up with a. demonstration of swimming, using the aims only and then the legs. He demonstrated the great power derived from perfect timing in. the log action.

Emil Poussard, the champion diver of Europe, gave one of the greatest displays of diving that has ever, or possibly, will ever be. seen in Taranaki. His perfect poise on the board aiid control in the air was a revelation to all who saw his diving. Last week-end the West Coast Surf Championships were held at Castlecliff beach. The arrangements for the com - petition left much to be desired, there being a distinct shortage of officials. The buoys, of which there were four, were not in lino and the fastest time rested a great deal on which buoy a team drew.

Ohawe, which team was the holder of the Haekshaw Searle shield, were unfortunate in view of the fact that they gained fastest time in their heat, but were only placed second in time. Tlieir official time was given as 56 seconds slower than the team which was actually second to them. THE CRIAWL. An extract from the early history of Wellington college recently by Mr. Frank Leckie, ot Wellington, records that the crawl was introduced to the city way back in 1884 by a competitor at tjie college sports. The annual swimming sports took place at To Aro baths, says the writer. Among the competitors was a recent arrival from Honolulu, P. George Hutchison, who, wiien he started in the race tinder 14, was greeted with a roar of laughter from the spectators. However ,thc account of the race in the “New Zealand Times” stated that Hutchison went off with a peculiar but powerful stroke and won easily. Such was the' introduction of the crawl swimming stroke into Wellington, perhaps into New Zealand. In tlie following year, Hutchison won the race under 15 and also the race open to all the school, thus becoming college champion for 1884. His elder brother, Frank, said that George and he were at first shv .of the way they had learned to swim in the Hawaiian Islands.

Hutchison was the son of a leading medico of the day in Wellington, who was a real enthusiast in physical development and took a keen personal interest .in that aspect of school life. Shortly afterwards, they left Wellington and took up ' farming in North Taranaki and swimming was superseded by farm work. Apparently, too, the crawl went out, for there appears to be no record of it until after 1900. The incident and the extract will, however, be of interest to present-dav swimmers with whom the crawl is almost generally accepted.