SWIMMING.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXV, Issue LXV, 15 November 1913, Page 11

SWIMMING.

The rude blasts of the wind from the regions of ice, which in the other hemisphere men call Boreas, have of late on several occasions been let loose by their keeper and quite thrown back the swimming season. Naturally no one but the faddist wants to bathe in ice-cold water with an Antarctic wind as accompanist, and therefore the baths are deserted. It is hard luck on the lessee and hard luck on the members of the club that the season, which opened so early and so auspiciously, should have experienced such a setback. We rarely, however, get through the last months of the year without a fair" amount of broken weather.

The council of the Victorian Amateur Swimming Association had before it at its last meeting a communication from the Olympic Council of Victoria intimating its intention to hold an Olympic festival, in Melbourne annually, which will include pentathlons and try-out competitions in all branches of amateur sport, in order that new talent may be discovered and developed. The Association expressed itself as being favorable to the proposal, and promised the Olympic council its support. At the Southern Counties' 100 yards championship meeting at Croydon, a sensation was caused by Haskins succeeding in turning the tables on his previous conqueror, Annison. After each had won his heat in slow time, from want of strong opposition, there was another thrilling contest between the pair in the final, but Annison fell away in the last few strokes and was beaten by 2 ft. in 59 sec. for the winner's time.

Hatfield, at the Kentish Town baths, made another attack on F. Beaurepaire's world's record of 3 mm. 30 sec. for 300 yards, but failed to do better than 3 mm. 32 2-5 sec. It seems that Hatfield's recent figure of 3 mm. 26 2-5/ sec. \ though accepted as a world's record, is not recognised by the English Swimming Association, because it was made in a handicap, and not in a level scratch contest.

A promising young swimmer—he is only 17 years of age —is Harold Annison, a member of the Croydon and the Otter Swimming Clubs, and he achieved a first-rate performance in winning the 100 yards cnampionship of England at Brighton Baths. For the final P. Radmilovie (Weston-super-Mare) and J. Clutts (Brussels) had also qualified by finishing second in their. • neats, but Annison and Hatfield swam all? the opposition down, and a great struggle between the two leaders ended in Annison winning by only a "touch* in 60 sec. dead. At the same gathering England beat Wales towards the international polo championship by 8 goals to 1. The amateur diving championship of England was competed for at theHolborn baths by representatives of Sweden, Jersey, and America, as well as by some purely English talent. The winner was G. Gadsick, of Chicago, U.S.A.