A TALK WITH BEAUREPAIRE.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIII, Issue 270, 16 November 1909, Page 3

A TALK WITH BEAUREPAIRE.

THE CHAMPION SWIMMER

The achievements of Frank Beaurepaire during his trip to England and the Continent, and his more recent exploits in Australia, have stamped him as one of the greatest swimmersAustralia has produced. His opinions on swimming and training will, therefore, be of interest to all. Speaking to a representative of the Sydney Morning Herald he stated that during his visit to England he found all the long-distance men using the trudgeon stroke. The crawl is faster, but it is resorted to only in sprint events. The breast stroke he found to be quite out of date. He believes swimming to be more popular in Australia than it is at Home.

"What I mean by more popular Is that there are considerably more people in each thousand in Australia who go in for swimming than, there are in England. This might be due to the fact that the facilities are not the same there as here. The sport, *however, is on the up grade in the Old Country, and I expect to see it become more and more attractive. In England and Scotland the baths are heated during the winter months, and swimming is indulged in the whole year round." "I have met Cecil Healy," he continued. "We competed at Perth in a quarter-mile race, which--I won. "Healy, like Daniels, of New York, is a class champion—a sprinter. Hardwick holds the championship of New South Wales over 300 yds. The best men I have met are H, Taylor and T. F. Battersby. Taylor is a well-known distance swimmei1. He beat me over 500 yds in England. Battersby, a comparatively new man, also beat me. But I, in turn, beat both of them. My wins in England were- r 44oyds (salt water), 4min 59seo; half-mile,- llmin 44sec: and one mile, 25min 15sec. The late B. B. Kiernan and I have each won four championships. I won also three Belgian championships, and one in France. , "Good as the present day champions are, none of them can, in my opinion, compare with Kieran for time records over 220 yds to a mile. He was the best swimmer we have produced. The nearest I got to his Tecord of smin 19sec fbr 440 yds was'smin 23 4-ssec. D. vßillington beat him in England over a mile in 24niin 42 but Kieran was not then in form. In winning this same mile championship race I took 25min 15sec, and it so happened that I was the first Australian to succeed to the prize. My best time for a mile is 23min 47sec.

"I would not like to dictate what any swimmer should do or should not do to achieve fame in the water. But I will say I am a total abstainer. Any young man strong enough might gain a .swimming championship if he' is regular in his practice and attends well to his health. Cecil Healy excepted, all our Australian champions have established themselves at the age of eighteen years. In England the age is higher, due, no doubt, to the different climate. Maturity is earlier here. I believe in the use of oil for rubbing down after strenuous work in the water; some use embrocation. Some, too, use oil before goiflg in. I regard swimming as excellent exercise; it gives play to all the muscles. Walking, I should say, would be good exercise for one who aims high in the swimming world. I don't do much walking; but in the winter I go in for football, simply because I like it. I have been swimming in contests for about three years. "It was Kieran who advised me to go in for long-distance work. This was at Albert Park just three weeks before his death. The first long-dis-tance men I met were Mason and Clegg, both Victorians. I regard Mason as the most improved man in Victoria. Mason and I came out the,, same year. My swimming weight is lOst 31b, and my height sft 7in. I don't know what my chest measurement is, but they tell me I have a thick chest, and big muscles Oft' the body below the arm socket. lam told that Kieran was not so deep through the chest, but that he was broader in the shoulders. He and Billington, as well as many other swimmers, had big hands and feet. My hands are small, and my feet, too. I believe large hands would be an advantage to a swimmer. As to practice, I go in about twice a day. While in Sydney my times are after breakfast and after dinner—say, a couple of hours after each meal. When at home I go in before breakfast and before tea. I never go swimming on a heavy meal." The young champion stated that

sportsmen here more than stood favorable comparison with those at Home. He did not ■ meet ■ with swimmers of any particular ability in France, but he met a few in Belgium. He regards the Sydney new Corporation Baths as the best for all purposes that he has seen anywhere. .. . , ;