PROMINENT SWIMMER

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXV, Issue 227, 24 August 1945, Page 2

PROMINENT SWIMMER

DEATH OF MR C. A. CHAPMAN AUCKLAND, Aug. 2d.

The death of Mr Charles Augustus Chapman in .Auckland at the age of 60 years recalls a conspicuous act o! bravery performed during the floods in Paparoa in March.. 1920. Mr Chapman, who was horn in Sydney, came to New Zealand about 190 A. At (In, time of the floods in North'and 26 years ago lie was living two miles from Paparoa, and when he received nows that the township was inundated lie set out for it dressed only in a bathing suit. When he arrived there he found two men clinging to timber in the middle of the flooded river, while a crowd of terror-stricken people looked on helplessly from the hank. He was fatigued from running, hut swam out twice iu the swirling waters with a ladder and brought both men to safety. Mr Chapman next turned his attention to a women and her child, who were clinging to the branches of xi submerged tree, and eventually succeeded in bringing them to safety.

For those rescuer, Alt Chapman received the Albert Medal and the Royal Humane Society’s Gold LifeSaving Medal. As a swimmer, he won championships in Australia and New Zealand.