GIRL'S GREAT SWIM.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVI, Issue XLVI, 21 October 1911, Page 8

GIRL'S GREAT SWIM.

MISS LILY SMITH COVERS FIFTEEN MILES-IN THE SOLENT. Miss Lily Smith, the twenty-year-old daughter of Superintendent .'Smith, of the Whitefriars Fire Station, London, has accomplished a remarka-We' swimming feat in the Solent. Mr. Smith is the man who 'bore himself witlh such remarkable bravery at the recent cold storage fire on the south side of the River Thames. Mr. Smith, at great risk to himself—he was unconscious for two hours afterwards—crawled into a smoke-laden chamber and" hauled out three of his men who had succumbed to tlhe deadly fumes of burning provisions. His conduct is likely to be recognised,by those in authority. " Miss Smith is known to her friends as> the "Water Lily," but the comparison i 6 hardly apt, as -she- is tall and very fully developed. Plerhaps she got her pretty title because, she is the possessor of a perfect pink and white skin—the sort tihat is known to the 'beauty specialists as milk and roses. Moss Smith attributes her splendid complexion entirely to her swumming. Th© task the young lady set herself was to swim from the Clarence Esplanade Pier at ISouthsea across the Solent to Ryde Pier andr. back inside 5 hours 25 minutes. The feat has only been performed once—<by Mir. Horace Davenport, very many yearsago, and the. time Tecord mentioned is his. At five minutes past eleven Miss. Smith, wno is at present holiday-mak-ing at Shanklin with her family, dived from tlhe Clarence Pier, amid the encouraging cheers of thousands .of onlookers. She was accompanied by a tug, which carried her father and hier sister, Professor Walter Brickett? her trainer, and several friends. Professor Brickett coached from a rowing boat. Using the ftrudgfeon stroke, Miss Smith went away at great speed, and without mishap- or incident of any kind site oomip'jeted tlhe first half of her journey in four hours and 'twelve minutes. As she touched one of the piles of Ryde Pier and struck off on the return, journey she was cheered to the echo by thousands -who had gathered at the newsof. her crossing. She was 'behind her time, it is true, but she was in splendid heart and as frisky as a porpoise. Not long after turning it became evident that.her task was a hopeless one. The tide was in a contrary mood, for, instead of taking her straight across, as it was expected to do, it tried to carry her into the haalbour. The young lady fought it most pluckily, but when three miles across an old strain in one of her knees asserted itself, and she had to come out. Before doing so, however, she did some track surgery in the water, bandaging her knee with handkerchiefs handed to hear by her trainer. Altogether, Miss Smith was in the water five hours and eighteen minutes, and during that time she must have covered quite fifteen miles of water. Once the tide nearly drove-her against the hows of a battleship, to the great concern of the crew, who mustered to a man and gave ,her -three rousing British cheers' as she swept past. Miss Smith remarked as she sped on her way that she was glad she did not hit the battleship, as. she_ "would not like to hurt it, poor thing!" The iSdhursting trudgeon stroke was used by the swimmer throughout.

Early, next montlh Miss Smitih will attempt to swim from Worthing to Brighton, or vice versa-, a distance of miles, on one tide. This feat has never been accomplished by any .swimmer. She has also designs-on the Channel, and will inake her first- attempt next summer, all being we'll.