MODERN RECORDS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22250, 26 October 1935, Page 1 (Supplement)

MODERN RECORDS

BY KOTARB

,THE SCIENTIFIC MIND

Oliver Herford, most versatile of modern wits, who died the other day, onco published a sort of comic geography in which ho summed up tlm essential virtues of the chief countries of the world, virtues omitted by the usual text-books. Ho unfortunately did not get round to Neiv Zealand, But as lie had evolved a fixed formula to apply to every country, if he had thought New Zealand worth including he would have treated us as he treated Monaco and Turkey and all the .rest. His final judgment on one and all is this: "The inhabitants of (say) New Zealand are the most moral and patriotic people in the world, and their army is second to none in bravery and won tho world war." So the humorist has his fling at national self-esteem. There is not much chance in the world as it is to-day for the nation that suffers from an inferiority complex. Peoples are taken at their own valuation. The modest-violet type of mentality has become obsolete. There is no nation so humble that it does not boldly flaunt before tho rest of tho world its claim to be second to none in some particular national quality. Wo all must make some place for ourselves in tho, sun. I suppose that is wliv we have taken so badly our footballers' mediocre showing. But all records are made to be beaten. Even our champion of champions, Lovelock, had his name written among the world's record-holders for only a month or two. At some point, perhaps not far distant now, man will have reached the stage when the limit of physical prowess in all fields will have been achieved, and world records that will stand for all time will DO finally established. Then we shall be back at tho older idea of tho cam° for tho game's sake, and it should be a happier world. Champions An way, every champion is beaten sooner or later, unless, liko.Tunney, be withdraws from the game and refuses to submit himself to the incessant attrition of defending himself against challengers. Those that are endeavouring to wrest his crown from him have a stimulus to effort and improvement that the solitary dweller 011 the summit cannot possibly have. The runner that does the pacing is always at a disadvantage. There is, too, tho unpleasant possibility of a decline in tho champion himself. Both factors have 110 doubt been operating in our football. British football may be much better than it was in post-war years. Our skill in tho game may have passed tho peak, and be definitely 011 tho down-grade; for by an immutable law of human nature we move on upward and downward curves and never in a fixed rtraight line. There are other matters _ that ha\*e to be considered in this business of records. T have been looking up the cricket records of New Zealand in 1896. On the whole the batting averages in interprovincial matches are lower than thev would he to-day in the Plunket Shield series. But tho bowling ficures are startling bv nresent-dav standards. A. H. Fisher, of Otago. took 35 wickets with an average of 6.8; A. Downes. also of Otago. took 2! wickets with an average of 8. Yon can assume either that there were veritable giants in those days, or that the wickets at that time were all in favour of the bowler, or that the standard of batting has greatly improved. Prohablv there is some truth in all three explanations. Ancient and Modern It is often debated how our athletes to-day would compare with the young men of ancient Greece, the most athletically-minded people that the world has known. It is not possible to dogmatise. They had no means of taking times in the old days. The sundial no doubt suited admirably tho easy temperament of tho unhurried ancient Greek. The frenzy for speed had not afflicted the world. But the sundial has its limitations for clocking a hundred yards sprint. And besides the Greeks counted the aesthetic aspect of their games as primary. Pace was good, but grace was better. It was the combination of both that won the applauso of the crowd. Ugliness and ungracefulness were tho worst crimes. There is a record 1 have come across somewhere of a Greek athlete who jumped some forty feet; but modern scepticism will rank that prodigious leap among the myths, to be classed with the exploits of Hercules. In our own days, since times and distances have been scrupulously taken and recorded, there has been an almost incredible development of human prowess on the track and in the field. An English journal has recently tabulated the world records of ISBO and 1935. The world's best in 18S0 would in most cases represent only an average performance at a provincial meeting. Ten seconds had never been broken for the hundred vards, two minutes for tho half-mile. The best ciunrter-mile time was 50 2-5. the mile 4.2: i 4-5. The mile record to-day stands at 4.6 4-5. and the chances are that will not stand for long. Tho jumps stood at 6ft. 2Jin and 22ft,. lOJin., against the present figures, 6ft. Ojin. and 26ft. Bjin. Three feet six inches have been added to the pole jump, fifteen feet to the shot-put. fiftv-one feet to the hammer-throw. New Technique

That is an amazing record of achievement. Obviously the movement must soon slow down, and in tho end ceaso altogether. Wo might conclude from these figures that there has been some outstanding improvement in physique during the last fow years. There may be something in that. But tho advanco in medical science, which has been reflected in a greatly increased expectation of life, has been to a certain extent counteracted by tho nerveracking conditions of modern lifo. The human body must eventually be seriously affected by tho rush and noise that seem an essential part of lifo as it has come to be to-day. The war, too, must have contributed to a deterioration of physique, by killing off so many of the finest of tho manhood of all the nations, and by depriving so manv children of tho food essential to proper development. This orgy of world records is really due not to stronger and better men, but to the close study of athletic technique. Our modern athlete knows far more about his job than his counterpart of fifty years ago. The phvsiologist has taught him the secrets of ]iis own body, and how to make the most of it. The moving-picture lias given him tho chance to see himself in action. He can study his technique in slow motion, and knows exactly what is wrong with his action. The same scientific study has enabled him to devise now methods, particularly in iumping and hurdling. Diet has also become an imnortant factor. The massed intelligence and knowledge of our ace has been brought to bear on the athlete's problems with these astonishing results. There is nothing carefree and debonair about vour modern champion. Winning athletic events has become a question of close scientific study. America has introduced the new attitude and carried it through to its present perfection. As a result nil the world records to-day aro held bv Americans, except two, the iavelin and the ten miles, held by Finns. Our modern pre-eminence is a tribute more to the scientific mind than to the pres-ent-day physique.