Swimming Notes

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7967, 25 November 1911, Page 17

Swimming Notes

rHE application made by the terser Bay uiuu at tiie last meeting of Wellington. Centre lor pennibaiou , to hold a earuivai on January (-in- . in vert-ary Bay) cmpnasi&es tiio trouble , winch ib iiKuy to we experienced in the allocation or nates for club galas. The Wairarapa Club will doubtless claim that I dale lor its annual lunctiou at Aiaster--1 tun, and by reason oi the long x>eivod during winch tne day hits been set as-ue lor • Jla&tertoa the application cauuo-t very well be refused. Tiio Worser Buy > Club is anxious to revive the old time • spurts gatherings which were ono of tho caic-r aitracuous of Aniuvtjvary Buy m Xmst years, aud its request for peiinis- ! siou to do so formed tne subject of a rather interesting di.-scuss.ion. The ax>plication, thougu dmcrrta lor the present, will, wituuut doubt, be eventually granted, aud as last year, swimmers tins , | seiuyon -will have the choice *Ol two big | gains on tho January holiday. It is cie- | cuicuiy uniortunate that tneso functions j shoum clash, lor the Wairaraxia Club I has established a rf-putatioii in Welling-, j ton that brings it a large contingent or > ; city swimmers annuaiiy. Last year about forty visited Jia&xtrton to comx>ete, and thero is every indication that the number will be increased this season. ! Tnis muster always includes tiio cream ' of our local swimmers, and any carnival j held in town on tnat date .suffers in consequence. This is, of course, no reason | why the Worser Bay body should not run a iugluy successful gala, for out of the hundreds of swimmers in Wellington it should ‘ have little clilficulty in finding big fields. Neither club, therefore, win greatly suffer by the carnivals being held on the one day. A third question has now arisen in connection with tho Anniversary Bay gatherings. The Port Nicholson Yacht (Jiub, anxious to xiromote a big Wellington, instead of a Port Nicholson regatta, has under consideration the question of apxh’oaching the other aquatic bodies wun a view to an amalgamation being brought about for the xmrposos of tins day’s entertainment. This will, of course, have little or no effect on the Waivarax>a Club, but it might, unless proxicr aj> rangemeuts are made, seriously interfere j with tho Worser Bay Club. No definite proposals as to the form this joint function should take have yet been outlined, but in considering tho matter the Wellington Centre should keep prominently in view the claims of the Worser Bay Club. This club, though one of the youngest in Wellington, has undertaken a liability that very few amateur athletic bodies would be x>repared to risk, i and .t is essential that It should receive all the sux>port and encouragement which the centre can reasonably give. If the of a big aquatic gathering reaches fruition, and the swimming portion of the function is held elsewhere than Worser Bay, tho effect will bo to practically deprive this club of its carnival, and so reduce tho facilities for the committee to pay off the debt with wliich the club is saddled. Tho centre therefore should bo decidedly cautious in its dealings with tho yachting fraternity, ■ for though. a monster Anniversary Day j regatta, catering to every form of - aquatic and athletic pastime, and creating .a widespread.qmblic-interest may be i desirable from all viewpoints, it is with I swimming and its encouragement that < the centre is chiefly concerned.' The application of the .Worser Bay Club should, therefore, receive ©very consideration, for

Anniversary Day Galas

BY “CRAWL.”

j suit of tho elusive crawl he lost to a great extent, his skill with the trudgcon, * and now confines his attention almost wholly to the shorter events. His is a serviceable stylo lor dashes, but it is not one that could bo commended to young swimmers as a correct guide. H. Jenkiiisoii, who gained third place iu the final of tho fifty yards event, and who wou his heat comfortably, showed 32sec on tho watches, which is equal to his best performance's last year. He did little serious training last year, but devoted some time to distance work, and a course of similar treatment this year should prove beneficial. C. Brice, Now Zealand’s sprint champion, is already iu fairly good trim, and in the 100yds event he covered tho distance in something like Ofsec. It was in this event in November, 1909, that Brico first showed himself to Jbe possessed of more than ordinary possibilities. With a concession of lOsec from R. Heal3 T ho wou in 70 2-ssoc, swimming through a fairly large field. In the same race Healy (lid 03 3-ssec, which is tho best time that has yet been established on tho opening day. Handicappers’ opinions of the respective abilities of Healy and Brice have altered somewhat since then, for though Healy conceded Brice lOsec in 1909, on Saturday last, Brice was asked to give his clubmate 2sec; S. Henrys had a runaway victory in the boys' event, and won as he pleased in the creditable time of 38 2-ssec. M. Stevenson, one of the smallest swimmers who , have ever entered the competitive arena, was badly treated by the handicapper, who quite over estimated his ability. Generally, however, the handicapping was good, and in tho face of the finishes in the two senior events nobody can find fault with the work of Mr Wilton. The general standard of the swimming was decidedly better than last year, and improves the season's prospects. SPLASHES The anual meeting of the Council of the New Zealand Amateur •Swimming As- j sedation was held on Saturday last, , when tho 1912 New Zealand champion- ; ships were allocated to tho Canterbury Centre. They will be held on February 15th, 17th, and 22nd. The 1913 championships are to be held in Wanganui. The New Zealand Council has decided to affiliate with tne Amateur Swimming Union of Australasia, an action winch will have the approval of the majority of swimmers throughout the Dominion. Tho council -seceded from the union a few years ago, the grounds given being that as New Zealand possessed no swimmers worthy of contesting Australasian premiership honours, it was a useless ex- j pendlture for the council to remain in \ the union and continue paying affiliation ■ fees. In of the performances of j Malcolm Champion, however, it has been long considered by most swimming • Dfliciais that the New Zealand body should again join the union, and at the last conference of delegates from the various centres this course was recom- • mended. The adoption by the council of ’ 1 this recommendation will meet with gen- \ I =ral support.- . Mr N. Goldsbury has been elected secretary and. treasurer of the New Zea- 1 land Council, vice Mr P. N. Bundle, who is leaving Christchurch. ;

As a result of the recent renovations carried out ~at To Axo Baths, a large room now exists at the foot of the stall's leading to the men’s bathing pool. Beyond a dressing shed there does not appear to be any use .to which this place can be put by the Council or the keeper of the baths, and the centre should therefore consider the ad vis. bully of applying to the Council lor permission for the room to be used by the club having their headquarters at Te Aro. A movement, emanating from the- Wellington Club, was set on foot last year to ohiam the use of one of the large dressing boxes for club purposes, but tue centre, through a quite unnecessary fear of stimulating "club feeling" (an insidious nucrobic organism much discussed at. that time) refused to accord the project its support, and the proposal ‘ died in its infancy. There is no reason now why the centre should not endeavour to obtain for theuse of the clubs this rooip, which by its position will never be greatly used as a dressing room, and which wifi not en- 1 hance the reputation of the baths if it j is left to be an ornamental adjunct. l The Worser Bay Club will open the . season on Saturday. December 2ud. The . races for that day are; Boys under twelve, , 40yds handicap; junior race, fiOyds handi- | cap; senior race, 100yds handicap. Entries ' i close on November 23th. Following these ’ i races there will be an exhibition of lite- ■ i saving. _ On Saturday December 16th, , there will be a 100yds race for juniors, j and a. 50yds for seniors. The ladies’ • branch will;hold its first general, meet-' i ing on Tuesday next, A working bee was I , organised last Saturday afternoon to clear the site for the new club house; A good number turned up and fine work was done. The committee of the Sydney League has decided upon holding the following State championships this year: 100, 220, 440, 300, SSO, and 1760 yards, 500 yards j teams’ race, and diving; whilst a 50 yards ladies’ scratch event and ladies' diving will also be held. At a recent meeting the Sydney Club decided to submit the following arrangements for the contest with the Wnitcmata dub, Auckland: The events to be : 100yds and 410yds scratch race, three men to swim from each club, and the best all-round performance to win; 100 yards breaststroke race and diving, with similar conditions; mile relay race, four men from each club, each to swim 4-10 yards; 540yds relay race, five men from each club to swim 108yds each; and wafer polo. Each club to select eight men from whom competitors in the above events must be picked. Messrs H. Hardwick, M. Duffy, and W. \V. Hill were appointed a committee to select the Sydney Club team. The "Sydney Horning Herald” states: 'The team will probably leave on January 17th, and will return i to Sydney on February 2nd. As the Wai- . i temata Club includes Champion, Frey- ! berg, and Atkinson (breast stroke), all : New Zealand champions, ’and the first--1 named long distance champion of Eng- | land, the Sydneyites will need all the 1 strength they can summon for the trip." It is not certain that Atkinson will be among the Waitemata Club’s team. The last we heard of that swimmer was as a competitor for the King’s Cup in London, and no notification of his return to New Zealand has reached us. i Eighty: Is Babbage an agreeable 1 sportsman ? 1 Tigbty; Not exactly. He generally ' creates a racket when he is playing golf ( and gets into a hole when he engages - in tennis.