SWIMMING

New Zealand Times, Volume LII, Issue 12075, 28 February 1925, Page 10

SWIMMING

A CHRISTCHURCH LETTER

OVERSEA SWIMMERS COMING

STRAY JOTTINGS

The week has hwn an eventful one in Christchurch and tho southern city haa had some hundreds of visitors who have paraded thoir'centre "colours and shouted themselves hoarse when their own men won. The present meeting has ■}:. ?ti a wonderful one in 'more wavs than one. Firstly, wo hare seen the younger i.nvimmers given an opportunity to make good, and they certainly took the chance. J. Enwright. the Auckland veteran, beaten by a, touch in whet- will go down as an. historic encounter over 100 yards, gave place to youth, while Norman Batchelor -had the. ’220 yards championship wrested from him by Enwright, who swam a wonderful race, chased the whole way by Adamson Auckland) and Dowrett (Taranaki). Another feature of the gathering was tho way Auckland swept the board in almost every event, and! when they had compiled IS points for tho Yaldhurst Shield at the end of the first day they never looked like being beaten. The Aucklanders proved swimmers of a calibre only produced in one city juot non . Could the other provinces turn out such star performers as Adamson, the still speedy Enwright, the young and inexperienced. Pelham and several others, the classical 100 yards wbuld take a-genius to describe. Despite the fact that, the .junior afid intermediate championships had perforce ter be postponed indefinitely, vt waft soon apparent that the senior wnftntsyajone would prove a magnet* of strftngtb all who enjoyed good ,ra«cinjg and fine, sportsmanship. Wellingmf certainty did not astound Now* Zealand hy her pet "orraanpee, but it was mostly a young team which went > anvay, and the centre cannot regret Wieir_ inclusion, asin the long run it jja they will benefit. MoHardy iwftp certainly outclassed in , his 1(J0 Sards heat, but not disgraced he (M the others over 50 yards and made ithepa move at that. Mcllardy’s menEora are quite satisfied with him and rnofte careful attention to finer-jjfiiipts gill produce in him an even. Better swimmer. " Glaridge : was xccn” this gear to niake good, and he made a promising start by winning his 100 QMrds heat and gaining a place in the ional of the 220 yards. In each his jperfonnance at the evening carnival fa rather disappointing, as after *etig a gruelling pace over one o| two is in each race he. dropped Behind touch the rope well in the rear, ersleigh made a poor showing in I mile, and showed an unusual lack Eef judgment in his calculation as to jthes pace and tho distance which seiparated him from the others. At 000 fyards he pulled cut, and the Selectors ■decided later that he should not compete in the half-mile event. ■ KELLER HAN CUP. The following handicaps have been declared by Air P. Coira. for the Annette Kellerman Cup swimming race, which takes place at Lyttelton this afternoon:— E V. Cunnold (Auckland) ... scr L. Hill (Canterbury) smin J. Enwright (Auckland) 4Amin D. Lindsay, ;S. Canterbury) ... -llmin J. McLean (Otago) smin D. IPclham (Auckland) ......... smin L. Sfocrr(louse (Canterbury) ... ”smih J. Heaton (Auckland) 9fmin C. It. Riprdan (Canterbury)... 10)min H. G. Smith (Canterbury) ... llmin H. D. Hawkins (Taranaki) ... llmin C. W. Smith (Canterbury)... 1 1 (min :F. G. Grant (Taranaki) 12imin H. S. Weston (Taranaki) 13min C. H. Riph (Canterbury) 1-Smin T. Chaiapimi (Canterbury) ... . l-3miu E. K : Curtis (Canterbury) r, 13Imin ’R. isS»ptsdin (Canterbury) ... A.KRnriin N. ’Berge (Taranaki) ISimin G. ■ Sollett (Manawatu) llmin 6. [McKenzie (Manawatu)"... 14min J. .BlaUenev (Wellington) ... 14min Geo. Hill (Canterbury) lomin L. Clarkson (Canterbury) lomin IT. Priest (Canterbury) -.lsmin F. J. Sinclair (Canterbury) ... 15min r. G. Morpeth (Wellington) 22min The entries- of a number of competitors have been rejected owing to entrants being under the age limit. It Is necessarv that all the competitors should hare a medical certificate of fitness before starting in the race. [ OVERSEAS TEAMS. , It is highly probable that itr; coming Jfeeaftons the New Zealand Council will [embark upon an extensive programme fof tours by oversea champions. The [conference of head centres this week '.fully discussed the question of prospective tours, and there is every reason to believe that we shall see some world’s Ireoord holders in action here next year. iCho secretary of the council. Mr Baxter O'Neill, said they should pick on (three or four oversea people, so they could find out early if they were gyailable and map out a definite plan of qction. Tours in conjunction with (Australia never had proved satisfactory, and previous experience had shown that the Commonwealth would not. and quite rightly so, risk failure bf their tours in order to oblige New Zealand. We had been dependent on them simply because we had rot the (ready money. The sooner they started to find out when a tour could be arranged the better. Definite action Was then taken, and on the proposal of the Wellington delegates, it was decided to first of all ascertain whether R. Eve (world’s champion diver) and M. Christie, two Australians who were at the Olympic Games, would tour New Zealand next season. In thp event of their not being able to come Arne Borg, the Swedish champion, is to he asked to travel, and if he cannot coitie M icy Marichan Wehselau will be invited. The idea is a first rate one, and should result in a great deal of good to the sport in the Dominion. Another excellent proposal came from Mr I’. Coira, who suggested that after every year’s championship meeting two provincial teams should each tour an island. For instance, Auckland had performed well at the recent championship. and a tour could he arranged, for them over the North Island. It was rather late to carry any project into effect this year, however, but that was the idea, of the proposal. Similarly a South Island provincial team could tour the South Island. It was mainly intended that tho smaller towns should be reached and so one the sport a “lift” there. This scheme was greatlv appreciated hy conference, which passed a motion recommending the council to put the proposal 'nto effect next year, or as soon as possible. WfN FOR. LYALL BAY.

Tho Nelson Shield, which hns moved further along tho Lyall Bay beach and will rest this year in tho Lyall Bay Club's hands, has net been surrendered to the grasping hand of the South Island. Lyall Bay deserved their win, and tho shield’s installation at the local club’s rooms will make for a lencwed revival in life-saving amongst Lyall Bay members. Marawho were placed tljird, were

, the firrrt to congratulate the j ‘winner's tihteiir rijh’icvemont, and 1 themselves made a good showing, al- | though, they cam© to grief somewhat I over thoir water work. One point i separated Lyall Bay from New Brigh- : ton, who were placed second, although they were ahead on land" drill. Point 5 ? were awarded as follow, the first. being for land drill and the second for ! watevr work :—Lyall Bay 60.8 and 90.1. total 150.9; Ts r ow Brighton 60.3 and 84.6. total 149.9; Maranui 61.3 mid 73.0, total 134.8; Taranaki 58.9 and 73.7, total 132.6: North Beach 61.3 and 64.6, total 120.9; St. Clair 44.- 7 ■ and 71.5, total 116.2. j It is tinder.stood that a formal protest has been entered by on© of the j officials .against the method of judging for th© shield. It is alleged that some discrepancy exists in th© method of j working out the times, but whether 1 this is Hkelv to affect th© final result | remains to bs seen, although it seems j uniikelj'. | ABOUT SWIMMERS, i The nev iCO yards champion, A. 1). ! Adamson, is a swimmer who bids fan I to put up really good times in the near j future. Adamscn is a young swimI mer of athletic build ana' hfts r a re- : markable Turn of speed, over short disfcarioes. In' a duel relay he astounded tho spectfttdlia with a. marvellous'33 1-3 ! yards dash,, but unfortunately no time was talten of-it* It was undoubtedly th© fastest j>*ecs of swimming at the meeting, wiple m tho- flying* raa© be over 100 ■ yards in 61 . ■ &45sec. mdll have a chance to see him in-action- on Tuesday night whom an evening? carnival- ts- "-to be hold, at which -th© Aucklanders are to compete. .carnival Jfe going to proVq a most- interesting one, and a capdttdtv house 'will undoubtedly result: t There will* ho a large and variv«*. progra rime, including a flying i squadron race, and water polo. The ■J"!wHingtpri*et[ua<Jrbn 'will be- Glariclge. MclT.rdy, Pocock, Leaek, Wlieeley and i each, will swim 33 1-3 yards. The polo -iaaiSfi is: Fletcher, Evorsleigh, Leaek. Winstanley, McHaidy, Clandge and Mollier or Biakoney.

Gwitha Shand, although she decided not to compete in championship races, nevertheless appeared in a fib 2-3 ladies’ club race on Monday evening, and despite the fact that the distance is a little short for her, she 6wam tho race in ae good a time a 3 did Miss Jopson, the Otago girl. Miss Slismd’s time was 44sec, and is particularly creditable in view of the fact that -.ah© (has only been training a short time. Every indication points to the fact, that the present holder of the ladies’ 220 yards record is going a 3 well as ever when she vesuiites, and she will keep them all in her rear over her distances.

Ena Stockley, the young Auckland lady swimmer, won the 100 yards championship from start to finish. To those who have not eeen her in ac tion for some time a great improvement was noticeable in her work, and her stroke was the best of that amongst the ladies. Mr Anderson, the Auckland coach, has spent a great deal of time in fostering a good stroke in her, and the result of bis work wafc WidSnt: The 220‘yafds ladies’ championship going to Piri Page • • was fought out- at. a gruelling pace, and was practically a stroke for stroke race. The margin gained by Miss Page was not large, but gave a fine exhibition. Misses Jepion and Copplestcne were not seen in action this year, but they are both capable of putting up fast times as far as they /go,. • Miss Jiepson- still has a bad : ®ti*6ire,.-.hut ,it has.improved. " " The lazy Avon river was the scene of rather an exciting if not inspiring exhibition of sculling during the week, when two Wellingtonians .challenged two Soutldanders to a river race in craft which are almost as uncertain as single racing scullers. The race did npt conclude, as the Wellington boat capsized and immersed its occupants. The incident closed in a damp manner, both before and after the boat was re-' covered.

Referring to the recent death of Mr Thomas Shields, the chairman ot the conference of swimming centres in Christchurch, Mr W. E. D. Bishop, in his address to the gathering, said: —; “There hast been one severe loss to, which I feel I must refer at the outset.; Most of yc.u will have heard with the’ deepest regret of the death of Mr T. Shields, who for so many years did yeoman (service for thd association in Wellington. Probably no man was taore notable in swimming over such a long period of years ns was the late Mr Shields. His enthusiasm for the sport and his tremendous zeal in spreading a knowledge of the art, particularly among the school children, were known from end to end of the country. He. was a man who made the aim of the association a matter of practical application to his own life, and for very many years devoted a considerable time every summer to tuition. In -his death the association, has suffered a very severe loss, and J am sure that the sympathy of all swimmers will gb out to the members of his family.” A suitable motion was passed at a later stage of the conference.