SWIMMING

NZ Truth, Issue 889, 9 December 1922, Page 9

SWIMMING

Spinal Curvature Theory. Exploded Officials' 'DufiesirjGurr Starts, Handicapping.

(By' "PLUNGE.")

Some Tew weeks . back this writer made reference to the charge that the newer styles -of swimming induced "spinal curvature. The statement bad appeared m places as wide apart as Dunedln and Wanganui, and perhaps further.. As' "Truth" has the largest circulation in 'New- Zealand, an endeavor was made through these columns to discredit the charge before ft gained any. hold upon, thpse that lid not know. It is gratifying now lo find these styles supported by Mr I. A. Duffy, the well-known, physical instructor, than whom there. ,ia ho better authority m the Dominion. In the course' of a" lecture' during Health Week m Wellington, Mr Duffy stated that he had lately observed fifty boys' and girls under the age of fifteen doing the trudgeon and crawl strokes, and none of. them had spinal' curvature. }Ie quoted Dr. W.S A. Chappie, author of several works on physical training, as saying: ."The.' v trudgeon and crawl strokes are best alike for the purpose of speed' and symmetrical development. There is no other exercise known to physical trainers that' possesses bilateral and symmetrical advantages' to the same - degree." , Mr Duffy added that, /m his opinion, m the case of a Blight curvature' both;! the crawl and trudgeon strokes of i swimming will' act as a temedial/measure. Nobody is .more, < pleased /.than rTlungc" to seethat armngemenfs for U»e National championships- at Timaru ore well m hand. Any criticism of the South Canterbury Centre that appeared In", thla column " was meant m a constructive spirit and one can only hope it was accepted as such. From all reports received lately the centre Is doing exceedhig'iy'-we'H-and they are fortunate m. having someone down there who has a. thorough knowledge of what is required and Is guiding the centro along the right lines. "Plunge" will venture a little more advice. First of all, ;the officials for the carnival should- be wisely chosen and keyed right up to. concert pitch. If. possible they should be assembled before the opening day a.nd rehearsed m their duties. The events must be run off m rapid- succession so as to keep the spectators thrilled right through, and m this connection the first day counts most. If that day, is slow and tame the people will not come back a second time. The starter la the one to see to this, and ho should have each lot of competitors after the first lined up on the board before tho preceding event finished, and. he should insist that the judges and timekeepers record their results. without. any delay and be ready for the next "spasm" at once. One of the best starters at Whipping them off quick was Grlf. Kich, ot . Chrlstchurch. Tho writer docs not, know if he is still m the game, but vhe^was a, treat to watch. If a man was not on his mark he was left out and they soon "took a tumble," arfH as one lot of competitors entered the %vater the next lot would line up m their places. Each day's programme m February should not occupy more than two hours, and if South Cant4|fbury can get them oft m that time they will better the Wellington cbntrol last year, where • the Btarting was on the slow side. The starting for the championship events should be by gun only, as was initiated m Wellington last v year. This is the only method that is fair to all the competitors. Some quite unfair criticism was "levelled 'at the Wellington starter last year, as.ln.no case wan he to blame. There should be a rope about 12. yards from the starting board, to drop m a case of a false start, and if this had . been there on the first day at Wellington it would have done away with all the trouble that occurred. During the visit of Misses Shand and Hoelt to Honolulu all tho events were started by gun and both these girls are quite satisfied that it is the only fair way of starting scratch races. There are one or two old contestants at championship fixtures who are well known as adepts at beating the verbal atartors, and the gun should put them ,on the level. No event gave more anxiety to the officials last year than the Kellorman Cup. and this anxiety was also shared by Mr W. B. Bishop, the New Zealand president, who acted as referee for the championship carnival. Proficient as the- competitors no doubt are, there is always tho risk of an accident to mar tho raco, and absolute protection should be assurod every contestn/it. In this r-ri tor's opinion tho majority of 'drowning accidents amongst those tliatican swim aro due to "nerves." Anyone that can swim at alb should bo ablo to keep afloat for an Indeflnlto period, but when he loses control of himself ho flll.s with water and drowns. We know tho best of us aro Huble to an attack of fear, and it Is very Infectious. Lust your It was not until a day or two before the raco wan swum that satisfactory arrungomenta woro completed, and at least one of tho offlclala spent a couplo of sleepless nights ovor It. For a number of years there- has been friction over Iho appointment of polo referees, culminating m novoral j instance* In a display of bad fooling when the deciding «anio came to bo played. Surely It should bo possible thin year for the Now Zealand Council to »;ct In early and appoint a man that will bo acceptable to all parties. 11 has several times. been apparent that there is need of v syatem of handicapping which would bo applicable to tl>u whole Dominion. As it is at present there la but little 'fticuntf of judjjlng the culibro of a competitor who entorft for a rut-o outside tho district whore he Is regularly competing. The Association entry form la cumbrous anil ambiguous m Us tormn, jutd last HoiiHon produced one moat unfortunate cuno, and ouch yeur wuon

the' handicap events at the championship fixture are being adjusted the handicapper has a most difficult task and often ends up by doing some blind guessing. The Canterbury Centre has adopted a system which, so far. has given" excellent results, and it is worth , the while of other centres to consider adopting it, or the New Zealand Council 'fostering it by an amendment of the rules. The system is simple. In each event the New Zealand record is taken as a standard and for each competitor the first handicap of each season is to be framed on .the best performance of the preceding season or the last season m which he swam. For example, the 100 yards record is GOsec, and if a man swam 62sec last season, then for this season his mark would be» 2sec anywhere m New Zealand, and there he remains until he breaks such time or until the handicapper is convinced he cannot reproduce such a. performance. a New Zealand' record is. broken, then the standard is amended accordingly.. In the case of overseas swimmers visiting and competing m open handicaps their marks would be j>o many seconds behind scratch, if their previqus performances warrant such "a course of action. For example, Bill Harris's best lime over 100 yards is 54 2/s'sec, and he would be 6sec behind scratch. If all centres adopted a.uniform scheme such as this a swimmer would always know what mark he would be on at any carnival m New Zealand, and the present unweildy system of entry forms would be obsolete. To ensure the . success of the scheme an up-to-date handicapping system must be kept, and already the rules of practically every centre provide tor this, although it is more honored m the breach than In the- observance. This is practically the same Bcheme that is m use by the Trotting Association, and it seems to work satisfacs torily there. The same idea is work* od by Dolph Kit to, the handicapper for the Wellington Amateur Athletic As-, sociation. He believes m framing his handicaps as if the best man m New Zealand were competing and he places his competitors on the marks accordingly. / One patent advantage is that It every man to get m his best form early m the season and keep In it. Only the man who .consistently trained, would meet wfthr a proper measure of success. Aner' all it is ' only the pleasure of competing against his fejlows and keeping fit that the amateur sport looks for , and this scheme would be an additional stimulus along those lines. A second part of tho Canterbury system deals with the dasßUJying of handicap swimmers, but this will be dealt with at. a 'later date.