OTAGO LIFE-SAVING CENTRE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21990, 27 June 1933, Page 14

OTAGO LIFE-SAVING CENTRE

[ ANNUAL MEETING :; _; ■ ■' i .. .-■',". ; ,'"S ■ ,-''. The annual meeting of the Otago head centre of the Royal. Life Savings Society was held in the Y.M-C.A. Rooms last evening, the president. (Mr, H. H. Henderson) being in the chair.: The annual report stated that during the year the interest shown in the centre's work in Oamaru had been widened, and the hon. district representatives there were to be congratulated 'on the work accomplished. Invercargill workers .had maintained their quota of awards gained, and in Alexandra and Balclutha districts the work was steadily gaining ground. In last year's' report it was mentioned that the revised conditions for the'various examinations would be found more exacting, and this had, no doubt; had itsi effect in raising the quality of work, a.result which was being realised at the expense of ■; quantity in the number of awards issued. This state of affairs was to be encouraged,'and itwas pleasing to record that the past year's candidates had fully realised the importance of being thoroughly efficient and confident of success when presenting themselves for examination.' During the year two awards of merit, five first-class instructor's certificates, 63 bronze medallions, 55/intermediate, 23 elementary, and 13 primary totfl of 161 awardshad been Beach patrol work had been well, looked after by the various surf clubs operating in the centre's territory, and much keenness %a<l; been ■ displayed in the various .competitions''held. Visits had been interchanged . between Oreti, Christchurch, St. and;" St; Kilda, and the efficiency of' the 1 ; various teams was freely/acknowledged. The value of this branch of life saving was demonstrated on many occasions. Two rescues worthy. of special mention were effected by members of the St. Clair Surf Club, Mr I. Turnbull bringing in Master Lex M'Donald after a difficult fight in -the St. Clair surf, and Mr A. Tyree effecting a strenuous rescue in the swift-flowing Molyneux River. . The recently-formed St. Kilda Surf Club proved its worth during the season by effecting some 20 rescues. The annual conference of head centres wag held at Palmerston North in February, when many matters of varying importance were discussed. Authority was finally given to the surf clubs .of New Zealand to conduct, their own affairs, and the granting of the necessary charter to the New Zealand Surf Association marked a progressive step in the. work of life saving in New Zealand. The annual surf championships of New Zealand, set down for February 25 and 26 at Foxton, were abandoned this year owing to the unsuitable surf conditions. The Sagar Clip contest, controlled by the St. Clair Club, was as great a success as ever, Oreti and St. Kilda Clubs also competing. The result was a. tie between St. Clair and . Oreti Clubs. The Oreti Surf Club was to be congratulated on obtaining the Kingsland Memorial Cup arid the presence of teams from the St. Clair and St. Kilda Surf Clubs in Invercargill had greatly assisted the Oreti Club. The annual contest between the secondary girls' schools for the Pufflet Shield was responsible for some extremely good work,; and the Otago Girls' High School team won first place by a very narrow margin. Dunedin Technical High School competed this year for the first time and secured second place. The Waitaki Girls' High School was to be commended for entering a team. Although 'not eligible to win the competition the school sportiugly measured its strength with the others and secured fourth place. For the first time a competition was held for the secondary boys' schools and five teams responded to the request for entries, the winners being Christian Brothers' High School. The work of the various teams was very well doae, and spoke well for the work of the instructors and for the future of the coraptition.. The sincere thanks of the society were extended to the voluntary workers who gave their assistance in the work, to the press, which gave unstinted publicity, and to the beach patrols, instructors, examiners and demonstrators, whose services were keenly appreciated. For the first time' on record the Otago Centre had asked for honorary associateships to be awarded to some of its older workers, and Messrs H. Henderson, J. Pereira, D. C. Bannatyne, A. Findlay, and P. A. Mathiesoh were to be congratulated on being granted this distinction by the Central Executive.'

In moving the adoption of the annual report the chairman remarked on the enthusiastic support the centre had received from the country districts and said that awards won in the country were welldoserved, as competitors had not the facilities for training that were obtainable in the city. Unfortunately fewer awards had been issued during the season than had been the ease for some years past, but it was hoped that this was only a passing phase, and that awards would be more numerous next year, as after all, the centre's principal duty was to stimulate competition in life-saving, and encourage swimmers to become as proficient as possible. He would like to see the schools, competing in the annual life-sav-ing championships, send forward more boys and girls for their awards, as this would tend to strengthen the teams as well as to bring them to a higher standard of efficiency. , Mr J. Pereira seconded the motion 1 and the report was adopted. .; OFFICE-BEARERS. The following office-bearers were elected:—Patron, Sir Charles Statham, M.P.; president, Mr H. H. Henderson; vice-presidents—Messrs P. T. Ruston, W. A. Jenkins, J. L. M'lndoe, P. N. Rundle, W. Fleming. D. C. Bannatyne, A. Findlay E. H. James, J. Pereira, Misses N. Fleming and D. Garratt; committee—Misses M. Collett, R. Gibson, L. Peake, M. Boulton, M. Staples. Messrs E. C. Isaacs, H. D. Gillies, S. Brown, and Bro.Brophy; hon. treasurer, Mr H. H. Henderson; hon. secretary, Mr P. E. Mathieson; assistant

lion, secretary. Miss M. Mathiesort; hon. auditor, Mr W. M. Sutherland; hon. solicitor, Mr J. W. Thomson; delegate, Otago branch New Zealand Surf Association, Mr A. Findlay; hon. district representatives—Mr George Chapman-Cohen (Qwaka), Mr George Jones, Mr M. K. M'Culloch (Oamaru), Mr George Frye, Mr J. Russell . (Alexandra), Mr E. R. Fitzsimmons (Invercargill); delegate to New Zealand Council,' Mr F. Glackin; delegate to Otago Centre; N.Z.A.S.A., Mr A. .Findlay; hon. medical officers—Drs Stuart Moore, Clarke Hanan, W. Evans, and W. E. Carswell; hon. examinersMisses M, Staples. N. : Flem'Dg, D. Samson, A. Jones, M. Mathieson, M. Boultoh, Messrs H. H. Henderson, A. Findlay. J. L. M'lndoe, W. A. Jenkins, P. A. Mathieson, W. S. Hindmarsh. H. D. Gillies, M. Tavlor, George Frye. George ChapmanCohen, R. Geddes, A. Thomas,- E. 0. Isaacs, D; C. Bannatyne, C. Lewis, E. R. Fitzsimmons, J. E. Salisbury. It* was decided to recommend to the incoming committee that it consider awarding a trophy for.a Medley Backstroke and Breaststroke Race with a view to promoting interest in these styles of ewimming.