SWIMMING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23340, 4 November 1937, Page 4

SWIMMING

By Neptune

Club Hours—Mondays (8.45-9.45 p.m.), St. Clair and St. Kilda; Tuesdays (6-7) and Thursdays (8.45-9.45), Kiwi; Wednesdays (6-7 p.m.), Fridays (8.45-9.45 p.m.), Dunedinj Saturdays (8.45-9.45), Kaikorai; Tuesdays (8.45-9.45), centre's polo hour. All club hours mentioned above are at the Municipal Baths. Zenith Club hours are nightly at the Y.M.C.A. Baths, except P'ridays. FIXTURES November 6.—Secondary school boys' life-saving and relay competitions, at Oamaru. November 15-20. - Otago Centre's "Learn to Swim" Week. November 18.—Secondary school girls' life-saving and relay competitions, at Dunedm. November 24.—Kiwi Amateur Swimming Club's carnival. November 27.—Taieri Amateur Swimming Club's opening carnival, at Mosgiel. December 6-11.—National "Learn to Swim " Week. December 8 and 11.—Otago senior and intermediate and junior championship carnival. December 15.—Dunedin Amateur Swimming Club's carnival. December (date to be arranged).—Batt Cup Harbour Race, at Macandrew Bay. January 8, 10, and 12.—New Zealand national championships, at New Plymouth. January 15, 17, and 18.—New Zealand intermediate and junioi championships, at Nelson. January 29.—Country clubs' championship carnival, at Oamaru. CLUB NOTES KAIKORAI The club's water polo team has now begun to develop some combination, and everything promises for a good season. L. Highfield, m goal, played a very creditable game against St. Clair on Saturday night, and undoubtedly helped to save his team from defeat. In the backs Eric Moore, Bill Duncan, and Les Laing would do well to pay more attention to marking their opponents more closely and by spending some time in improving their throwing. Ralph Smith is developing into a good player, but is inclined to wander from his position. Dave McLachland and Ettrick Sonntag are also playing well, and one goal of Sonntag's on Saturday shows that he is ready to grasp opportunities. The junior and intermediate members were notable for their absence on Saturday. They should now be getting down to hard work, as the competitive season has begun, and the club expects great things from its juniors. J. Ness and E. Still would profit by some training, either during the lunch hours or at club hours. Ness's stroke, in particular, with attention, could make him one of the leading swimmers in the district. ST. CLAIR

The 1937-38 surfing season was opened at St. Clair last Saturday afternoon by Mr H. H. Henderson, president of the St. Clair Life-saving Club, in the presence' of about 40 members. Mr Henderson, who has been connected with the club over the past 21 years, expressed his pleasure at seeing so many members present, and wished the club every success during the coming season. He then headed a parade of members into the surf, and the first combined swim of the season was enjoyed. Following this there were races for the children, the Treacle Bun Race being especially popular, both with the participants and with the spectators. Canoe races and a life-saving display concluded one of the most successful opening days held for some years. The Sagar Cup competition is to be held on Sunday, November 21, and the following teams have beeen selected to compete:— Team No. I—J. Durand (bellman), L. Newbound (linesman), Williams (patient), G. Withnall (captain, and reeiman); No. 2—C. Elliott, F. Muir, V. Sparrow, N. Bewley; No. 3—C. McGregor, W. Hudson, V. Robinson, E. Lewis; No. 4—H. D. Gillies, J. Cranston, J. Foster, I. Hay; No. 5—E. Toase, W. Kaler, H. James, H. Devlin; No. 6—C. Gladwin, R. Watts, C. Gore W. N Wood; No. 7—A. Beadle. A. Wren, A. Pritchard, I. Rodgerson; No. 8— H. Callender, A. Tyrie, C. Eckhold, J. D. Alexander; No. 9—J. Roberts H. Lewis, A. Raines. J. Swan; No. 10— N. Warren, R. Campbell, W. Carr V. Aldous; No. 11—J. Clulee, A. McTaggart W. Dyson, H. Gore. The captain of each team is responsible for getting his team together and arranging for practices. .... *u„ Teams to represent the club at the Otago Championships at Oreti and the New Zealand Championships at Christchurch will be picked from the following, and as competition for places m these teams will be very keen it will be necessary for all members to commence training immediately:—Seniors —H. D. Gillies, J. Durand, W. Warren, J. Robert, C. Gladwin, H. Lewis H. Callender, E. Lewis, H. James W. Hudson, J. Cranston, J. Swan, E. Toase, F Muir, W. Kabe, A. Tyne, V. Aldous, V Sparrow, A. McTaggart; juniors— A Wren, R. Watts, R. Campbell, J. Foster A. Pritchard, I. Rodgerson, C. McGregor, V. Robinson, A. Raines, W. Carr, Williams, J. D. Alexander, J. Clulee, C. Lawrence, W. Dyson, D. Reid The following instructors will be in charge of the teams:—Seniors, A. Beadle and N. Bewley; juniors, W. N. Wood and I. Hay. Training will be carried out on Monday and Wednesday evenings at 6.30 p.m. and Saturday afternoons and Sundays, commencing next Sunday, November 7. Any member who does not intend to compete in either the Sagar Cup or the championships, or any member whose name is not included above and who wishes to compete, please advise A. Beadle, care of the Public Works Department, immediately, ine bronze medallion must be held, by all members competing in championship events. , KIWI The Kiwi A learn has been fortunate enough to win both of its matches in the first round of the senior water polo competition, St. Clair being beaten by 7 goals to 1 last Thursday night. Once again it is pleasing to record that the two young members of the team, W Dyson and C. Lawrence, showed consistently good form, and, as usual, M Taylor was a tower of strength to the side. This player is showing form as good as at any time during his career. . , ± The B team is a largely untried team, and after a good game went down to Zenith in the B Grade competition on Tuesday night by 4 goals to 2 Zenith making their first appearance in water polo competition, thoroughly deserving their win. Bill Warren is an improved member of the Kiwi side, but before the B's can expect to make a good showing they will have to learn to handle more -nirely and to swim up with the ball. Arrangements are now fully in train for the club's carnival on November 24 which promises to be one of the best meetings Kiwi has ever staged.

The co-operation of Messrs Arthur Barnett's, Ltd., has been obtained, and the parade of 12 mannequins displaying the latest in bathing costumes and beach attire promises to be a novel and spectacular event. Much interest will centre on the 440 Yards Invitation Scratch event, in which the field reads like a championship one. Len Newell, of Canterbury, has promised to take part, and an invitation has also been extended to the Southland champion. The other competitors will be J. D. O'Driscoll, E. Toase, W. Johnson, and Don Reid. D. H. Symes has been invited to take part, but it is doubtful if he will be available. In the ladies' events there will also be splendid competition, as Miss Joyce Macdonald (brilliant Southland backstroke exponent) and Miss Moira McGrath (the Southland freestyle swimmer) have been invited to compete. The St. Clair Life-saving Club is to stage a life-saving display in costume, there is to be an Interhouse Four-a-side Relay, and several other first-rate attractions are being arranged. Brian Wren must endeavour to loosen up. Jack Quennell shows promise on the crawl, but must pay attention to his breathing. Edwin Griffen should get his feet higher to obtain better balance on the breaststroke. V. McGavin shows distinct promise at breaststroke. Little Val. Brown is a very keen little swimmer, and the attention she pays to what she is told is evident in the improvement noticeable in her swimming. She has good flotation, and should be ready for competition next season. Beverley Brown is steadily improving on the crawl. She has a very good balance in the water, but must endeavour to obtain a straight pull-through with her arms. Betty McDonald has a natural aptitude for the crawl. She has a good kick, and will soon develop a good stroke if she practises hard. June McCulloch is another promising swimmer. She should put in plenty of practice at breathing. Josie Hodgkinson is now doing her first few strokes, and Desmond Gibson is another who is .just beginning to strike out on his own. This lad will be a crawl swimmer before the season has been under way long for he has good balance in the water and nice flotation. He should endeavour to get his head down a little lower. Eugene Loughran is a very promising new junior member. He should concentrate on his kick for a few weeks. Valerie Clark should pay attention to her arms and keep her head and shoulders up. The Cunningham brothers are keen members, and Alex is showing good promise as a diver. Dave Caddie, one of the club's small members, is a keen diver, but should keep his legs together. Doris Lee should endeavour to get her elbows higher. The early morning class is proving a success, and as many as 12 members are down regularly. They include Edna Goldthorpe, Margery Goldthorpe. Olwyn Armour, Annette Armour, Betty Reid, Jack Houston, C. Sell, and Ron Blanchett, and the seniors include Misses I. Purdie, W. Dunn, and E. Abernethy. The club captain (Arthur Thomas) is to be complimented on the amount of work he is doing in coaching, not only at the club hour but in these training classes. Cyril Leeden is one of the greatest workers the club possesses, and that he still retains his enthusiasm for water polo he showed by turning out on Tuesday night and playing quite a useful game against Zenith. As a club man, Cyril is hard to beat. Valmai Payne is swimming very well at present, and is entering competition this season. She would make more progress if she could shorten her arm stroke. . Les Dyson is a much-improved swimmer, but he must learn to lift his elbows and keep his fingers closed. Despite the unfavourable weather, a large crowd journeyed by bus to Buckland's Crossing for the club's fortnightly outing last Sunday. The next trip will to Akatore on Sunday, November 14.

MONEY IN DIVING It might not be expected that there would be much money in professional diving, but Pete des Jardins, a former American Olympic star, earns as much as £2OO a week giving exhibitions in England. It costs the Wembley Stadium people £3O to have him for half an hour. COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP DIVES Th dives selected by the Otago Centre's Diving Committee for the country clubs' championships being held at Oamaru on January 29 are as follows: . „ , T , Men (all from 10ft board).—No. 1 (a), header forward, running, straight (degree of difficulty 1.2); No. 8 (a), header backward, straight (1,6); No. 14 (c), isander, standing, with tuck (1.4); No. 20 (b), backward spring, forward dive with pike (1.2); No. 25 (a), half-screw, forward, running, straight (1.7); No. 9 (c), somersault, backward, with tuck (1.5). Ladies.—From 3ft 6in board: No. 25 (a), half-screw forward, running, straight (1.6); No. 8 (a), header backward, straight (1.4). From 10ft board: No. 1 (a), standing header, forward (1.1); No. 1 (a), running header, forward (1.2). . • Intermediate Boys (all from 10ft board).—No. 1 (a), standing header, forward, straight (1.1); No. 1 (a), running header, forward, straight u-*>! No. 8 (a), header backward, straighl (1.6): No. 9 (c), somersault, backward, with tuck (1.5). Intermediate Girls (all from 3ft 6in board).—No. 1 (a), header forward, standing, straight (1.0);. No. 1 /a). header forward, running, straight (ID- No. 2 (c), somersault, running, with tuck (1.4); No. 9 (c), somersault backward, with tuck (1.4). LIFE-SAVING INSTRUCTION It is to be hcyped that the decision of the conference of the, New Zealand branch of the Royal Life-saving Society to approach the powers that be with a view to having compulsory training in life-saving introduced into the Police Force and the ranks of school teachers, will result in something definite being done along these lines as soon as possible. The necessity for action in the matter is urgent —more urgent, perhaps, than the nonswimming public realises, for in a sea-girt country like New Zealand a knowledge of life-saving should be an essential part of the equipment of a policeman, and more particularly of a school teacher. It has many times been the case that a constable, first on the scene of a drowning fatality, might if he knew something of resuscitation, be the means of saving a valuable human life. Moreover, Jo a man constantly on duty near beaches and wharves, and at seaside resorts, a knowledge of elementary water-work would be invaluable. In Dunedm there is already a move among a number of members of the Police Force towards acquiring a working knowledge of life-saving, and several of them have been successful in gaming their bronze medallions. Something more comprehensive than individual initiative is heeded, however. Instruction in swimming and life-saying should, one would imagine, form just as important an item of the curriculum at the training depot as the everyday physical exercises. Teachers "J the training colleges—at any rate those who are physically fit—should, before they pass into schools, have taken at least the bronze medallion examination. They, in turn, would pass their knowledge on to their pupils, and the benefit accruing from this need hardly be stressed. As things stand, the proportion of teachers with the necessary training in water and land-work is all too small, and too frequently the onus of instruction lie? on members of the various clubs. In the majority of the secondary schools, of course, training in life-saving is carried out, but not nearly to the extent it should be, and every child who can swim should also be taught what to do when a fellow swimmer gets into difficulties. No doubt this is a large order, but with the co-operation of the Government it could become an accomplished fact. First, however, it is necessary to have the teaching of swimming in schools made compulsory, and from recent indications it would appear that this desirable state of affairs will come to pass before very long. "SUPPORTERS" I was asked the other day if supporters would be allowed to travel to Sydney with the team for the Empire Games. I replied that I hardly thought it likely, and that if the members of the Games Council had had the same experience of these so-called "sup-

porters" that the manager of nearly every travelling sporting body has had, non-official members of the party would be anything but welcome. Everyone knows them, these "supporters." They compete not, neither do they assist, but, basking in the reflected glory of the competitors, they succeed only in making themselves plain nuisances. Theirs is a peculiar mentality. Merely to be seen in the company of a competitor seems to give them fame that, while vicarious, satisfies them im mensely. Immediately whatever tournament they are gracing is over their interest in the sport ceases until another team is ready to travel, and they bob up again quite ready to be included in everything that is going. The genuine workers do not count; the " supporters" who, after all, might be classed as hangers-on, invariably succeed in getting first, and frequently, the lion's share of everything. At a picnic, they are the leaders when the meal-bell rings; in a bus they succeed • . i.__...4:.* n i-* v wtnartc in hfiO. ging the best seats; at a dance given in honour of a team they are generally the noisiest, and it is always they for whom a return bus has to wait Moreover, it is noticeable that they can be found in the centre of any rowdyism which arises. Yes, they are a decided nuisanse, these pushful "supporters." Every sport is the better for their absence.