GIBRALTAR SWIM.

Otago Witness, Issue 3859, 28 February 1928, Page 32

GIBRALTAR SWIM.

TOO ENGLISH GIRLS’ GALLANT

ATTEMPTS. FAILURE WITHIN SIGHJ OF SHORE. (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, January 10. Miss Mercedes Gleitze, who left Tangier shortly after 2 a.m. on January 2 on her second attempt to swim the Straits of Gibraltar, was compelled to abandon her attempt after being 13 hours in the water Miss Gleitze, who had been training hard at Tangier for some weeks past, was accompanied by a tug and was given a hearty send-off by a crowd of friends and supporters. The conditions were favourable at the start, and Miss Gleitze made good progress. Swimming strongly, she did not appear at all worried by the changing currents. By noon she was well over halfway across the straits, and was still vigorously breasting the waves. But a change for the worse came over the conditions. A strong west wind blew up. The weather became distinctly chilly, and choppy waves troubled the swimmer greatly. Still she struggled gamely on, and at 1.30 pan., still sw'imming with energy, she had got within one mile of Tarifa, the southernmost point of Spain. People on the Spanish and Gibraltar shores sighted the swimmer, and so confident were they of her eventual success that they actually made arrangements for her to land at Tarifa and convey her by motor car on the way to Gibraltar. But it was the last mile that counted. Buffeted by the waves, perished by the cold, and baffled by contrary tides, Miss Gleitze’s strength gave out. She wanted to go on, but she had obviously reached the limit of her endurance, and after 13 hours in the water she was obliged to acknowledge herself beaten.

Miss Gleitze’s previous attempt to swim the Gibraltar Straits was made on December 16. After being eight hours in the water she was obliged to give up owing to sea-sickness. She was then not quite halfway across. MISS HUDSON’S EFFORT.

Miss Millie Hudson started upon her attempt several hours after Miss Gleitze had entered the water. She took the plunge from a point east of Tangier, whereas Miss Gleitze started from the other side of Tangier. As in the case of Miss Gleitze, Miss Hudson found the conditions auspicious at the outset. She was accompanied by a tug, in which were several Tangier officials, and rifles were carried on board to stop too curious sharks. For the most part Miss Hudson employed what is known as the “ American crawl.” Her trainer, Mr Costa, states that she can keep up this stroke almost indefinitely. It does not tire her arms, and by long practice she has made the stroke perfect. Miss Hudson made astonishingly good progress in the early stages of the swim. She was reported after several hours as being seen in mid-straits. She was then going on well, apparently untired, and had not yet encountered the bad weather which ruined Miss Gleitze’s chance. Finally. Miss Hudson gave up four and a-half miles from Tarifa. after a swim lasting eight and a-half hours.