SWIMMING

Southland Times, Issue 19099, 17 November 1923, Page 12 (Supplement)

SWIMMING

(By

“Taniwha”).

The annual meeting of the Invercargill Swimming Club will be held in the Y.M.C.A. next Friday evening, November 23. The Bluff Club holds its second sports carnival this afternoon, and from all accounts it is to be an unqualified success. A good programme has been drawn up, and entries have come in well. In conjunction with the acquatic events, will be decided the semi-finals and finals of the president fours, which should prove a great attraction to rowing men.

Joan Luxton, Daphne Genestein and R. Creswell, three of the Christchurch Y.W.C.A.’s novices have made wonderful headway in the art and are now speeding up. Miss Luxton is probably the most improved of the three.

The Diving Championship of England for 1923 was won by R. Weal, of the Association Sportive de France, at the Coate Reservoir. The former holder, A. R. Knight, of the Otter Swimming Club, was second, and E. McDonald third. There were six competitors.

Miss Hilda James, of the Cunard Swimming Club, Liverpool, won the women’s long distance swimming championship of England for 1923, decided in the Thames on the last Saturday of September, over a course of five miles and sixty yards. Her correct time for the distance was 69 min 46 2-5 sec. Miss V. D. Wilcockson, of Chesterfield was a poor second. The performance of C. Claridge in covering 50 yards in 26 2-5 secs, at the opening of the Olympia Club last Sat. week is quite good. In fact, for the first race of the season, his time is noteworthy. He had good men opposed to him, including R. Wheeley, of Christchurch, who is considered by good judges to be the best man over a short distance in the Dominion. If Claridge improves upon his present form—and he should—he should be the short distance champion of New Zealand this season.

At the annual meeting of the Auckland Swimming Centre last week, the chairman, Mr A. J. Fernlandez dealt with the matter of the formation of a North Island Swimming Council. In view of past events, he said, there was every justification of seceding from the New Zealand Council. He had no faith in their administration, which he believer, hindered, rather than helped swimming. There was no reason why a North Island council should not be founded. Under the present regime it was practically impossible to bring outside swimmers to New Zealand without harassing restrictions. “I have always firmly believed in the live-in-the-water method of training,” says William Longworth in the Referee. It tends to build up muscle day after day without undue exertion, with the result that a swimmer becomes as fit as possible without doing hard, strenuous trials over distances. The man who can only have an hour a day to swim generally goes so hard at it that he overexerts himself, and uses up a great deal of energy without building up his muscles sufficiently. The result is that he is tired out by the time he competes in the championships.”

A visitor to Wellington recently was a popular ex-lady captain of the Invercargill Swimming Club, whose name is not being published at her own request. She informed “Trudge” of the N.Z. Sportsman that the sport is gaining immense ground at Invercargill and that the clubs are already active, members teaching the novices and making themselves altogether a lively lot. “The members (I am referring to the men) are taking a serious aspect of their work and intend taking several school children under their charge in the hopes of untarthing some champions. A big swimming carnival is to be held shortly, and I can assure you that the crowds will roll up, for competitive swimming is becoming popular among the people.” The visitor, who has not been competing in swimming events for close on two years, still retains her interest in the sport and is a person who is willing to discuss with anyone the relative advantages of the trudgeon crawl and Australian crawl or the great Waihopai.