SWIMMING

Southland Times, Issue 22294, 9 April 1934, Page 7

SWIMMING

SCOUTS’ CARNIVAL GLADSTONE WINNERS OF CUP. Spectators had an excellent evening’s entertainment at the Boy Scouts’ swimming carnival on Saturday night. A big programme, liberally interspersed with novelty events and humorous items, was put through in record time, and those responsible for the running of the carnival have every reason to feel proud of their efforts. The standard of swimming was particularly high, this being due no doubt to the intensive training that all the competitors had been doing for some time past. D. Kennedy, of the North Invercargill troop, was the outstanding swimmer of the evening, winning all his races in convincing fashion. Kennedy is a strong swimmer and with a little coaching should show up well in the future. Other swimmers who were well to the fore were D. Yule, D. Robertson and P. Mclnnes. These three have good strokes and when they develop a little, more should be heard of them. Competition was keen between the various troops and every event was closely contested, though the greatest good sportsmanship prevailed. At the close of the programme it was announced that the St. Paul’s section had presented a cup for the winning troop, and that the winners of this cup were the Gladstone troop.

An interesting display of life-saving was given by the members of the Oreti Life-Saving Club. An exhibition of land-drill was first given, Mr A. Kingsland explaining the var»us movements, then these methods were put into practice in the water. Two young sea-scouts who are training for their bronze medallion also assisted and acquitted themselves very well. This item well merited the hearty applause it received.

Mr Kidd, Southland breaststroke champion, gave an excellent display of breaststroke swimming. His style must have proved a revelation to some of the older generation present, who would be used in their day to seeing tills stroke swum in much more laborious fashion. Mr Kidd also gave an interesting display of underwater swimming, covering one and a half lengths of the baths. His time for one length was 24sec„ a time which many would find hard to equal on the surface of the water.

Misses Rowena Mac Gibbon and Audrey Fitzsimmons gave a fine display of diving, executing all their dives extremely well. Their performance was well up to the standard shown by many senior divers.

A humorous interlude was provided by three cheerful jesters and their “family.” Their unrestrained frolicking had the onlookers in cheerful vein for the rest of the evening. Towards the close of the carnival, the president of the Southland Swimming Centre, Mr Arthur Kingsland, in a brief address, congratulated the Boy Scouts’ Association on the success of its venture. Having concluded his remarks, Mr Kingsland created an uproar by stepping calmly off the diving board, from which he had been speaking, into the water. As he had a kit of dry clothes awaiting him it is’doubtful whether this was accidental, but it was certainly a novel method of bringing his address to a close. Following are the positions of the troops for the St. Paul's Cup: Gladstone (14pts.) 1 St. Pauls (llpts.) 2 Makarewa (lOpts.) 3 North Invercargill (9pts.) 4 Gladstone Sea Scouts (7pts.) 5 St. Aidans (4pts.) 6 The programme was as follows:— Cubs’ Race (under 10 years. Width of Baths—D. Kirkland 1, E. Gibson 2. The diminutive entrants in this race displayed great keenness and the two placed competitors had no easy task to win. Cub Race, open (25 yards)—H. Rowley 1, E. Foley 2. Rowley and Foley had a keen tussle before the former managed to forge ahead to win by a few feet. Scout Race, under 13 years. (25 yards)—First heat: P. Mclnnes 1. Time, 15sec. Second heat: M. Thompson 1. Time, 191 sec. Third heat: P. Hewat 1. Time, 16~3-ssec. Fourth heat: L. Lyons 1. Time 20 3-ssec. Fifth heat: J. O’Neil 1. Time, 20 3-ssec. Final—P. Mclnnes 1, P. Hewat 2. Mclnnes took the lead early and went away to _ win convincingly by three yards. Time, 15 2-5 sec. Wolf Cub Race, 33 1-3 yards—H. Rowley 1, D. Kirkland 2. This was a close race, but Rowley had a clear cut win. Time, 27 4-ssec. Cubs’ Diving Championship—E. Foley 1, D. Kirkland and H. Rowley (equal) 2. The small competitors all gave good performances and the judges could have had no easy task in awarding the points. 33 1-3 Yards Open Championship— First heat: D. Kennedy 1, C. Orme 2. Time, 18 2-ssec. Second heat: P. Hewat 1, A. Flaus 2. Time, 24 2-ssec. Third heat: C. Bricknell 1, R. Lyons 2. Time, 25 3-ssec. Fourth heat: P. Mclnnes 1, D. Yule 2. Time, 21 3-ssec. Fifth heat: D. Robison 1, W. Adam 2. Time, 20 3-ssec. Final—Kennedy 1, Robison 2. Won easily by four yards, with a touch between second and third. Time, 19sec. 50 Yards Open Championship—First heat: C. Orme 1, D. Yule 2. Time, 34 3-ssec. Second heat: D. Robertson 1, P. Mclnnes 2. Time. 35sec. Third heat: D. Kennedy 1, W. Millar 2. Time, 32sec. Final—Kennedy 1, Yule 2. Kennedy made no race of it, winning by six yards, while a hard tussle followed for second place, Yule prevailing by inches. Time 30 2-ssec. Candle Race—First heat: J. Fenton 1, I. McMurdo 2. Second heat: C. Orme 1, E. Watt 2. Final—Orme 1, Fenton 2. An innovation in this race proved very effective. The race was swum in darkness and all that could be seen were the bobbing lights of the candles above the surface of the water.

Punt Fight—This event roused great enthusiasm, many sterling contests being waged before W. Millar emerged the winner. Senior Diving Championship.—W. Millar (13pts) 1, C. Orme (llpts), D. Kennedy (llpts) and D. Yule (llpts) equal 2. The standard of diving was particularly high and as the points show there was little between the placed competitors. Scouters’ and Rovers’ Race. —J. Watt 1, E. A. Wilson 2. Watt took the lead at the outset and went away to win easily. Time, 19 3-ssec.