SWIMMING.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume VII, Issue 1910, 29 March 1920, Page 2

SWIMMING.

NOTES AND COMMENTS. THE OLYMPIC FUND. Without waste of time, or even a preliminary flourish of trumpets, the work of collecting funds to send away representatives from New Zealand to the Olympic Games at, Antwerp is in full swing. Provided the- proper enthusiasm is maintained, and outside provinces do their share, the work of raising the neees-' sary moneys should present no difliculty. Certainly the public, by all accounts, is prepared to give, and, in many instances, to give generously. But whether this spirit is maintained depends largely on the enthusiasm of collectors themselves. Collectors, as the official collecting card reminds them, must "hustle." It, is not [only a question of "hustling" so that ] enthusiasm will not, wane, but the time with which the moneys must be raised is I decidedly short. The swimming rcprcs'en- | tatives and, presumably, the other competitors as well, must leave the Dominion by the end of April, and the cash isneeded before then. It should be hardly necessary to point out, that, New Zealand, for the first time, is to be represented at the Olympic, Games with the full status of a nation. That is a big consideration. ißut, in addition, the Dominion possesses I competitors who will do it honour. It is fact that collectors are often meeting with the query, "What's the use of sending anyone away? We haven't any swimmers good enough to distinguish (themselves." Against this argument it is possible, of course, to point out that sport generally will be stimulated by the policy of sending our best. away. However, in the present instance, if can be honestly said, as far as swimming is concerned, at any rate, that our representatives stand an excellent chance of actually notching points for the Dominion. To particularise—there is, first, that amazing girl performer, Violet Wnlrond, of Auckland, who, a few weeks ago, completed 100 yds in 71sec. Arc the pessimists aware flint this is equal to the English record gained by Miss I). Curwen. in 1913, at Liverpool? Do' fhey know that the world 's record for 100 metres is only 77soe, and that the winner's time at the last Olympic gathering was 79 2-3 sec for the 100 metres? There is every indication that Miss Wnlrond will be able to approach the latter time. The holder of the title, Miss Fanny Dnrack, also holds the world's record for lOOvds (ladies). This is Gfisoc. Jbtt Miss Pur'ack , is not, by all accounts, the swimmer j was, tand her present time for 100 yds is 11 not as good as Miss Walrond's. An ; American lady performer is alleged to |j have swum 100 yds in GSsec. But this j | was obviously done in a tank bath, and. j : under Olympic conditions, probably the ; time for 100 yds would have been over | TOsec. But the distance at the big sports I is 100 metres, or 10.0 1-3 vds. '; Miss-G. Shaud, of Christehurch, the ; "second string," is a swimmer who ha«, \ like Miss Walrond, made a notable im- ; provement in her times. At the last j • championship meeting she was Isec, slower j than Miss Walrond. But both girls micrht j easily improve their times before going into the water at Antwerp. ■ There is so little between' their present j performances that it is a matter of : decided policy to send them both. • As a breast-stroke swimmer, C. At.kin- j son, following the special training he, will : undergo in England, should be prominent. | His best time here is ,'imin ssec. for 220 j yds. The best time for 200 metres at i the Olympic Games is 3min lsec, so that : Atkinson's performance compares very ■ well. True, in Auckland recently, he .' took 3min 9sec over 220 yds, but in this : race Atkinson was not . seriously dial- ; lenged, and. in addition, had done no j special training for breast-stroke swim- : ming. Apart from his chances at the big i \ gathering, however, Atkinson's prospects are excellent for the King's Cup, a competition conducted by the Royal InfoSaving Society in London. This will be | held towards the end of .Tune or in July. I so that Atkinson should have thej opportunity to compete. A. Dalton's Appeal. It is seldom that a referee's state-' inents of questions of fact are : overruled. Yet this course was ; taken by the Council of the . N.Z.A.S.A. at its last meeting in co;i- j nection with the appeal of A. Daltou (Canterbury) against, his disqualification in the 100 yds Dominion Junior Cham- i pionship at Auckland recently. Dalton's | appeal was upheld, and the final of the race was ordered to be reswum at, Wei-1 lington. Possibly the race will be herd I within the next fortnight. Daltou was . disqualified owing to a collision with Baird, of Auckland, within a fcw r yards i of the finish, and the referee gave, the race to Baird. In any case, however, the referee was not entitled to thus make an award. By (he rules, the correct procedure was to have disqualified Daltou (if he thought fit) and order the race to be reswum, with or without ) Daltou. But the association did not make its decision on this ground, as the referee's answers to a series of questions which were submitted clearly showed that he was mistaken on several points. Thus, it seems quite clear that Dalton did not "torpedo" Baird as alleged, as, indeed, he was slightly ahead at the time of the collision. And following the collision, the evidence is clear that Baird walked several feet. No doubt the council was helped in making its decision on the facts —although, as stated, it, could have supported Daltou on the rules—for the reason that the race was witnessed by most of its members. Christehurch Club Revives. The Christehurch Club, after being

dormant for the main portion of tho big entries and some close finishes. This season, has now revived in earnest. An I evening the 25yds and 50yds distances interesting series of events for the F. Ifor Mr H. S. Batchelor's trophies are D. Waller Cup, which"were limited to'being swum. These races are for junipupils of the West Ohristehurch School, ors, but an open race is also being held, was concluded on Friday, 11. Fisher, 10 , The. Karris Cup Competition (interpoints, being the winner, witli Robson, secondary schools) has been postponed 10 points, second, and A. Broward, 8 to April 21. points, third. Throughout there were j SPLASH.