SWIMMING

Taranaki Daily News, 26 November 1925, Page 4

SWIMMING

ACTIVITIES OF THE CLUBS.

CARNIVALS NEXT MONTH (By “Trudgeou.") lhe annual meeting of the New Plymouth Amateur Swimming Club was held last Thursaay evening before a good attendance of members. The annual report and balance-sheet disclosed a healthy state of affairs, and with the election of a strong committee a successful season may be looked forward to. The election of eleven new members at the meeting must have been encourao\l1 o to the incoming committee. With a little effort on the part of the present members, the membership of the club should show a substantial improvement. The swimming championships of the New Plymouth Boys’ High School passed off most successfully, the result of the senior events proving a surprise to a large number of supporters. Penman was considered a strong favourite for the senior championship of the school, but he secured only third place with 8 points. The performance of H. Thomasin gaining first place with 16 points is indeed a creditable one. Galbraith showed good form in gaining second place with 11 points. In the junior; championship L. Petry finished first with a good margin of points. Pettyhas performed well for the West End ■School in previous seasons, and is one of the younger swimmers worth taking in hand. It i-s to the schools that the clubs have to look for their future champions. * THE OPENING CARNIVALS. A splendid programme of events has been drawn, up for the opening carnival for the season to be held on Saturday, December 12. Seven events for the schools are included in the programme, and it is to be hoped that a good response will be received from the local schools. Four ladies’ events appear on the programme, and good entries are anticipated for these. The programme for the Taranaki Centre championship meeting is the same as for last year, with the addition of a “flying squadron” event. This event is for teams of four, each man swimming fifty yards. The distances for two or three of the events were altered slightly owing to the length of the Hawera baths being less than that of the local baths. Lhe date of the centre championships will probably be fixed in a few days. The Wanganui Central Swimming Club opened its season last evening, when five club events were got off. the public being admitted without charge. The suggestion made at the New Plymouth Club meeting last week that the local male clubs should combine and hold one big club night weekly is a very good one. and “Trudgeon" hopes it will be carried out. Such a club night would certainly help to revive the game of water polo. The move made by the local swimming clubs in requesting the borough council to take a poll for the raising of a loan for baths improvements is one worthy of support. The clubs have signified t’heir willingness to assist the council by offering to defray the ma jotport ion of the cost of the poll. TEPID BATHS. Training operations have been going on in Auckland for some time and several of lhe leading performers are displaying good form. The northern people are confident of doing even better at Napier this year. The performance of the Auckland team at the last championship meeting was certainly remarkable. Uon. Wilson, a previous winner of the Annette Kellerman Cup race, is devoting himself to long-distance work, and it will be his endeavour to again annex the cup. Cunnold, another “star” performer, is settling down to serious work, and seems little the worse for the winter spell. Rumour hath it that the provision of a tepid swimming pool for New Plymouth is not altogether confined to the distant future. The existence of an apparently inexhaustible stream of warm water in the vicinity of Moturoa is known to a number of people, and it is quite likely that this source of supply may be tapped. One exceptionally good contest for the Flannagan Cup event was witnessed two or three seasons ago, and it is the intention of the New Plymouth Club to swim the event over the full

course this season. A aub-committee has been set up to make the arrangements for the event. The annual meeting of the council of the New Zealand Amateur Swimming Association takes place this evening at Christchurch. The agenda for this meeting is always a long one, and several matters of interest to the centres will be dealt with. The Benson Diving Cup, which is competed for annually at the national championship meeting, is awarded to the competitor who wins the New Zealand intermediate boys’ diving championship. One or two of the local boys show promise, and it may be that the cup will find a resting place in Taranaki this year. THE CRAWL STROKE. Exponents who do not breathe regw larly lie flat, with head down, shoukiers square, face submerged, and use a slurt paddling action. The effect of keeping the head lowered is to float the leg; as high as possible,, the body thus lying in a horizontal position near the surface, which enables it to skim along. Undoubtedly great speed can be attained this way. but holding the breath for the length of time necessitated causes the physical exertion to become more acute and exhausting. Its range of effectiveness is therefore limited, parti ularly ,in open water. Under the litter conditions, those who swim as describe! ghow a great slackening off in their rate of progress after 1(70 metres have been covered compared with what they are capable of doing up to that distance. Some who are tremendously fast for a sprint are absolutely unable to keep going for as much a* a couple of hundred yards at a stretch, even slowly. The greatest thing that can be said in its favour is the fact that most of the world’s fastest short distance performers swim in fashion. Duke Kahanamoku, the famous Hawaiian. for instance, breathes only every fourth stroke. Daniels, another wonder of the age, likewise only snatches a breath periodically; in fact, I Jo not know of any American writ differs in this respect. RACING RULES. Each competitor shall start in the manner directed by the starter. Any competitor who starts before his number is called shall be disqualified unless he returns and, having touched the edge of the platform from which he started, restarts after his number has been called. Each competitor shall keep a straight course parallel with the course of the other competitors from start to finish. Any competitor who, when out of his own water shall interfere With another competitor, shall be liable to disqualification in that event at the discretion of the referee. DIVING. Front Somer*anlt: Running or standing.—Take a powerful spring upwards and outwards, turn one complete somersault and enter the water feet first. A slight bow at the hips is permissible, and somewhat adds to the effect of this djve. The arms may be either by the sides or at right angles to the body as in a “swallow” dive. Double Front Somersault. —Running or standing: Similar to front somersault, only it is necessary to ball up the body in order to complete two front somersaults before entering the water feet first. Perfect form in swimming is rarely seen. Even the world’s greatest devotees of natation usually display slight defects of style, while the stroke of the average man qr woman is invariably found to show several more or less pronounced faults of execution when carefully analysed. This is due both to the number of factors which : must be considered in practising, making concentration on any one most difficult,, and to the fact that the swimmer cannot see himself or herself in action, so that bad habits are often acquired unconsciously. It is all important, therefore, to be constantly on the lookout for faults and to swim as frequently as possible under the supervision of a competent instructor. Taking first the arm action, the errors chiefly to be guarded against are: Reaching out too far or too high; cutting the stroke; lowering the shoulders before or during the catch; overlapping or opening wide at the entry; sweeping in or out in driving; bending the arms while propelling; keeping the wrists unbent as they leave the water; recovering with rigid arms; rushing the recovery; striking the surface or raising the arms toa high on the recovery.