VISIT OF AUSTRALIANS

Taranaki Daily News, 21 December 1933, Page 10

VISIT OF AUSTRALIANS

FORM AND ITS POINTS

SWIMMING THE JAPANESE CRAWL.

JACK ENWRIGHT’S GREATNESS.

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The visit of the Australian girls, Frances Bult and Claire Dennis, will not soon be forgotten. Their styles have aroused much comment, none of it Unfavourable. Firstly, the relaxation will probably receive attention. Then Miss Bult’s turn,’ Miss Dennis’ long plunge at the Start of the race, when she swims under water for five or six strokes, the differences between the Australian and American styles of backstroke, and other points too numerous to mention, will all be thrashed out. If Taranaki swimmers can carry relaxation into effect, then sprint swimming times should be lowered considerably. B. Milne, of New Plymouth High School, has one of the finest styles in the province,, but at present he lacks that little bit of ease which makes the difference. Mrs. W. Chambers on Saturday took quite an interest in Milne, and pointed out several details to him. As she said, the position of the arms out of the water does not matter as long as they are relaxed. It is under the water that real work is done. Milne practised Mias Bult’s turn to good effect on Saturday, and another who successfully mastered it was G. S. Anderson, Hawera. Japanese Crawl. So much has been written and spoken on the Japanese crawl since the Olympic Games last year that all but the most enthusiastic have become just a little weary of the topic. Miss Bult’s demonstrations of the stroke was therefore refreshingly interesting and indicated more fully her extreme versatility. The hands enter the water only a few inches in front of the head, but the, fact that both arms are pulling at the same time was not emphasised previously, and was consequently a feature of the demonstration. Also, an interesting point was that the feet do not thrash, but go round and round, like the blades of a propeller. Mica. Bult had the whole stroke perfectly under control. ■ . In the opinion of Mrs. Chambers, who has made a special study of the different styles, the Japanese style is not likely to be adopted by other countries, chieflly because it is the one stroke suited to the Japanese physique. Mrs. Chambers considers that, of all the strokes she saw at the Olympic Games, Johnny Weismuller’s was-the easiest, the fastest and of a style that could be copied by the whole world. Weisnftiller reaches well in front for the-catch, and besides keeping the feet well under control, never breaking the surface as Miss Bult does, he has a hydroplane action, with the chest almost out of the .water. Mrs, Chambers considers Australia will never develop a real speed star, capable of winning Olympic sprints, while the feet are allowed to break the surface. Enwright’s Greatness.

If any swimmer in New Zealand is entitled to greatness, it is Jack Enwright, whose appearance at Fitzroy’s carnival created interest almost equalling that of the Australians. Enwright is 50 years of age, and previously this.season had not swum 220 yards at one attempt. He left Auckland by baby car at 5 a.m. on Saturday and travelled right through. Then he swam in the 220 yards, giving away 32 seconds to Claire Dennis. At the finish, he was only a few yards away, from Miss Dennis. His effort in the- 66 2-3 yards was too great, and he was almost ill at. the finish. He had intended to play polo,. but was too exhausted. Enwright’s style is so simple, beautiful and controlled that, if he were a young man, he would undoubtedly be one of the great ones in the. swimming firmament—and that applies to the whole world. Actually, his style is prettier than Miss Bult’s/ for while he has not her peculiar easiness of stroke, his arms go through in a better position. Promise of R. Williams.

One outcome of Saturday’s diving display at New Plymouth was much praise for R. Williams by Mrs. Chambers. The Australian chaperone said it had to be remembered that Williams was untrained but she had been very much impressed by his exhibition. She expressed the opinion that Williams in the hands, of Frank Kurtz, the American champion who visited Australia last March, would develop into a diver perhaps of international class. That was high praise indeed for the East End man, who has practising several of the set dives more or less on. his own.

Australian Visitors Impressed. Both at New Plymouth and Hawera Mrs. Chambers and Misses Bult and Dennis were impressed by the, carnival organisation, which was, they said, equal to anything they had seen in New Zealand in their tour. The enthusiasm of everybody was a noticeable point and there were many promising swimmers, Mrs. Chambers said, who she hoped some day to see competing in championship swimming. . . One Thing to Learn.

. The Australian Swimming Association look after its swimmers. Many people wondered why on Saturday night at New Plymouth the Australian visitors did not compete in the final of the 220 yards. Australian rules, : it -is stated, forbid swimmers under their jurisdiction to take part in more than one race of 220 yards or longer in the one evening. The way the problem of heats and final is overcome is by holding, the elimination races during the week and the final on the last day. Ladies Life-Saving.

Something new in the way of carnival items is promised by the New Plymouth Ladies Life-Saving Club, which proposes, subject to the approval-of the Taranaki centre, to hold a carnival in February. The competition will be for the Lobb Shield, and points will be awarded for ‘ life-saving, 66 2-3 yards to be swum breaststroke while dressed, then backstroke for 33 1-3 yards. Undressing while in the. water and rescue of the patient will complete the competition, which should be an interesting departure from the ordinary. At the same carnival, it is proposed to hold the ladies’ 220 yards championship.

Hawera Club’s Good Carnival. On Monday evening the Hawera Swimming Club staged its most successful yards later in the season. carnival in years. The Australians showed beautiful swimming and they "took the honours in the 150-yard events in effortless style. The committee is to be congratulated on its organisation and praise is due to the handicappers for their good work. Frequently only a touch separated the placed swimmers. The inter-club relay resulted in a wonderful finish in which the scratch Hawera team won by the barest margin from Eltham, which was receiving 5 seconds. Anderson, Jobson, Powdrell and Beaven are a fast team. Individual Performances.

Miss Suit comfortably broke 30 seconds in both her 50 yard sprints and in the

dual relay final with Anderson the combination returned 25 2-5 seconds for the two lengths. Gordon Beaven swam well m the 150 yard open. He may have given Miss Bult a harder race had he not broken a shoulder strap in his costume, which rather hampered his movements until the togs finally disappeared altogether. Beaven should prove useful over 220 Richardson, Patea, showed great Improvement in the event for the breaststroke artists. Fred Clarke, provincial champion, was giving him 4 seconds but was still 2 yards behind him at the finish. Clarke is not quite fit yet and his sustained sprint in his endeavour to stay with Miss Dennis proved just too much for him, although he put up a very creditable preformance. He should retain his title again this season. Horrocks, an Eltham junior, displayed good form in winning the boys’ 25 yard event. More will be heard of the lad. feoug. McGlashan dived well to win the junior open dive. His second to Horrocks In the boys’ race was also a good performance. Eileen Kelsen and Betty Smith can still hold their own with the best intermediates while Peggy Robertson and Connie Marsh are doing well in the ladles* events. “Scotty” Oliver gav.e an excellent display in taking first place in the open dive. The other divers were never in the picture with him. Good Polo Players.

S. Gorman is proving very useful to the club in both polo and freestyle events and he is rapidly Improving. Ted Tarrant is also playing good polo and his goal against Stratford was vary useful. But Ryan, too, played one of his best games to date while Beaven proved a useful forward, .although he has a tendency to wander about the field rather much. He is a good goal thrower. Max Nelson in. goal saved some hot shots against Strtaford, who have some promising material Hawera to Visit Wanganui. The Conville Club, Wanganui, is featuring the Australians at the carnival this week and Hawera will be playing the Gonville water polo team on that occasion. A return match is to be played at Hawera.

Coaching from Australians. The Hawera swimmers who received coaching from Frances Bult on Monday morning were greatly appreciative of her efforts. She explained her fast turn and coached several swimmers in this important department. She also stressed that in swimming the crawl, the hips should not be allowed to roll although the head and shoulders might turn slightly to aid in breathing. The kick, should be perfectly even and the arms and legs should always be relaxed. In her. stroke this relaxation is very evident and-she-appears to glide through .the water without effort. A. deficiency in cdaching in. Taranaki seems apparent when men swimmers who are of fine physique can not' stay with these young women for more.than 100 yards. Would it not be. possible for .some of the larger clubs to pool their- funds and introduce to Taranaki swimmers a wellknown' coach ? : The Hawera club -made a presentation' to the Australians in appreciation of their efforts in coaching and • swimming to help commemorate their visit to the town. Eltham Carnival.

It was somewhat unfortunate that the Eltham carnival and the Stratford club night clashed The attendance of outside competitors . the former was in consequence much smaller than anticipated. Chamberlain did well winning the dive, the 50 yards and breaststroke events. Mias V. Camcross and Miss M. Gower made close contests in the 50 yards and breaststroke events, Miss Gower winning the former and Miss Camcross the latter event. Miss Gower is one of the most promising members.

WITH THE POLO BALL. LESSONS OF FIRST MATCHES. ' (By “Backhand.”) Although competitions will not begin until the -East End carnival on January 1, clubs .have been taking advantage of the carnivals for the Australian champions to stage friendly matches. Fitzroy invited Inglewood to New Plymouth on Saturday, and revenged themselves for last year’s Taranaki championship defeat by a 2 goal margin. On Monday Hawera received the newly formed Stratford team and inflected defeat upon the tyros by four clear goals. The scoring in the Fitzroy-Inglewood match was higher -than has been the case for some time in such an encounter, and the reason was the new floating goals-for which the New Plymouth club’s enterprise must be commended.. Built to Olympic specifications and making the area the regulation 25 yards, the lack of any wall to shove off from makes the goalie’s task .a position for the skilled player. The innovation should see an improvement in Taranaki, polo—forwards will have ‘to learn to place their shots for sure goals, and backs will no longer be-able to rely on the goalie so completely to cover their errors. The Fitzroy team on Saturday was almost a clean - sweep of last year’s team. H. J. Thomas, W. J. Thomas, Campbell, Clayton and St. - George were absent, but those in their places kept up the Fitzroy tradition. Inglewood also lacked W. Kivell and C. Evans, old mainstays and their Saturday night team suffered as usual' from the handicap of the late shopping hours at Inglewood. The combination consequently was not so good and Fitzroy had possession most of the time. The play was good for the beginning of the season, the shooting at goal especially being an improvement on past weaknesses. Positional play by both teams could have been improved in the way of better marking, and a little speeding-up would have told a tale of condition perhaps. The scoring was 4-2, Milne’s three goals and Mac Lean’s backhand shot being excellent, but that the Inglewood score was only 2 was not the Inglewood forward’s fault. Stratford took the water—for the first time—against the strong Hawera team on Monday night. Hawera has 2 teams in this year, and devotes a special night each week to practice and coaching under Mr. W. J. Claringbold.

On Monday Stratford were without Ryan, Girling and Haughton, and had to make up the team with R. Crossman from Inglewood. The result was as expected, that the virile Hawera forwards were kept supplied with the ball and showed too much energy for the inexperienced Stratford team, 4 of whom were playing for the first time. Ryan showed up well for Hawera, but had an even team with him. Osmond had most to do for Stratford and played well, needing only to make more use of his privileges of a goalie. Stratford’s main needs seemed merely experience and the infusion of more energy into their play.

Forthcoming Events. January 1: East End (N.P.) carnival. January 4: Stratford carnival. January 7: Patea Surf Contests—six man fixed positions with land drill. January 20: Opunake carnival. January 21: Opunake Surf Contests— Tabor Shield Taranaki championship and Grey Shield march-past championship. January 27: Flannagan Cup, KawaroaEast End (afternoon): Taranaki intermediate and junior championships at New Plymouth (evening.) January 31: Taranaki senior championships at Hawera. February 11: Hawera Surf Contests. February 18: New Plymouth Surf Contests.