ATHLETES NOT ALLOWED TO DO CHARLESTON

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17997, 6 November 1926, Page 11

ATHLETES NOT ALLOWED TO DO CHARLESTON

SPEED SERIOUSLY CHECKED BECAUSE OF AWKWARD TWISTS. War has been declared on the Charleston dance in South Africa by coaches and trainers on the Rand. Athletes who are keen on doing well during the coming season have been warned to discontinue the latest American dance, writes the Capetown correspondent of the “New Zealand Herald.’’ Tt is stated that the practice of the Charleston seriously* checks the speed of a runner, because it has the effect of bunching his muscles. Needless to say, the effect of the coaches’ order has created surprise among athletes, many jfi whom regarded the Charleston as an essential part of their dancing repertoire. The first step in the matter was taken 'fiy Mr Charles Milne, coach to the Wanderers Club, Johannesburg, and himself at one time a leading athlete. JJc noticed that one of the club's most promising athlete?, Turnbull, appeared to have lost some of his speed on the track. Milne inquired into the exercises the athlete had been doing, and found that he hid just Cultivated the Charleston habit. “That sort of thing does running no good at all,” said Mr Milne, instructing Turnbull to cease the Charleston forthwith. Turnbull has been on the track for six months only, but during a 1000yds race at Pretoria he finished some sec-

onds better than the South African record for the distance. “It is quite true that the Charleston has some slowing-down effect on running.” said Turnbull. “It develops wrong muscles, and it becomes difficult to stride in a free and easy manner, but at the same time I am sorry to have to drop the dance, for learning the Charleston is hard work. I devoted a lot of time to it, and it took me three weeks, of concentration before I could perform it properly.” In addition to Turnbull, another Johannesburg sprinter, Campbell, has also found that the Charleston has a bad effect on running, and he does not intend to dance it again; at least, not until after the present athletic season. George Tinkler, who was once one of the world's best runners over one, two and three miles, is alsb coaching members of the Wanderers Club, and he fully supported Milne's condemnation of the Charleston. \ “Many of the modern dances are no good for athletes, but the Charleston is just about the limit,” he said. “You are expected to do all kinds of stunts and awkward twists, and these are more suited to the requirements of a circus acrobat than a runner.”