SWIMMING

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19769, 17 February 1927, Page 5

SWIMMING

BEAUTY EXPERT SWIMS CATALINA CHANNEL. SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 7. Myrtle Huddleston, 30, of Longrcach, is the first woman conqueror of the Ctitalina Channel. She completed the 22 miles swim at noen on Sunday, covering the distance in 20 hours, 42 minutes. Her son, aged 11, was the first to greet her. She conducts a beauty parlor, and stated that she could not swim a stroke four months ago. She wias coached by Charles Toth, the English Channel veteran. Three others, two of whom were women, dropped out of the test. All had made previous attempts to swim the channel. “Come On Mom!” “Oome on, Mom! Dog gone it, come on Mom! ” This is the classic on America’s best front pages representing the final encouragement from, the 11 year-old son of Myrtle Huddleston to his mother as she swam the last couple of miles of the Catalina Channel on Sunday morning. “George Young did it for his widowed mother. I did it for my son, to give him a college education,” said Mrs Huddleston, who is busy to-day signing vaudeville and cinema contracts •as the first woman who conquered Catalina. After touching the shore she fell back into the water unconscious and Weeding profusely from a wound on the breast and cuts on the arms. It is believed they were caused by a giant fish snapping at her.

AWARDED ALBERT MEDAL SHABK EESCUE HEBO. LONDON, Feb. 7. The King hlas awarded the Albert Medal to Stanley Gibbs, the hero of the Port Hacking shark rescue. On January 3, Sydney was stirred by the heroic actions of Stanley Gibbs, who gallantly dived in to rescue his mate, Mervyn Alluin, who was attacked by a shark at Port Hacking. Ho jumped on to the shark’s back, and; after beating it off, Gibbs supported hil mate, who was horribly mutilated by the monster, but his rescue was in vain, as Allum died from his injuries.