SWIMMING

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 111, 12 May 1936, Page 4

SWIMMING

IMPROVING SPEED HOW JAPAN CONCENTRATES. FIVE OLYMPIC WINS. When Japan turned its mind to swimming at the Olympic Games it was decided to concentrate upon improving speed, for it was realised that swimming was the sport in which the nation was most likely to win success. And now Japan has worked out a special style which is particularly suited to the { Japanese themselves. As we know, j this style was good enough tc- score five I Olympic wing out of six events. Al- ? though in the other event they missed, • as when Taris and Crabbe came home i in the 400 metres, the Japanese were ! there, with third, fourth and fifth ’ places! This year is another Olympic year. All eyes are upon Berlin and it is wondered whether Japan can repeat its successes. American swimmers, defeated for the first time in 1932, are out to recover their place in 1936. Japan, realising this very well, invited “Uncle Sam's” cracks oxer in 1935, just one year before the Olympic Games. Thus Japan has a fair idea of its chief rival’s new strength. The American swimmers Fick and Medica showed that Japanese 100, 200 and 400 metre swimmers were not invincible. The contests in all distances were exciting and the Americans in some cases defeated their opponents, but did not improve on their existing times. In no cases were the defeats more than actual touch decisions, but Japan has been taught by these races that it must improve still more and it is setting out to do so. During the year 1935 many successful experiments were carried out, including an effort to obtain higher flotation, with the use of the bilateral method of breathing. During this year of successful experimentation, the well-known swimming authority, Samuel J. Gudsell, says that 39 native Japanese swimming records were broken and two new world marks made. Of these’2B were set by men and 11 by women. Shizo Makino, second at Los Angeles to his fellow countryman, Kitamura, in the 1500

metres, smashed his own world’s figure for 800 metres by five seconds when he swam the distance in 9min. 55sec. The Japanese relay team smashed its own world’s record in me 800 metres. This team is comprised of really great swimmers and consists of Yusa, the crack 100 and 200 metre man, who is, with Fich, the world’s fastest sprinter. Isiharada, the greatest mile swimmer in the world, Makino, already men t toned above, and Negami, world’s re-cord-holder for 400 metres and a man who can swim ail distances. However, in sprint relays, the Americans defeated the Japanese, hut it is the 800metre event alone that is on the Olympic programme, and that is all Japan worries about. Just as many of New Zealand’s greatest swimmers have developed in their very early years—notably N. ■Crump, W. Jarvis, R. Frankham—so Japan's best are mere youths. There is a theory among Japanese medical men, enthusiasts of the sport, that the body between the age of 12 and 18 has more oil content and, therefore, more natural buoyancy. This theory is being carefully investigated by Eastern doc tors, who also are very serious in theii medical examinations of ail competi tors. Prominent performers are con tinually under the watchful eye of en thusiastic doctors and consequently there is little chance of ‘‘burning out,” or overstrain, so common in many countries. Germany has assured Japan, after quite a deal of correspondence, that the temperature of the water will be about 61 degrees, or suitable for all contesants. Japan realises the necessity of a suitable temperature and remembers that Los Angeles was ideal for good performances. This again demonstrates how seriously the Japanese take their swimming and how very painstaking they are. Furthermore, the Japanese team is practically completely selected a year before the Games, and special training schedules arc worked out and throughout the whole winter the whole team is assembled for continuous training. Swimmers from distances are accommodated at hotels, or in special quarters at the Swimming Federation’s expense. The team will travel to Berlin by land via Siberia, which journey takes only 14 days, as against the sea journey of over a month. It is apparently part of the Japanese nature to put their hearts and souls into anything they take up, and with such a spirit to help them they are preparing to invade Berlin. The world’s swimming enthusiasts will eagerly watch their performances.