SWIMMERS AND SURFERS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 34, 10 February 1937, Page 4

SWIMMERS AND SURFERS

AUSTRALIAN TEAM'S VISI (By “FREESTYLE.") With the district swimming championships set down for a fortnight ahead, and the Australian surf team’s visit due on Monday next, affairs in the swimming world are brightening up for a brief period before the end of the season.

visit of lhe Australian sun team to Wanganui next Monday should prove one of those “red letter ’ days in life-saving so ardently desired by enthusiasts but so seldom forthcoming.

The Wanganui swimming and lifesaving authorities may be depended on the secure full value from the Australians’ visit, as complete arrangements have been made to ensure that the displays furnished with be both instructive and interesting.

An aspect of the visits of touring teams too frequently overlooked is tae necessity for gaining the interest of the younger section of the community. Far too often has it been the case that, in order to obtain tne money to cover the financial outlay involved, charges have been such as to discourage those most vitally Interested.

Such will not be the case with next Monday’s visit, however, as the nominal charge being made for the enclosure at Castlecliff Beach during tne land and surf demonstration is wen within the reach of all. A similar line is being followed by the Swimming Centre with regard to the carnical at Gonville, at which the Australians are to appear.

Had it been possible to arrange the arrival of the touring team at Wanganui for earlier in the afternoon, a demonstration might have been arranged for the children at one of the baths, or even a lecture and land-drill demonstration on Cook’s Gardens. This would have been valuable.

The team of Australian surf lifesavers is the first team of its kind ever to visit the Dominion, and it Is hoped that the visit will be the forerunner of an inter-change of tours between Australian and New Zealand teams.

The personnel of the team is as follows:—J. King leapt.), of North Narrabeen Club; B. Hodgson, of Nortn Bondi; A. Carrier, of South Narrabecn; H. Scott, of Newcastle; W. Scott, of Black Head: J. Miller, of Cronulla; A. Hart, of Bondi, and P. K. Foster, of Bronte. Mr. J. R. Cameron is manager of the team, and Messrs. J. Sherlock (official photographer), R. Meyn (Collaroj- Club), and P. C. Shartl (secretary of North Bondi Club) are traxelling with it.

Speaking to a Wellington interviewer reporter, Mr. Cameron, manager of the Australians, said that all members of the team were as fit as possible, and that all were first-rate performers in still water as well as in lhe surf. This factor had been taken into consideration when the selection had been made. The firs: objective had been the choosing of a life-saving team, so that specialists in other than rescue and resuscitation had to be omitted. Competitors were so numerous in Australia that speculation in the different forms of competition was altogether necessary. The team had been selected from over eighty applicants, any six of whom would comprise a strong team.

The manager of the visiting team, Mr. Cameron, is chief examiner, and instructor of the Surr Life-saving Association of Australia. In reply to a welcome at Auckland last week he said:—“We maintain that the work of life-saving organisations is of a most humanitarian nature. Clubs in Australia made 3000 rescues last season, and since the inception of the Surf Life-saving Association in 1907. the lives saved have numbered 33,000.”

Continuing, Mr. Cameron said surfing was the most popular summer sport in Australia. On any fine Sunday as many as 40,000 people could be seen surfing and enjoying the pleasures of the beach. The beauty ot surfing was that, although other sports were limited to competitors, it could be indulged in by everybody, young and old alike. Mr. Cameron remarked that the team had come to New Zealand to teach life-saving, and, if possible, to learn. The Surf Lifesaving Association had grown considerably within 30 years, and was always keen to improve its work.

“On behalf of the association,” said Mr. Cameron, “I have the pleasure of inviting a team of New Zealand surf life-savers to visit Australia next year for the centenary celebrations in Sydney.” He thanked the New’ Zealand Surf Life-saving Association fox- its assistance tow’ard the.tour, and mentioned that this had also been partly financed by the members themselves and their clubs. The life-saving movement was recognised by the New South Wales Government, which made an annual grant of £5OO toward the service within the State.

A high no t e was struck to the Prime Minister, tht Hon. M. J. Savage, when according the Australians a reception at Parliament House last week. “Personally I have taken a great interest in the movement for many years,” said the Prime Miiiister. “I do nor think that th?re Is any greater service than that which these men are prepared to perform. There are none of us who have not sden its necessity at some time or other in our lives. When you have men of ages between 18 and 25 as in this team, who are ready to come forward and offer themselves in such a service, you have a very fine thing indeed, and one which deserves the appreciation ana the greatest assistance this Government can give. . . We welcome you also as visitors from overseas. To-day it is the view of many of us that we belong to New Zealand or Australia, or the particular country in which we life. Life is a bigger thing than that. •

A happy gesture by the Mayor of Auckland, Mr. Ernest Davis, tow’ard the Australians wps the extending or an invitation to the team to be his

guests at Rotorua toward the end of the tour of New Zealand. Mr. Davis also intimated that he would appreciate being approached for help in organising the visit of a New Zealand team to Australia in the near future. A similar gesture is the invitation extended by Mr. G. F. Moore, of the famous Bushy Park stud cattle estate near Kai Iwi, to the Australians to be his guests on Tuesday next. The visitors should take away with them on their return to Australia memoxies of typical New Zealand hospitality.

The New Zealand surf championships set down for Lyall Bay on Saturday and Sunday next, promise to be one of the most outstanding events in the ristory of the sport. Record entries have been received fro all events, and New Zealand swimmers will be seen in action against the Australian touring team. Sixteen teams have been entered for the Nelson Shield, six for the William Henry Memorial, 26 for the beltmen’s championship, 16 for tne Pacific Cup, 28 for the four-man championship, nine for the senior surf teams’ race and four for the junior race. In addition there are 29 nominations for the senior individual race, and 20 for the junior event. An addea attraction will be a special four-man surf race between Australia and New Zealand and a demonstration of line and reel work by the Australians and a New Zealand team.

For the first time in the history or the surf life-saving movement the New Zealand championship meeting on Saturday will b? opened by tne taking of an oath of sportsmanship on somewhat similar lines to the procedure adopted at the Olympic Games. This ceremony should be an impressive one.

The water polo championship competition in Wanganui may be somewhat disregarded as regards schedule by the necessity for holding an Inquiry into incidents at the Wanganui East baths last Thursday, but the special meeting to be held to-morrow night should clear the air. The necessity for firm control cannot be questioned, and in the interests of all phases of swimming, and of water polo in particular, it is to be hoped that a firm decision be made with all despatch but without undue haste.

It is unfortunate for the progress of swimming in Wanganui that restrictions imposed by the Department of Health necessitated the closing of baths to the majority of the keen swimmers, especial?y those of younger years. Still, now that the restrictions have been lifted the centre should encourage inter-club visits while portion of the swimming season remains. For this reason the Raetihi carnival can be commended to swimmers who would enjoy such a week-end trip. The fillip given Raetihi swimming by the visit of a part# of forty swimmers several years ago was a valuable one. and such another visit at the present time would be still more valuable.

With no championship form to guide them in the selection ol the Empire Games team for Australia in 1938, the New Zealand Council has decided to form a ranking list for New Zealana I swimmers. With tais object in view the council is asking centres to forward the times of their leading swimmers and the positions will be determined on this. Possibly this may prove of some talue, but it is more than likely that the swimmers concerned may not be very keen on it, comments a South island writer. Where perhaps two swimmers or more may be of more or less the same standard, time trials held in different pools are rather unreliable and place certain of the contestants in a more favourable position. For instance, Auckland water has been proved to be anywhere up io two seconds faster per hundred yards than lhe majority of indoor fresh-water pools. This is no delusion and when times are taken over 440 yards, 880 yards and a mile the advantage is obvious. The last bandbook printed by the New Zealand Amateur Swimming Association shows that no fewer than 24 New Zealand senior records were created in the Auckland pool as against seven outside of that city, Dunedin having four ana Christchurch three, A striking example of the difference is evidenced by the handbook record of G. Bridson, of Auckland. His time for 880 yarns is shown as Limin. 0 4-ssec. which he swam on January 28, 1932. Bridson had to follow Dave Lindsay home tn the national 880 yards championships in Timaru the next month and Lindsay could record only llmin. 33 3-ssec, a difference of 33sec. It is to be hoped that the ranking list will have no bearing on any selections made, that the national titles will be competed for an January 5, 6 and 8, and that the New Zealand team will be selected from the results of that meeting. It should be borne in mind that champions rise and fall in swimming m sometimes less than a year. * * * * Medica’s Style.

The following interesting criticism of Medica’s style, which appeared in the New Zealand Herald, should prove helpful, not only to budding sprinters, but to coaches as well: Balance has been a great factor in the success attained by Jack Medica, the world champion swimmer, and this he demonstrated clearly during his exhibition swims in the Tepid Baths recently (says the writer). It was balance, together with complete relaxation, that enabled him to cover lap after lap effortlessly, without disturbing the position of the body and without losing the timing between the arm and leg actions. Onlookers with only scant knowledge of swimming technique quickly notice his continuity of movement Analysis of Medica’s technique gave rise to the conclusion that his skill was substantially the result of his timing of the arm strokes, the placement of the arms at the stage called the “catch,” and his habit of rolling the head sideways for breathing. Recovering an arm, Medica carried it to the full reach forward before making the “catch.” At this stage 02-

curred the most instructive feature of his technique. Contact was made with the water, not directly in front of the head, but a few inches outside the shoulder line. No sooner was the pressure applied on this arm than the other, recovered smartly, was placed ahead too, there being the same wide placement, and the actual “catch” occurred when the leading arm was exerting the downward pressure, preliminary to performing the drive. The effect was that by the time it .was in the advanced stages of the drive the other arm was fulfilling its function as a balancing agent for the body. The driving arm, having reached the thigh was recovered immediately, and returned to the forward position to maintain the balance. Spectators remarked on the fact that both of Medica’s hands were in the water at the same time. The contrast to New Zealand swimmers was plain. Thesr commonly have one arm still in recovery at the very moment the drive is completed, with the result that they roll badly and have jerky, chopping styles. The rolling of Medica’s head had a share in sustaining balance. The average swimmer lifts his chin when in the water and unwittingly throws a strain upon the neck muscles. Medica has avoided this. Re started swimming face downward, and in order to breathe, which he did at every drive of the left arm, he simply rolled the head to the right and In-

haled through the mouth with the cheek resting on the water. Consequently, he did not force the left shoulder down, and moreover, when exhaling, he rolled the head half to the left, and thus equalised the weignt on each arm. Medica had a tendency to hook the right arm when recovering, but the hand, no less than the left hand, was placed in the water quite flat and with the fingers pointed directly forward. For the drive, trie arms were pulled back cleanly and straight, and a slight bending at the elbows was noticeable. There was not the faintest sign of strain in his movements, the arms, the legs, and the body being wholly relaxed. It was inconceivable that a man could be so supple. Another arresting characteristic was his leg action. Moved upward and downward, chiefly by means of the thigh muscles, the legs functioned smoothly and easily, and the feet flicked the water with rhythmical beats. The upward thrust lifted each foot higher above the surface than rs advised in text books.