SWIMMING NOTES

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21414, 5 March 1935, Page 16

SWIMMING NOTES

THE FRENCH VISITORS FINE CARNIVAL PROMISED IT' I KKhSTYIJ. I TV.f rarmval at which the Frcnchv„n, Joan Taris. and Kmile Poulard, r ll appear next Monday, should be v,p of the finest thai hn* ever been irid m Chrislcrmrch. even ■ though i,.mc <-,[ thr interest has been lo 1 by •he inability of the Chinese breasttiroko champion. Kwok Chun Hang, to -nkp thn tour. Taris. one of the hndistance swimmers in the world, ,nfj Poulard, as nuod a diver as any ~, the Continent, their tour oi ';,,- Dominion last niaht. when they •onipetcd at Auckland. ' 'rh'-i*ichurch will be more fortunate nan anv other centre in New Zea--,nd for the visiters will be here ior >-..-.k> da'..-. In the other centres they v'll not'-tav for mere than one day. rhev will arrive in Christchurch next Sun'dav and will be here until Tuesday :nht 'when they will leave for We±:'ini?tn!i, where they will make their laVt' appearance before leaving for home. The itinerary, excluding the appear-B-r-c- in Auckland, is as follows:—Toriav Hamilton: March G. New Flymouth; March 7. Wanganui; Marrh 8, Napier: March 10, 11, and 12, Christchurch: March 13, Wellington.

Tnris has met with some reverses in Australia; but his only defeats have b ■pij bv two men whose names are known all over the worJd—Noel Ryan and Andrew Charlton. In the state rhampionships at Sydney recently Tan-, was beaten bv Ryan in the 440 v.-ii-ds event, and in the 880 yards rvent he was beaten by Charlton and Rvan. But though these defeats will have affected public interest in his apDoarance to a slight extent, swimmers are anticipating his visit with as keen an interest as they have snown in any overseas champions, for his record is most impressive. He is more widely known than Pous-j-ard. He represented France at the 1932 Olvmpic Games, and was narrowly beaten by "Buster" Crabbe in trip 40d metres event in record time. In one period Taris held five world's r^ci-ds—for 300, 400. 500, 800, and 1000 metres. Competing at the Melbourne Centenarv ehampic;-:ships this year Taris won both th' 440 yards and 880 yards events, hi. times being smin 10 l-r>sec and llmin 11 l-ssec respectively. At !iie carnival at the Tepid Baths new Monday Taris will compete in an invitation 440 yards handicap event. C'hristchurch swimmers who have been invited to compete in this event are D. 11. Svmes 'the national champion <-vcr this distance), C. Cliff, M. Connor, A. T. F. Stokes, and M. R. Rattray < emergency >. There is also the possibility that J. D. O'Driscoll.. of Otago, the national ■'i£o yards champion, will compete. He

and W. J. Jarvis, also of Otago, the New Zealand 100 yards and 220 yards title holder, have been invited by the Canterbury Centre to take part, but t-o far no word has been received whether they will be able to come to Christchurch. In Australia Poussard was extraordinarily popular with swimmers tnd the public alike, his sportsmanship drawing high praise. He is 25, ihe same age as Taris, but is smaller than his countrymai. His speciality is springboard diving. Of the 19 diving championships in which he competed in Europe in the last year he won 17. his only defeats being in Germany. At the last Olympic Games he represented France, and reached the final six. Christchurch followers of the sport, however, arc in a good position to estimate his talents, for they were fortunate enough to see H. Tickle, the brilliant. Australian, diving here; and the fact that Poussard has twice beaten Tickle in Australia recently shows just how fine a performer he is. PoussarH will compete Li an invitation handicap dive. and. like Taris, will also give exhibitions. Those who have been asked to take part in the dive against Poussard are as follows: E. Crossley (the provincial champion), S. Muff. C. R. Riordan. H. Nunes, and L. Donaldson.

Much of ihe value of the visit of Tickle and R. Clark in December lay in the help they gave to the school children of Christchurch in coaching and exhibitions. It is probable that an attempt will be made by the centre to induce the Frenchmen to do likewise, for on the Tuesday they will have no ofhHal. engagements. Two Itmleeicled Competitions rii.-- .-tnnu.-'l competitions for the Vord'vri Cup and the Duncan Memorial •-'•meld v.»'rp not held last year, and t;ir. r p semis little prospect of their wt'in;; held this season. So far there has b"cn no opportunity for the competitions, and although it might be possible to find a date for the Duncan Memorial Shield competition, which aficcis only swimmers in Christchurch, it is practically certain that the Norton Cup will not be decided. This, a competition between the Wellington and the Canterbury Centres, was last won bv Canterbury in 1932, and the problem of expense has been too much ever since. The- event--, for Ihe Duncan Memorial

'-'<v('\d are as follows: Men, 50 yards, ii-0 vards. 2::o yards. 440 yards, dive, font -k j ngth relay: women, 50 yards, "■il vonis. 75 yards, breaststroke; dive. No competitor is allowed to represent 't:\i- or her club in more than one fvent, dive or relay excepted, and no <-'.!! h may have more than two repre-••■\-tat:ves in any event, except the re'..y. wiini the limit shall be one team. Th" holder is the Christchurch-United riub. for the Nordon Cup the teams con- :--.-; of seven members, the contests i-.-ini.': Water polo match, relay race TOO yarcis-i, jind diving (three competitors from each centre). The winner of two out of three events is dc-'■lan.-d the holder of the cup for one