SWIMMING.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 758, 5 March 1910, Page 13

SWIMMING.

(Bx Splash.) ' CAENIVAL DATES. ■Wellington—March 12. Now that the ' Thorndon Club has broken the ice and showed that ail oveniug carnival can be run with success, it will not be surprising if there are moro of these gatherings next year. Tho Thorndon Baths, at which tho sports were held, do not lend themselves. to a night meeting as well as Te Aro would, but, tho Thorndon Club had its arrangements excellently made, and everything went oif wihout a hitch. The winner of the 50 yards boys' race, H. Freeth, had an easy victory in both his heat and the final. He is a capable lad, and looked as though ho could havo gone another .50 yards at the same even pace. Tho .final of the 50yds. Electrio : Handicap resulted in a . great' finish between It. Wiggins and H. H.. Littlo. Wiggins caught the judge's eye first, but there were many who considered that Little won by a touch.

Tho 100 yds. President's Handicap saw all the club champions at work, and some capital racing took place in this event. Fred Roberts won tho second heat in G7 2-ssec., and Hcaly and Brice, who met iu the last heat, finished together, Healy's timo being Gsscc., and Brice's G7sec., both remarkably good performances. Tho final fell to G. Bruce, who had lvsec. from Hcaly. Bruco just got home by about a foot from Allen n who had very little to spare from Healy and Roberts, who dead-heated for third position. Roberts got blocked in his final dash, and' Hcaly lost some ground by boring in to the centre of the bath iu the final fifty. The 300 yards handicap was a further demonstration of the fact that Freyberg is in great form at present. Although ho finished a foot behind ' the winner, Murrell, ho swam a capital race and would have won hod the distance been a couple of yards longer. C. F. Arthur was dead heat with Freyberg for second place. Subject to the approval of the Wellington Centre of the New Zealand Amateur Swimming Association, the following officials id|l conduct the fifteenth annual carnival of the 'Wellington Swimming Club, lo bo held at To Arc Baths on Saturday next: — Hofereo, Hon. John Rigg, M.L.C.; polo referee, Mr. George Sadd; starter, Mr. George Sadd; judges, Messrs. A. A. N. Sonicrville, A. St. Clair, ami H. 'C. W. Blick; timekeepers, Messrs. L. W. Ludwig, G. S. Hill, and W. B. Smith; coslume steward, Mr. D. Joslin; press steward's, Messrs. T. Shields and 11. W. Dyson; result board, .Air. L. C. Fama; marksmen, the comniitte and Sir. Palliser; megaphouist, Mr. Lamberg; handicappers, Messrs. A. A. N. Somervillo aud H. C. W. Blick; lion, secretary, Mr. 11. A. Anderson. The programme includes tho following ovcirts:—so yards maiden handicap (open also to Class B swimmers), 50 yards junior handicap, 50 yards inter-club handi cap, 100 yards ladies' bracelet handicap, diving competition (sealed, handicap), comic iii'tcrludo (best comic dress), 220 yards Wellington provincial championship, 110 yards handicap (inter-club), IKiints to count for Missen Cup; 200 yards school relay championship (teams of four representing primary schools up to and including the 6th Standard), water polo. Dick Cavill, who is now in the professional ranks, is still capable of something above tho average. In his 1(10 yards of tho 500 yards teams' race at the League carnival recently, ho is credited with 58 2-ssec. Cavill also won the diving championship.

The 220 yards breast stroko championship of.Victoria was won by T. Richardson by four lengths from Finney. Blunt was 20 yards behind Finney, third. Time, 3min. 17sec.

Hajdiy had the local swimming world ceased applauding "Tod" Solomons's grea.t 50yds. feat at Lavender Bay Baths, which knocked Alec Wickham'6 record from the position it had occupied in tho book for some years, than wo heard of Wickham coming again nt Roso Bay Club's carnival, aud sotting the swimmers a go which they, will find difficult, indeed, to get over; and there was that in the accomplishment of the feat which suggested the very great likelihood of his doing better in another effort. Wickham swam something of a zig-zag course, and lie was for a time hampered by tho wash from fellow-competitors. Tho new time is 23 3-ssec—two-fifths of a second better than Solomons's performance, which had not been in existence long enough to be brought before tho Swimming Association for purposes of endorsement, and consequently was not given a place in the official fist of remarkable feats.—Sydney "Referee."

At tho Lavender Bay Baths the other day Cecil Healy cut out tho 100 yds. in tho excellent time of 57 2-ssec. Although Frank Bcaurepaire is not yet 19 years of age his record to date is a really wonderful one. He started his championship career in 1906, when, at tho age of 14, he annexed the 220 yds. and •liOyds. championships of Victoria, and swam second in tho 880 yds. event. The year following ho bettered the performance by winning the 300 yds., -140 yds., BSO yds., and the mile State championships. In his sixteenth year ho won tho 440 yds. Victorian championship, and followed it up by winning the Kie;an Shield (carrying with it the swimming championship of Australia), by easily distancing all competitors in the -140 yds., half-mile, and mile championships of Australia. The same year i he secured the following English championships, in addition to numerous Continental events, viz., 220 yds., 440 yds., half-mile, and mile. Coming straight back to Australia from England, he won tho 220 yds., 440 yds., half-mile, and mile championships of Australia, and now, in his eighteenth' year, he has repeated this feat. Out of 40 starts in big championship events, ho has • won 33 times, been placed second four times, and third once. He has still tho Victorian championship season to go through before he reaches his nineteenth birthday, so the . list is sure to ho added to" before then.

Kieran, during his moteoric career of two and a half seasons, which comprised a space of barely two years, started 27 times in championships, winning 21 times and gaining six seconds. He also established a world's record for every distance from 220 yds. to a mile. Most of these were in handicaps, where he had as pacemakers some of the best swimmers in tho world. Tho .exceptions wero his records of 2min. 28 2-ssec. for 220 yds. aud 23min.. 16 4-ssec. for the mile, both recorded in championship events. Bcaurehas to his credit 2min. 28 2-ssee. in the 220 yds. Victorian championship, which is equal to liieran's world record over tho distance, gained in tlio Now South Wales championship.