OUR ATHLETES IN ENGLAND.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1186, 22 July 1911, Page 13

OUR ATHLETES IN ENGLAND.

LETTER RECEIVED. Our contributor "Mercury" writes:— Mr. B. A. Guise, lion, secretary of the loeai Festival of Empire Committee, has received a letter from Mr. E. Coombes, fho manager of. tho Australasian team that competed in the Festival games. Mr. Coombes writes interestingly of the team's doings under date June, 8. Inter alia, he says:—

"At the time of writing things are not ooking quite as promising as I would have liked. To begin with, Woodger. He , developed a bad cold, which turned into pneumonia, but, happily, it was taken in time. He is now in the Hampstead Hospital, but will be out again in another ivook. However, he will not be able to run at the Festival Games, but' I am k> hones that ho will bs right for the English championships. Then Opie badly strained a sinew, and is still on the walking list. In practice Opie was beating V\oodger, but the latter was (unknown to himself) developing pneumonia. I had entered both for scratch races at Crewe a week before our games, and theso were to be the 'tests'—real public trials with the colours up. [Opie subsequently won tho 100 yards event from scratch in 10 l-ssec] "Guy Haskins has just arrived from America. He is looking, feeling, and running well. Here again 'tests' are out of the question. Wheatley will take the halfmile, and Haskius tho mile. Each man likes tho arrangement, and it is our only chance. [Haskins must have developed his leg subsequent to this letter, as-it will bo remembered that the cable told us he started lamo in the mile.] In other portions of his letter Mr. Coombes discourses about Champion's and Hardwick s swimming, and says that the Aucklander is quite satisfied that ho has no chnnco with Hardwick over tho 100 yards—so would only start in the mile. In a. P.S., Mr. Coombes writes:—"Thoro will be no chance of Champion getting in a Channel swim, but he will compete in a long swim in the Thames, through London. [We have since- been advised that Champion won this event.]