SWIMMING.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1593, 9 November 1912, Page 12

SWIMMING.

» . '" > IB* "Splash."]

"AN ANGER-LABEN LETTER," , Correspondent's Reply to lt> i Two Saturdays ago there appeared in this column a letter from a well-known swimming enthusiast,' which contained a criticism on tlia Wellington Cento's revised rules. If general opinion can be relied on, the criticism did not have the slightest personal bearing on BWiinmers. But Mr. Blick, secretory of the'centre, sent in a rather hurriedly-written letter, which is replied to by the original cor-' resixjiident as follows i— "The publication of my criticisms on the centre's revised rules has led the secistary of that body to vigorously apply himself in a eo-cnlled defence of his colleagues' —the Rules Revision Committee. l?rofh the tone of his letter no doubt remains that tny remarks have been regarded as the venting of personal spleen against the secretary hrnisolf, the above-mentioned ■ committee, and the centre generally. For this attitude I am truly sorry, for, rather than animosity of any kind, I have a sincere fooling of admiration for those gentlemen, Who must havo laboured early jmd late to place such a constitution before their centre for consideration and criticism. Against no one of thom liave I any feeling, not even tho secretary, notwithstanding the unworthy invective to which, my criticisms and my personality have been subjected by him. "I have thoroughly serutinised i the secretary's letter, and, after akiminin.g it of its ecuin, I can find little to convince

me that lie has given satisfaction on. the. various points touched-.' Did the secretary or anyone else ejtpect that their efforts, however oommendablOj were to'be launched without criticism, and do they re'eqg* !iis» that criticism is tho jnegMs to 'perfection ? Thoysuroly do not claim absolute 'infallibility. I criticised because I oou> siclered it due to tlio swimming fraternity that before becoming law some elucida* tian should bo offered. liistcadof elucidation what do we Bear in mind, the centre is concerned merely with, tho maiinjj of tho rules. It is for tho swimmer to obey them, and, just as a cifctzen desires a lull knowledge of the laws of the country in which ho resides, so does the swimmer seok a knowledge of swimming' . law. My criticising were, therefore, forwarded in. tho hope of p'tttflication to give those in a position to do so an opportunity of explaining- the pros, and cons of the various points touched upon. The opportunity was taken advantage of, but only to publish painfully nn» sportsmanlike indignation that anyone dated utter a syllable against the law he is expected to obey. So much for the tone of the reply. "In conclusion, I wish to Indicate ray extreme regret that I'have not had, nor will I have, an opportunity of airing my views before tho centre's delegates, niid it is only, through tho medium of yoiir columns that I hoped to do so. If I have offended any bf the officials concerned by my remarks, I. can only express my regret, and say that I eiDoctM sufficient broad-inindodness to admit criticism, and allow of .a. .cool, diplomatic reply, instead of hot-n.ea.ded sarcasm and anger-laden epithets. Complete contempt would have hurt much more keenly than this shallow aggressiveness. A kindly. letter of. explanation would have been honoured and worthy of our centre's officials, whom I have judged in the past as efficient men of sound common sense and business-like capabilities. And so I hope still to regard them." To Bo Discussed at Centre's Meetinjj. It appears that the annual meeting of tho Wellington Centre, to be held shortly, will be a somewhat lively meeting. One of the principal matters of discussion wilt be the proposal to establish the Olympic by means of making a levy of 6d. 'per annum on, all club members. Very fetr of the clubs have expressed approval, of the.proposal, and as a matter of fact very few swimmers thoroughly ; understand it. They appear to be confused over the whole matter,..and after a discussion at their respective club meetings, members instruct their delegates to act in: the direction they think fit. This certainly points out that chub members are confused, and it would bo | well for the centre at its meeting to give j out a Clear statement of the proposal. 1 Another important matter to.be disv | cussed will be the new revised rules,, and j it is to be hoped the centre's officials" will i do their best to rectify any slight errors in the rules. j Hatfield Breaks World's Record. I At the Shoreditch Baths, London, on September 2d, J. G. Hatfield broke, the ; ! tpb'inetre -world's record of ■smin. U 8-sseo. pat up by tho Canadian amateur Hodgson at the Stockholm Olympic' Games.. Hat*. J field almost touched , the- 44Q metres ;re- j cord-at Croydon a few weeks,ago-, mil although unpaced, he was only 2sedi. out* side Hodgson's figures. On this occasion he was assisted by. a limited handicap, in, which he gave 30sec, to JL. E.. Annison, of Croydonrand3Bsec; to F. R Giles, of the City Police, Sttch would not be alloteft a man going for an' English record, for they are. only allowed far scratch races and iihpaced performances, butiinder the ■ International. Federation handicap attempts on records are permissible. Hat; field swam in brilliant tOnri, and reduced Hodgson's figures by no less than 2 i-Ssep., his time being omin. .21.3-ssec. The handi-; cap, framed by Mr. Hudson, was for. smin. 20sec.j and proved a great success, for Hatfield and AhnisOn touched tfi/Jtope together. Who won the race it is difteWt to say, for all were interested in Hatfield, who finished with a grand speed. .'Tho Middlesbrough, mail (states .the pbndon "Sportsman"), is. a very graceful swimmer.' and it is almost safe to- wtite. that, all '. tho existing, records are within his powers.-