SWIMMING.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1629, 21 December 1912, Page 18

SWIMMING.

|"Br "Splash."]

THE SQUABBLE ON THE CENTRE. February 7 to 14.— N.Z. Championships, at AVanganui. ■ Activity All Round. Matters natatorial are moving along just now quits merrily. The Sydney swimmers have been entertained as visitors ought to be, and everybody appears more or lass pleased. The clubs have •commenced deciding race's, and soma excellent' races have resulted. Swifts Club set tho ball rolling last week, when they decided a "fifty," and again on Tuesday night last they got off a "B" class event. Old Boys, Wellington Club, and Thorndon havo been up and doing. Records and To-day's Carnival. Another carnival is to be held by the "Wellington Centre at the To Aro Baths this afternoon, and it is to be hoped that it will be a decided improvement on that held a fortnight ago. , Sinco their last performance in Wellington the Manly. swimmers have been doing a little touring. ■ Their visit to Napier has been niado conspicuous by tho fact that they broke two New Zealand records. Well, to, put it candidly, the records have to bo officially announced by the New Zealand Amateur Swimimng Association before they can be claimed as records.

Solomons is claimed to have broken the New Zealand record for the 50yds. distance. Although the association does.not recognise tho 50yds. - championship, it is' understood -that I'ordham .held the record time—27scu. Solomons' time was recorded as 25 l-sscc., whilst his Australian record is 24 l-Ssec. There seems a good deal of uncertainty regarding the New Zealand record for 50yds., principally owing to the. fact that the association does not recognise it. Consequently it will lie seen that no official record has been kept, and therefore it .is difficult to ascertain exactly what the New Zealand record time for 50yds. is. No doubt the race in which Solomons broke the record must have been really worth watching. Solomons is in excellent condition, and his performance this afternoon will be awaited with interest.

The other record which Solomons broke is the 100 yds. distance, which he did m 2-ssec. In 1911 C. S. Brice, of the Thorndon Club, put up a record for the distance, his time of G3 l-ssecl being officially recognised by the association. M. E. Champion's time for the 100 yds. distance is put down as G3 2-ssec., and Cavill is understood to have done the distant 111 Glsec, Solomous's Australian time is 57sec., and it will surely be an interesting sight to watch if he does the distance in that time this afternoon. Hay is also in good condition, and the constant training which he has indulged ill during the past two weeks will probably result in him "doing something" this afteniooii. Both Solomons and Hay aro out to break the minute, and it is anticipated that something really worth seeing will take place at the baths this afternoon. "Siu" Riddington is. diving as well as ever, and it is possible that his performance this afternoon will be even better than that of December 7.

. The executive of the centre have drawn up a' lengthy programme, including comic events, and it is anticipated that the af,ternoon will not drag in any was'. It is rather a pity that the centre could not see its way clear to put a life-saving display on the programme. Life-saving work should be taken all swimmers, as it is the most important' phase connected with the sport of swimming, and the lpcal society deserves credit for excellent'work that it has done in Wei lington. It is hard luck for tlifi society that the contre could not put their item on tho programme. Tho Centre's Recent. Trouble. After the manner and style of oui sports controlling bodita, the Wellington Swimming Centre has lately been indulging in a nice litlo piece of undesirable "row." The trouble, such as it was, ■ arose out of n difference of opinion between the secretary and timekeeper. The secretary wrote a letter to the timekeeper, and the timekeeper wrote-to tho sec retary. Each, of course, considered each others letter a "piece of impertinence," and the secretary handed in his resignation. He evidently considered the timekeeper's "piece of impertinence" somewhat more damaging than the timekeeper thought the secretary's. The chairman of the centre called a meeting to consider the matter, the letters were read, and "laid on the table," and discussion ensued. Things became merrier as the meeting progressed. . The timekeeper was raising his voice, the chairman rapidly sliding off the pedestal of neutrality, the secretary looked quite troubled, and altogether the talk had covered neariy a column of newspaper space, when a delegate who was becoming anxious for the t respectability of the proceedings, suggested that the meeting should go into committee. Quite a proper suggestion, too—under the circumstances. The" meeting was unanimous on this point, and the pressmen were kindly asked to leave. Result of the meeting:—The timekeeper is still tho timekeeper, the secretary is still the secretary, and the Wellington Centre will continue to control swimming—but ? Well, what? I think it all comes to this: New Zealand sport is good; New Zealand' sport control is, on tho whole, lamentable. And one thing is always certain: When a sports control body cannot survive the presence of the press thero is something wrong with that body. It is only a body which lira its house thoroughly in order which can afford to open its door renllv wide to the man with the "short-hand pencil." A Few Splashes. Keith Russell astonished Te Ato Baths on Monday night Inst by winning the Old Hoys' Club handicap of fifty yards in 34 odd seconds. He is cultivating quite a fashionable "crawl" stroke. According to some watches, H. Capper covered the same distance in 28 2-ssec. in his neat in the Old Boys' race on MoiiI day night, -