SWIMMING.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1663, 1 February 1913, Page 13

SWIMMING.

■ fßx "Splash."] CHAMPIONSHIP CHANCEB. February s to FebruarylQ—N.Z, Championships. February tl—Wellington Club Carnival. Things Moving Mefrlly. Tilings have been booming along merrily in tho swimming world, and for tho past, fortnight To Aro Batliß h&vo presented a very animated appearance. Haces galore, polo matchcs, ana all man"er of contests have taken place, and, altogether, tho present season may be soteiy regarded as tho busiest which Wellington has sejn for many years. 'i'ho Wellington Centre, for some unknown reason, left the selection of representatives to the eleventh hour, and club ofiicials have been hard put to it to find the .necessary time (and space) wherein to decido their various club events. Tho Swifts Club occupied tho stage on Saturday last, and swimmers were treated to a splendid afternoon's sport. Tho carnival, despite tho faot that only about half of the appointed officials put in an appearance, easily surpassed anything of its kind Wellington has seen since the New Zealand championships were held here.

B. C. Prey berg, who has boen absent from Wellington for some considerabl# time, unexpectedly "dropped in" during the afternoon, and. considering that ho has'been out of training for some timo, his performance in the handicap "hundred' (he covered the distance in;ossec.) was, to 6ay the least of it, remarkable. His "go" with Hcaly in the 220 showed that tho latter still carries too many guns for him, but "Tiny" gave a very oreditable. display. ' . , The hundred yards provincial championship proved quite as exciting as that event usually, is, but from the.tim« registered (G4 8-s)| our chances of' "bagginfp' the New Zealand championship at Wanganiii look very small. The other events were all well contested. Newman surprised himself, and everybody else by winning tho 100 yds. braoelet in G9seo.—easily the fastest time" lie has yet,recorded, and A.. M. Smith swam into.second place in the 220 in fine, style. ■ Bruce reached home first in the 75, and little "Baby" Stevenson easily i accounted for the boys'race.

Our Chances at Wanganul,

Wellington; representatives did not cover themselves' with i*lory at last year's championships, ■ and this year again only one championship looks like'coming our ivaV.v For this. we must rely :on Miss O'Leary.'of Miisterton, .{he.present holder of the ladies' championship. '■Our; last year's-polo ."team was a sorry combination, and-there is little or no improvement on it this year. '• . Bricolis; not swimmijig as well as last year, and our distance man has not even a, slender chance against; Auckland's representative, Malcolm Champion. ; . The Wellington life : saving team is not caloulated to startlo even the most Uncivilised natives that ever lived, so our chances of winning, the Wigram Shield are practically nil.-■■■•' Wanganui people, howeveri i have an established reputation for. hospitality, 60 ■ our "reps." should have a good time, and. Should there be any stray fragments of luck about "Splash" hopes that they will come the , way of the Wellingtonians. ' .How Will Other; Centres Fare? I It is not unlikely that Champion (Auckland) will repeat his last year's performance'of winning everything from the hundred to the mile. W. Cookson (Christchurch) will probably be his nearest opponent in the sprint event, but in view of the fact; that the -Aucklander lately, got within li seconds of the minute, Oook'son can at best have only a chance. Atkinson (Christchurch) is practically a certainty for the breast stroke, while," as before mentioned (Miss o'Leary)KMasterlon should have no trouble in accounting for the ladies' championship. • '' 'Auckland have this:year, for the-first time,, entored a polo team, but to beat' Canterbury it will need to bo a very strong-combination.' That Decline In Coiripetltlvo Swimming. ' About tho most noticeable things at the Swifts' '■ carnival on : Saturday wero the heavy entries, and the small numbor. of scratchings :for ail- ovents. Not many weeks ago, it will be remembered, two prominent Wellington officials—Messrs. Atkins and A. W. Smith—waxed eloquent over what they thought was an ominous decline in competitive swimming. 1 To have heard these gentlemen. one "would have thought that swimming and everything connected with it was doomed.' Saturday's carnival, however, proved these statements to bo so palpably at varianco with what is actually the case that one cannot but feel sorry, that the chairman of our- centre should have been so misled as to, give expression to such an absolutely. etroneous opinion. . Swimming Was never in a more healthy condition, and although our chances at tho championships are not as • rosy as might ben the quality of Wellington swimming has within the last few years shown a' remarkable improvement.