SWIMMING

Evening Star, Issue 19787, 10 February 1928, Page 12

SWIMMING

[By Hooeee.]

SUGGESTION FOR CARNIVAL. Now that the splashes from the New Zealand swimming championships have died down, 'swimming locally is back to normal, but in view of the great success that attended the national meeting tho writer trusts that the season, at this stage, will not be allowed to end without at least one more carnival. He would suggest that the Otago Centre consider this mattey as soon as possible, and that the question of staging a carnival as a big wind-up to the season about tho end or middle of March should be considered. Either the centre might stage such a fixture, or under the centres’ control tho various clubs mighty conibino in running a combined carnival. In tho writer’s opinion the best proposal would be for the centre to promote a carnival and the various clubs to assist in disposing of tickets beforehand. Loyal co-opera-tion in the matter of entries would be necessary, and several special attractions might be arranged in the way of an exhibition by a troupe of divers, headed by Roy Caldor, a flying squadron race, a water polo match, and several original novelty events. There would bo little fear of such a carnival resulting in financial loss, and in view of tho increased interest in swimming locally as the result of the New Zetiland championships, it is highly desirable that another fixture should be arranged before tbe season is brought to a close. KIWI DOINGS. With the club championships about to he decided, there has been considerable activity in the ranks of tho Kiwi Club,’ and Tuesday night saw a good muster of members at tbe Municipal Baths. In view of the prospective interclub water polo competition a_ solid halfhour’s polo practice was indulged in, and the indications are that the club will be represented in this competition by two teams. Boyd and Bailey picked sides on Tuesday night, and the game was responsible for showing that the club possesses the makings of a splendid water polo team. Boyd was in good form and shot several goals, probably being the fittest man in,tho water. H. N. Bailey showed that when his throwing is better directed bo is going to ho a big asset to the team, while . Hector and W. Haniilton were another pair who showed to good advantage. With n

little more training R. Kenna should be a useful man for one of the teams, and the same remark applys to one or two other players. For the interclub polo competition it should be possible to field a solid side from such players as W. P. Boyd, H. Chapman, L. Pithie, R. Hector, Short, and one of two others.

Apart from polo a number of swimmers indulged in useful training, and a promising new member of the club is Rose, who hails from Christchurch. He may be a competitor in the clubs championship events, and in the 220yds event should bo seen to advantage. N. H. Bailey and W. P. Boyd are both swimming well just now, and the competition for tho senior cup looks like being between this pair, though there are others, such as W. Hamilton, who should bo capable of extending the pair over some of the distances. .In tho absence of the New Zealand ladies champion, Miss K. Miller, the senior ladies cup competition promises to bo more closely contested than usual, and Miss P. Lang should extend all opposition. She is training hard just now and has improved her stroke a lot, though there is still room for improvement where her leg action is concerned. The Misses Morgan_ and M. Morrison should assist in making the competition more interesting than usual, for Miss Miller has had a premium on the cup ever since it was first contested.

Miss C. Lung and Miss P,. Taylor arc both showing good form among the junior girls, while R. Geddes is shaping convincingly in tho junior division. The New Zealand junior boys breast-stroke champion is not confining himself to this style of swimming, and should bo hard to heat in tho club’s junior division.

AMERICAN WATER POLO TEAM. Probably tho greatest aggregation of swimmers that ever paddled on one water polo team will represent the United States at the Olympic Games (says a Californian writer). U has been announced that, in spite of the fact that the winning team will earn the right io go as a unit,_ Unit the members of this team arc in no sense certain of their places on tho squad. Seven alternates or substitutes will he chosen from the teams contesting the national title. ’These men will bo placed on the first team as fast as they prove their ability, which means another all-American squad. In spite of the fact that the American watermen will be able to swim 20 per cent, faster than their European rivals, they will be hard put to gather the polo crown, as past efforts have shown. Unless they brush up on the new rules and develop a wee bit more dexterity with the wet leather-coverqd sphere, there is reason to believe that this campaign will bo as vain as have the others.’ George “Tiny” fechvoth, Olympic Club poloist, is one player who has developed tho art of handling the ball. “Tiny” made the trip to Paris in 1924 and watched tho hoys who invented the game loss the hub around, and has profited by this lesson. Ho handles tho ball with cither hand, can throw from any position, and like tho players from abroad can catch and balance, tho ball without over letting it touch the water. It has taken hours and hours of constant_ practice day after day to develop this. It is possible the Americans as a general run are not patient enough to go through these dull, uninteresting practices so consistently. It may he the officials who will handle the games this year will not permit tho use of leg scissors under the water or holding the opponents’ suits where they cannot he seen. While the actual act cannot be witnessed unless the water is clear and tho officials are well above the players, tho foul must be apparent oven to a blind man when a swimmer makes no headway, though doing Lis best. DUNEDIN DASHES. There was a large attendance at the Dunedin Club’s hour last Friday night, juniors in particualr being conspicuous. As yet no official action has yet been taken in regard to the selection of a water polo team, but before the competition commences it is safe to say tliat some move will be made. The club has two representative players in R. C. Caldcr and G. Standring, and there are others among the swimmers who should do well with a little coaching. Good work continues to ho done on the diving boards, and the dub lias reason to feel proud of the success that attended its representatives at the New Zealand national championships. First and second honors in the men’s diving championship went to the club’s representatives, and, in addition, second place in tho ladies’ diving championship and tho winners of the intermediate boys’ diving championship were provided by members of tne club. Miss M. Fleming, the Otago intermediate girls’ champion, continues to move along nicely, but it was a. pity she did not contest the intermediate girls’ events at tho national fixture. For the experience would have done her a lot of good. However, she is quite young, and may yet got her chance at another similar gathering. J. Fleming is still training, but he has not come on as much of late as might have been expected, in view of tho promising form ho showed last season.

His success in the intermediate boys’ diving championship should be most encouraging to A. M. Rix, who takes his training seriously. Rix has much to learn before he will become a firstclass diver, but he has started off tho right way, and by paying attentioip to his coach should show still further improvement. _ The worst feature of his diving is his poor carriage. Roy Calder was so busy with his secretarial duties that he had little time to devote to the hoards, but tho Now Zealand diving champion can afford to rest on his laurels after his recent fine performances. Alex Rerry, who was one of the founders of the Dunedin Club, and was at one time a good performer over 100yds, has decided to get into the sport again, and was present on Friday night. If he gets into form he should be an acquisition to the club. Miss D. Eggers was putting time in on the diving boards, and should not be disheartened by her failure at tho New Zealand championships. It is her first season, and though she does not show the same promise as Miss D. Foote she should improve. A. Rennie and H. James are two of the* promising younger members of the dub, and at the present time they are devoting their time to improving their stroke.

G. Staples is a * consistently good plain diver who was exercising himself oh the boards, and another promising diver, who was seen out was J. Blee, who is the makings of a very fair performer both in plain and fancy diving. A junior girl who is showing considerable promise is Miss I. Williams. She has made marked progress already, and ought to be prominent in junior events before long. .

Miss N. Lane was training steadily, and has only to maintain her present form to show to advantage before long.

THE COOK STRAIT SWIM. Though it has been placed on record by an authority on Native lore that Cook Strait was successfully negotiated by Maoris in past centuries so far as is known to history the bit of water that separates the North and South Islands of New Zealand has yet to he successfully negotiated by man. For that reason R. J. Webster, the plucky Aucklander, may rightly be regarded as a pioneer in view of his attempt last Saturday to swim the Strait, though his effort did not meet with success. Webster has twice registered fastest time in the Annette Kellerman Cup race over three miles of a harbor coarse, and his recent effort to swim Cook Strait was not blazoned forth as many such hazardous undertakings are, though nothing was left to chance in the way of seeing to the genuineness of the effort. After being in tho water for two and a-quarter hours, and covering about eight miles, Webster was forced by the cold to desist from what might otherwise have been a successful attempt to swim tho yet unconquered Strait. It seems evident from Webster’s unsuccessful experience that the water in that particular region must be very cold, and so Cook Strait still remains to be conquered. Perhaps some New Zealand sportsman may give Strait swimming an impetus by offering a prize of some description to the first swimmer to achieve success in this direction, for it seems likely that before long there will bo further attempts to swim the Strait. As Webster made the first effort, there will bo many who wil hope that he will be the first to accomplish this feat.

WATER POLO COMPETITION

It will probably be some weeks before it is found possible to get the. water polo competition under way, but there is no reason why matches should not be played until right up to Easter, The institution of this competition is going to do much to improve the standard of water polo in Otago, and next season should see the province making a much bolder bid for New Zealand championship honors at water polo. Some good games should be witnessed before tho competition has been long in progress, and probably live loams will take part. The centre is now looking for a donor of a cup for this competition, which will probably be played off at the, rate of two matches a week during the various club hours. ST. CLAIR ACTIVITY. The St. Clair Club has had a very active time lately in view of the splendid weather that has prevailed. Large crowds of swimmers have attended the club pavilion, while last week-end the junior and senior life-saving (earns put in some good practice, several run-outs being staged. There was very lil.llo sea on, and tho current was hardly noticeable, with the result that several swimmers swam nearly to St. Kilda, and hack. With a, tide, similar to that of last week-end tho swim to White Island should he Fairly easy. There is some talk of ono or two attempting to swim there if a boat is available and the donor of the £SO trophy will again come forward. Tho Sagar Cup surf competition will be contested on February 18. St. Clair will probably enter four evenly-bal-anced teams, the respective heltmcn being C. J. M'Lcan, J. B. Simpson, C. B. Lewis, and S. Fogg. The competition is open to any of tho affiliated clubs, and it is quite likely that tho Kiwi Club will also be represented by a team which should add considerably to tho attractiveness of the competition. If the present weather continues it is not too much to expect that there will be thousands on the beach for the affair, (and it is to bo hoped that this time the financial response from the public will be a little better than it was on the occasion of tho Nelson Shield and four-man dominion surf championship. The club hour at the Municipal Baths is becoming increasingly popular, and last Monday night saw polo practice indulged in to good purpose. Two exponents of back-stroke who are training hard just now are S. Fogg and J. B. Simpson, who will be seen In action against each other at this style of swimming during tho_ progress of the Shaw competition, which is*to commence shortly. This cup was one of the old Otago Club’s trophies, and has been handed over to the St. Clair Club for annual competition. Tho championship events to bo decided are 100yds free style, 100yds breast-stroke, 150yds back-stroke, 50yds free style, and tho plain dive. The club will be entering two polo teams for the interclub competition, one of which at any rate should be a strong combination, with such players as C. B. Lewis, A. Marred, J. Swan, and A. Knights to draw from.

GERMAN CHAMPION’S VISIT TO AUSTRALIA.

Gustav Froelich, who recently arrived in Australia, is one of the outstanding swimmers of his generation. The German champion is a much-tra-velled young man of twenty-five years of age. Born in Samoa, Froelich visited Australia in 1911, but two years later made his homo in Germany, where he has since resided. During his travels he has toured Europe and America, and was the guest of tho Shah while competing in Persia in 1921. Froelich' was undefeated in U.S.A. during last year, both in free style and back-stroke events. Among his victims was Robert .Hosier, tho American champion and winner of the hack-stroke event at the Paris Olympiad. Although his training was interrupted by an attack of nasal catarrh, duo to nnder-water, swimming, Froelich was just defeated recently in Imiu 2sec in the 100-metre frce-stylo championship of Germany. A remarkable fact about Froelich is that his swim at Claremont, while passing through Perth, was his first in salt water since ho commenced competitive swimming ten years ago. All the European and American baths in which he swam were what he terms “sweet water” pools. He is confident that the added buoyancy which he will obtain from salt water during some of his exhibitions will be the deciding factor in his attempts on_ several world’s records' while in Victoria.

Short in stature and weighing only 9.4, Froelich is beautifully muscled. He employs the orthodox three leg beats per arm stroke in his back-stroke. His pace was a revelation to tho experts of Perth.

Froelich is of a pleasant disposition, and speaks English fluently (aSTys the ‘Sporting Globe ’). He states that he is employed in the motor trade, is combining business with swimming during his tour, and will be in no hurry to return home after the more serious racing is completed. But he is very keen to measure his speed against that of Tom Boast, of Queensland, the Australian back-stroke champion, and Ron Johansen, the Melbourne chib boy, whom Boast so narrowly defeated last year. Enric Rademncher, the world’s record holder for all breast-stroke distances, .was prevented by the exigencies of his

insurance business from accompanying Froelich to Australia. This tour is being financed by the Victorian Amateur Swimming Association, the officials of which are confident that the performances of Froelich will merit public support. International competition is a big impetus to sport and a prime factor in the development of understanding between nations. The V.A.S.A, is to be congratulated on having been responsible for the visit of such a distinguished athlete to this country. REGATTA RESULTS. The swimming events at the St. Leona rd-Burkes regatta attracted splendid entries, and some good swimming was witnessed, especially on the part of the Otago 100yds champion, N. H. Bailey, who was 'giving away big starts and yet managed to win the 50yds handicap and finished a very close second to B. Kerr (9see) in the 100yds handicap, which saw the winner register 76sec. Bailey would probably have won tho 100yds as well as the dash had not his course been crossed several times during the first half of tho race. B. Kerr, who won this event, is an improving swimmer, who needs_ only to pay a little more attention to his stroke to be quite a useful handicap man over this distance. , . .

Little W. Jarvis, the promisiing Kiwi junior, was second in the 60yds handicap ; and both girls’ events were won by Miss C. Lang, who is swimming very well at present. The success that attended the swimming at this meeting should necouragc the Regatta Committee_ next_ year to cater for swimmers by including additional swimming events on tho programme. SWIMMING FOR EXERCISE. Says a writer in the leading, American ’ aquatic journal, ‘ Beach and 800 l ’:—“There is no exercise like swimming! The breast stroke builds the arm, shoulder, and breast muscles. The forward sweep and backward thrust is guaranteed to develop those back muscles which cure the scholar’s stoop. The scissors kick of the side stroke will do mure for tho development of the legs than all gymnastic tricks yet invented. The arduous labor of the trudgeon and crawl compels deep breathing, and when your wind, grown short in office chair or over work bench, is spent, you turn upon your back and rock as in a cradle, looking at the sky. Yon come out in a coni comfort of which an hour’s blistering heat cannot rob you, and wander home content.. Yon have an appetite, and a. long restful night of sleep awaits you.” SPLASHES. Miss Kathleen Miller and Miss Ena Stocklev, New Zealand ladies’ swimming champions, will be making, their first, appearance of the present visit to Australia i*it the New South Wales championships to-morrow, and considerable interest will be attached to their performances, especially to Miss Miller’s efforts in view of her easy victories and fast times at the recent New Zealand championships. Miss Stocklev will bo concentrating mainly on the back stroke, but Miss Miller will be swimming in frec-styls events during the tour over all distances from 100yds to 880yds. In view of the 2.48 swim for 220yds recently registered in Australia by the phenomenal Jean Cocks, there should be a rare duel when she meets Kathleen Miller over this distance. And if Miss Miller is in her best form some records ought to go by the board. For some time past a surf and lifesaving club has been mooted at St. Kilda, and tho writer understands that before long the proposal to_ establish such a club will take definite shape. There is room for such a club, and without doubt it will receive good support from frequenters of tho beach, as well as assistance from the affiliated clubs, even though at tho outset tho now club may not be affiliated to the Otago Centre. Miss Florence Permit, South Africa’s noted long-distance swimmer, was the winner of a mixed Marathon conducted over the difficult ten-milo stretch of troublesome water from Robben Island to Capo Town. Last year Miss Berndt set a record of 7h 22min for the course, hut in the recent contest she was handicapped by bitterly cold water and stiff head winds, so that it took her lUh 20miu to negotiate the route. Three men and one woman who opposed Miss Berndt were unable to finish, but the latter, Miss M. Wilson, swain impressively, lending tho field most of the way,' and coming within 500, yds of the goal before increasingly adverse conditions forced her to withdraw. The final financial results in connection with the'New Zealand swimming championships are not yet known, hut it seems likely that the Oagto Centro should benefit to the extent of about £SO. Though this may not he as much ns was expected, it is fairly satisfactory, and the results and benefits accruing from the meeting after all cannot bo measured in terms of £s d. Interest in swimming is considerably greater than it was before tho championship meeting, and next season should even eclipse the success of the present season. Tile 22Uyds breast-stroke championship of Ireland for women, decided in a 25yds tank, resulted in a clean-cut victory for Miss M. Dokrell, of Dublin. Her time was 3min 39 1-osec.

The 220yds breast-stroke swim in 3rain 17 2-sscc, achieved by Miss Agues Cornghfcy, of the Women’s S.A., in a 75ft pool in Bermuda recently, is the most encouraging exploit at this style of natation chronicled this season (states L. De _ B. Hanley, American Olympic coach, in a bulletin received by the writer through tho San Francisco instructor, Professor John A. Jackson). The listed world’s record of 3min 12 l-sscc has been beaten by three European mermaids recently, Miss Hilda

Schrader, of Germany, claiming the best mark of 3miu 15 15 3-ssec.

The final trials for the selection of the British swimming team to go to Amsterdam for the Ulympic; Games will be held at Blackpool on June 22, 23 next under the auspices of the Blackpool Corporation( says the ‘Athletic News’). The preliminary eliminating trials will be held in various parts of the country from May 1 to May 21. Swedish girl, Miss Marianne Gustafson, narrowly missed the world's record for 200. metro breast-stroke swimming recently. She covered the distance jn 3min lilsec, or within four-fifths of a second of the listed standard of Miss Mario Baron, of Holland. Swedish experts are predicting that Miss Gustavson soon will attain international rating, which is quite likely, inasmuch as girl swimmers usually impiove very rapidly in their early teens. Moreover, as 2(JO metres is the- Olympic breaststroke course, it looks as if the newlydeveloped young naiad may have to be seriously reckoned with at next year’s games. Jn view of the splendid weather which has been experienced of late, it has been suggested to the writer that the St. Clair Club might consider the advisability of staging a carnival at the St. Clair Baths before the close of the season. Given line weather, such a fixture would almost undoubtedly be a success, tor a carnival at the marine baths would be something in the nature of a novelty.

According to northern reports, it seems likely that the national 100yds champion, N. Dowsett, and the intermediate boys’ 100yds champion, W. Cameron, will meet before the present season ends. What a great race it should be! Roth men have been registering fast times this season, and when the pair do meet a new mark should be set. The Otago Head Centre of the Royal Life Saving Society has much for which to thank its energetic secretary, Mr D. Bannntyue, for during the recent dominion life saving championships practically all o’ the arrangements were in his hands. The president (Mr H. H. Henderson) also rendered valuable service, but it seems from the recent fixtures that the local life-saving centre is a two-man affair. In view of the importance of the work that this body is carrying out, it is hoped that in future some of the other members will . lend their assistance to the two officials who have done so much to further its interests.