Swimming Races.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, 21 February 1890, Page 2

Swimming Races.

» 100 yds. On Tuesday evening , the second heat of the Bowing Club's.s.wimming races came off befora a mucn larger {gathering than at the previous evenings race. The result was as follow: C. Enderby, (Ber.), .. •• 1 H. Walls, (15 sec), „ „ 2 F. Young, (5 SJ9C.), < . . . 8 We predicted m •urjastiuue that better finishes would? result m the following events; and thitf prophecy was folly borne out In thii rfcce as the committee managed to Mrfd the competitors away with -the several handicaps regulated to a nicety that was simply perfect The race itself was fast and furious, and the excite* aaent among the spectators was intense. Baring the race several competitors took the lead at different times, and looked very like swimming but the pace was too hot for 1 any ordinary swimmer to hold the premier position long. Towards the end the competitors were all in a bunch, so close in fact were they, that it was almost impossible then to pick the swimmer but in a few more seconds ho appeared in the person of C. the scratch man, who throughout had swum a gr.and raoe. Walls and Young also swam^exceed* ingly well and in the former it needs no prophet to foresee a very fast swimmer in a oouple of years. In the final struggle not more than two yards separated ? out of li- competitors. The' total score sow stood Enderby, Osbome, Walls and Younr 8 poihteeaph: ",' •. *■•

t This arm ainothar yqry g^d roc* i» which there ware eleven itartera. Afiiigfatcnrreat wasiunningat th« tim» which int«rf«red a little with tho itraight run acroii. Quit* 250

spectators were present. The resuli was as follows : — G. Hawke, (15 sec), . . . . 1 C. Enderby, (scr.), . . . . 2 Short, (8 sees.), .. „ 8 Enderby this time had a very heavy handicap to fight against, in spite of which however he succeeded in forcing himself into the second position. Hawke had a big start given him but it took him all his time to roll m the winner. Shortt swam very gamely for third place. Thfl score now stood Enderby 5 (first prize) Oabornt* 8 Walla 8 Young 8 Hawke 8 Bhort 1. This left four in it to swim for second and tihire places next day but only three faced the starter, Messrs Hawke, Walls and Young. The result was: '. F. Young (scr) .... 1 H. Walls \6 sees) .. .. .2 G. Hawke (12 sees) .. .. 3 This was not a very interesting ♦v«nt as Young had it all his own way in spite of the big start the others had. Walls finished a good second. This last event finished the contest. C. Enderby .... 1 F. Young „ .. 2 H. Walls .., ..-■•& ■ These {friendly races have been the source of much amusement and enjoyment (to the public, crowds gathering nightly to witness ih* fun. The friendly rivalry manifested by the competitors too has been in* tensely keen throughout, and ii has shown the risiDg generation that a, large amount fof innocent pleasure may be had from the river if they would only take the trouble to learn the art [of swimming. Such bring the ease why should not these and kindred sports eventuate oftener f They generate a large amount of good by making things a bit more lively and by keeping stagnation away- These sort of sports too tend very largely towards purifying our larrikin' •lemeat and giving aproper vent to all superfluous spirits. Our townspeople showed their interest by attending the above contest each night and we are sure that if some energetic individual would take the matter in hand aud push things a bit, sufficient support would be gjiven to enable a contest to take place |on a much larger scale, and one which would take a month or so to complete. Racing in the water should not of course take place every day, it is too much of a strain. The Committee desire us to publicly thank Mr Hillary for his^ services and his kindness in providing free boats to arrange matters while the contest was on.