HAD NO SERIOUS OPPOSITION

NZ Truth, Issue 1262, 6 February 1930, Page 17

HAD NO SERIOUS OPPOSITION

Swimming

WITH Cameron, of Wellington, across the Tasman safely settled m Sydney, and Stokes, of .Canterbury; the cn'y performer of merit to oppose' him, Bridson had i things much his own way at the championships. . '!■'■ "■'•■'' : From' a national viewpoint he is the only class swimmer m the country at the' present 'irrie. . ■ :■

J, A. JT* There is np gain- ] |p* -/ saying thefact that jtmWi'u / had the opposition *** '/ been a little sternIfea^j/ er Bridsoh would wBFI have achieved even WS&Z* better times than m '" those he put up. . When the two Australians, Ryan Kath. Miller • and Griffiths, toured the country, Bridson ■, proved what he could do when the opposition was there, and were he to try' conclusions, for a season in '."topline" company, his New Zealand times would all go by the board. Dominion titles now hanging to his belt are the 100, 220, 440, 880 yards and the mile, and 'm none ;o£. these was he really pressed. _ ;.•/..■' Cameron's time m /the - 100 yards (55 4-5), still holds good, Bridson leading from the outset, found he had no difficulty m talcing the honors m 58 1-5. Similarly, Bridson did not lower D. P. Lindsay's record of 2min. 29 sees, for the 220, his time being 3-5 sees, slower, but m taking the title from Stokeß, Canterbury, he was able to do so without any great, effort. / ■\ ■ While Stokes put up a game performance In all the events m which he competed against the. northern champion, he found he was no match for Bridson. In fact; he Is not m the \ same class; neither, for that matter, ' Is Clarldge nor Blakeley, of Wellington. In the mile, which he took on the same

Bridson Collected Scalps, but 1 ■ '■ ' \ (From '"IjJ.Z. Truth's" Special Swimming Correspondent.) ' ■>. Outstanding among the many fine performances at the swimming championships held at Greymouth is the great list of achievements credited to Gordon Bridson, the sprint and middle distance swimmer from Auckland. ,

day as the 100 yards title, Bridson did the journey m 24 mm. 31 3-5 sees., well below Lindsay's two records and some 31 sees, below the time credited to Stokes..

It: should have been no great difficulty to better these times. In the half-mile he had the satisfaction of cutting 6 sees. off. Lindsay's . record. ' .'■;..;

In .the intermediate class, McConville,

of Canterbury, is a coming swimmer. He has an attractive style. The 220 came his ' way m hollow fashion, also the 440. In this event he put up a meritorious performance to cut 14 2-5 sees off. Sutherland's time of 6min. 21 1-5 sees.

The only one who was capable of extending McConvllle at all was Hattersley, also of Canterbury. McConvllle has stamina and speed and with another season or two on him

will make the opposition move. ,: ' A promising youngster is Reg. Geddes of Otago, who collared the 75 and 300 yards junior titles and also the 220 yards He had the pleasure of clipping the time down m a few instances. Jarvis is a free, heady swimmer, who will go farther m the game. Moorhouse, the Olympic representative was the only one to, have a look-in m the 150 yards breaststroke. At the present time there is no rising talent that is likely to get past him. Kathleen Miller, of Wellington, had her fair share of the spol.s at the championships. The 440 was easy for her, but In the 220 she only got there by a few yards. Kath. nearly met her Waterloo on the final night when Miss Farquhar of Auckland, drove her hard m the 100. ,The night and the water were very cold and this probably accounted for the poor time' recorded. Miss G. Pidgeon, of Auckland, is a coming swimmer., The manner m which she took the 220 backstroke was con- 1 vincing. In the diving there was a disappointing lack of competition, Roy Calder Otago, as was fully anticipated, remain* champion. He gave a perfect exhibition and while he cares to stick to the game the opposition will always be amongst the "also rans." ■ If the Capital representatives were ; unlucky or not good enough In other events, the William Henry Shield for beltmen came the way of the Lyall Bay B team. Blakely becomes the champion beltman of the Dominion, and he richly deserves the honor. Among the junior and other minor events at the championships, a number of promising youngsters were m evidence, and if the Dominion lacks first-class senior representation at the present time, .there are prospects that m the near future some good talent will be available. Greymouth has had its first championship and no doubt this wiil m itaelf be a great fillip to the game m that part of the country.