WOMEN IN SPORT

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 683, 7 June 1929, Page 6

WOMEN IN SPORT

THAT stormy petrel of American lawn tennis, VV. T. Tilden, has just given utterance to some candid remarks on the place of women in sport. After remarking that women would never be the equal of men in athletics, the elongated racquetwielder says that he is satisfied that Richards or Johnson could give Suzanne Lenglen 30 handicap in each game and still win four out of five matches. . That may be so. In any case, it is improbable that girl athletes have any real desire to compete against men on the same footing. Apart from that, the astonishing performances of girl swimmers like Misses Etheldra Biebtrey, Gertrude Ederle (who swam the Channel in record time), and girl golfers like Misses Joyce Wethered and Cecil Leitch, have proved that there is little between the sexes in either swimming or golf. In basketball, a crack Canadian girls’ team has even succeeded in beating a strong men’s side in the United States. These are sports in which women come very close to men. In amateur athletics, they are a long way behind. There will always be arguments as to whether strenuous sports like running, jumping, hockey and cricket are really suitable for girls. But they are taken up just the same, and apparently without any serious after-effects