VISITING SWIMMER

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 851, 20 December 1929, Page 1

VISITING SWIMMER

PROTEST ABOUT RYAN FROM SYDNEY . “UNFAIRNESS IN N.Z.” United P.A.—By Telegraph—Copyright Reed. 10.45 a.m. SYDNEY, Today. At a Council meetir.g of the New South Wales Swimming Association, a letter was received from the Manly Club protesting against the swimmer Ryan being matched against Bridson at Auckland on the day after he left the boat, on which he had been very sick. A motion that the Australian Swimming Union be censured for failing to prevent the unfair treatment meted out to Ryan and Griffiths in New Zealand was carried unanimously. Not all the facts have been placed before the Manly Club. The trip to New Zealand was made in ordinary weather. Ryan admitted on arrival that he had not swum into form before leaving Sydney, but it is also a fact that Bridson had his first competition swim of the season when he faced Ryan. In individual swims, Bridson had shown record-breaking form and Ryan judged him to have a style approaching that of Charlton, the great Australian. Ryan met Bridson in several swims and did not give an indication of improvement. The tour perhaps could have been abbreviated, but the contests for the Australians, outside Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, are unimportant as swimming tests. A better arrangement would have been the matching of Ryan with Bridson at the end of the tour; but even now, after nearly three weeks in New Zealand, Ryan’s performances, .though improved, have not upheld his reputation.