Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1905.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXII, Issue 42780, 19 September 1905, Page 2

Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1905.

This above all—to thine own self be true, A nd it must follow as the night the day Thou canst not then be false to any man Shakespeare.

Record-breaking is by no means on the decrease, and indeed the considerable time by which a number, of records have lately been reduced, makes one begin to wonder when, if ever, finality will be reached. In the case of contests which rely on the production of speed by mechanical means, the possible limit attainable is probably far more distant than ie the case with contests in which human effort alone is required. For the march of improvement in the direction of increasing the speed of locomotives, steam-ships, or motor-cars, is steady, rapid, and comparatively sure. But in the human race generally, it is questionable if any great improvement is going on in the direction of the development of more powerful muscles, giving increased strength. Indeed thereiis a great inclination at -present to lament over the supposed deterioration in the physique of civilised nations. It is, however, to the exceptional men whose carefully sudied methods, in combination with fully-developed muscular strength, enables them to beat the previous best, that we must continue to look for reduction of records in the world of sport. The fine performance of Kieran, the Australian champion swimmer, in beating the other day at Belfast, by 9 1-5 seconds, his own previous record for the half-mile, affords a striking illustration of the way in which speed may be developed, for Kieran has, in reality, reduced the time by 40 1-5 seconds below the quickest previously done. Although few are constituted to be recordbreakers, yet swimming, as a useful and very necessary addition to one’s accomplishments, is by no means to be despised. Still the percentage of people able to swim is small; often, no doubt, people would learn if a suitable piece of water were available in which they could cultivate this ofttimes useful art. With the re-open-ing of the new swimming bath in the Domain, Te Aroha will indeed be in a good position in this respect, and the much-improved accommodation provided will no doubt attract an increasing number, bent on becoming proficient in both straight swimming and life-savipg. '