SWIMMING

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 225, 28 January 1911, Page 7

SWIMMING

I A GREAT HAOE. I seven thousand spectators assembled at the Sydney Domain municipal baths some days ago, in eager anticipation of seem? a great race, a battle of giants, m which the great Beaurepaire was for the first time to meet Cecil Hcaly, whose recent efforts had proclaimed him a worthy foe of the redoubtable Victorian. They were not disappointed, but were in the amazing position of seeing the scintillation of the -stars"—"the celestial collision," says the Sydney Horning Herald—totally eclipsed by the brilliance of a, comparatively unknown quantity of the meteoric order. This was W. Loneworth, and his time for the three-ijuar-ters of a mile, 17mm 42sec, stands as a world's record, being twenty seconds faster than Beaurepaire'.s best/and three and four-fifths better than the. former record made under more favorable conditions by the American, Daniels. As they stood on the starting board—Healy, Hardwick and Longworth, of Xew South' Wales, Beaurepaire, of Victoria, and Springfield, of Queensland—hardly an eye turned to the sturdy thick-set boy standing on the extreme right. He was the "third string" in New South Wales' how I —a Hose Bay youth, who had no position in the firmament, and, as such, intruded |on the celestial harmonv. The race bejgan, and the first lap found Beaurepaire and Healy locked together, fighting for every inch, and oblivious to all "else. Springfield was out of it, though Hardwick was in a good position, while Longworth—well, he was amusing himself m front. Six of the twelve laps had gone, and ...e two "cracks," stroke for stroke, and kick for kick, were furnishing the battle royal. Thirty yards ahead loiurworth, his powerful' tr'udgcon kicking ii"p a mighty splash, and leaving a train Hint would not have disgraced a second-class cruiser. Some may have thought that the champions were letting him get away too far, but there were six more laps to go. and he was merely swimming a badly-judged race on the "pace 'that kills.' As the end drew near, however, it became evident that Longworth was not only leading, but being chased, and j Icliased hard. The pace was terrific. J Up followed lap, with no sign of the lead diminishing. The eleventh lap saw no change; and the twelfth, the last, saw Longworth finismng with a spurt that brought forth the deafening cheers of thousands. There was furious cheering, j and as the crowd left, they debated, pro-1 bably, as to the relative degrees of unccr- j tainty in a test match and a swimming contest. I In a relay race at the baths on V^rf nesday evening, New Plymouth Eifl^H West, the former after a "j^^^^H a l)i^^^^^^^| buytf^^^^^^^l thc^l^^^^^^H relay won