Student Athletes Compete

The Field gets away in the 880 Yards final event at the inter-universities' sports held at the University Oval yesterday.

Victoria—"like a wounded snake drags its slow length along"

Never before has Victoria done so badly in swimming as in Dunedin this year. Despite the misfortunes which smote the team directly before Easter, it is not possible to place the blame for Victoria's total collapse in both swimming and water polo on the absence or disability of three people.

In the women's team, swimming and polo in the College could hardly be in a worse state. For the sake of the College, it would be better to take only one woman swimmer to Tournament next year than to have to resort to unfit, untrained swimmers, merely to fill the team to its maximum size. Unless new swimmers are found before next season, or existing swimmers do a great amount of hard work, Victoria's women's team will be the same pitiful team as it was this year.

It was most unfortunate that Jacky Twigg should have so recently recovered from flu.—it was only her temporary lack of fitness which kept her from retaining her titles.

In the men's team, the position is complicated at Victoria by the restriction of numbers to ten, from the polo team must be chosen—seven men plus emergencies. The selectors have two alternatives—either choose the swimmers from the best polo players, or else choose the polo team from the best swimmers. In a strong centre, little difficulty arises, but at Victoria it becomes necessary for players to be included in the polo team whose experience is limited to a few hours' play on club nights. Tragedy

It was a tragedy for Victoria to sec their only N.Z.U. representative, and team captain, Theo Verhoeven, at the side of the baths, his foot in plaster.

But matches cannot be easily won by an unsupported goalkeeper, and Victoria had neither the skill nor the experience to overcome the stronger teams.

Victoria's one big triumph was Bill McCarroll's clear win in the men's diving, the other V.U.C. representative Paul Dobson being third. But here all credit is to Bill himself—not to V.U.C. Apart from the winner, the standard in the women's diving was not high; and Victoria would do well to find a woman diver before next Easter. One possible contestant for the men's diving became apparent on the night of the diving finals, when despite several obvious handicaps, Victoria's best known tournament supporter produced several very creditable efforts from the high board.

In the men's races. Victoria was just not fast enough. Lloyd Allen and Don Paviour-Smith swam well for their two places, but they too, as well as the other swimmers, suffer from lack of strong competition during the season.

Possibly the one cheering thing the picture is that Victoria can hardly do worse next year at Chrstchurch.

F.S.