The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-12-14
THINKS J. S. ATHLETES
WILL NOT CLEAN UP
Robertson Says Australian
Climate VIII Affect Form
of Yankees.

There seems TO be n feeling generally
in athletic circles that the Yankee ath-
letic team that Is scheduled TO invade
far-away Australia this winter will not
meet with the success that has uniform
y attended the efforts of American
athletes In foreign parts in recent years.
Foremost among the cinder-path eX-
perts who are Of the opinion that the
American team will not clean up IN the
Antipodes is Lawson Robertson, the
former amature sprint champion, who
now trains the athletes of the Irish
American Athletic club. and who if
looked upon as the probable selection
OF the American Olympic committee to
look out for the physical trimming of the
Yankee athletes who will go to Berlin
in 1916.
keeping the American athletes In any
kind OF condition through the long trip
from San Francisco to Australia Ia al
most an impossible one, He says:
tfallan climate Is killer Of ATHLETIC
Its enforced inactivity, Will undo the
condition of the best-trained athlete In
Dufrey and Albert Shrubb on their TRIP
to the Antipodes about ten years age
Is an example.
Both left England in fine fettle, and
ing in condition during their Austria
Han campaign, but both ran In most dis
appointing, style. The great shrubb.
r1gnt In ms S prime; ;. was as, aGie TO wi win but
formance in Australia was In a mile
race, while In races from two to ten
miles. in which he ordinarily ran brill
liantly, he failed to score an impres-
sive performance
Another example Of what the Aus
traiian trip will do to athletes was fur
nished at the Athens Olympic games In
1906" Continued Robertson. ION that
occasion the Australians decided to play
safe and send their men to Greece well
ahead OF the games 1t took the Austria
reached Athens full three weeks before
the opening Of tho game
Ordinarily three weeks Is plenty OF
time for an athlete 10 get ut In, but
the long voyage over seas. on which the
sun beats down with terrific force, sc
upset the Australians that they made q
sorry showing In the Greek games. Nigel
Barker. with q. record OF 4SA seconds fol
the quarter mile. was beaten off in the
400-meter championship In the miserable
time of 53 seconds, while WheatIey, a
sure lbs man In the half mile. was un-
able To come anywhere near two min
utes In the S0-meter race.
I'm international competitions In which
American athletes are forced to 90 abroad
our teams should be sent away so tha,
their journey Will not occupy over a
weeks time. and they should he landed
at the sceno OF the. games with Jus,
enough time to get rid OF their sea legs
before the competitions start do not
hesitate TO declare that the bUef respite
OF barely twenty-siX hours that our team
had at Antwerp on the trip TO Stock
holm in 1912 was life-saver to the con-
dition OF the team, Mike Murphy realized
that, too. for he sent all hands ashore
and every man on the team was given
pretty close 10 all that he could stand
In the way of work.
The effect OF this limberIng UP or
the spirits OF the men was wonderful.
When the team re-embarked on the
Finland the athletes were a different loi
of men All the nerves pent Up by
nine days at see had been worked OFF,
aud the men entered the last stage OF
their journey quite confident that they
would land in Stockholm In fairly good
condition"