New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-01-14
AMERICAN WOMEN
SWIMMERS WILL
HAVE BIG YEAR
Miss Dorfner, Miss Cow
sIIs and Others Appear
Sure TO Smash Records

-. mermAids should write
As;nr history this year. There IL
rlnss e. Il IN the growing Interest
tsking IN water sportsi =
aey s5.rful Improvement they have
~ ,nSividualy and collectively;
sfss"' r.n,arSable performances recent
y srSrrbout the country the number
III. contestants is increasing stead.
Ip,,is water Sprltes of thirteen and
~ - are ready 20 vie with title
tns in the championship battles
Nv record on tho national list is
49, since the closing Of the out
,.,son reports have come from
fee, districts OF standards being
h '., in practiee. and half a dozen
.,Tks have actually been shattered
.-ss the lsst few weeks in competi-
~ though they will be unacceptable
wa ,,ords. because all A. A. L. re-
s;-snsnts were not complied with.
Record Denied Her
u;.s Olga Dorfner, of the Philsdel-
-. Turngemeinde, for instance, COW
.red loo NaFNS las" hSHSh "a h''h"'N
AK seconds, as against her own ma
.;,.,l record of 1 minute s 40 seconds,
~. N, race was closed to club mem
s,rs 50 A. 4. L. brackets were denied
Tor the same reason, too. the figures
a, A0e-yard relay racing, teams OF
t,ar siiil remain at minutes as %
...eBSs. despite the fact that the girls
= tIs local National Women's Life
,,v;,g League went we'll under them
!, n,esmber. and that a few days ago
.,usrtet Of little lady fish, the Oldest
Elizabeth Becker, Helen Pen
,vr,eker. Gertrude Artelt and Helen
TuSieau-thrashed the distance in the
.,rationsl time Of 8 minutes 9 seconds
nsneet Of the Philadelphia Turnge-
rsihes.
$50 lowered both the 220 and 440
y,rS records in open water early in the
6I and only failure of one OF the
v,.tb holders to catch the double per-
iorrsnee prevented recognition Of her
s,hieyement.
Standards have also been claimed for
Mas Dorothy Burns, of Los Angeles.
A go yards. free style, and $50 yards
Nth The back stroke, and vouchers for
hem are now awaited. Judging from
vr,ss notices all requirements were full
filed
Two star mermaids who have had no
,istee since summer 10 compete at
heir fsvorite distances, yet whose time
trails conclusively prove they are fast
o. than ever. are Miss Claire Galligan,
a this city. the American champion,
,nd reeordist at 440 yards and one
pile. and Miss Thelma Darby, of the
lrdianspolis Turn Nerein, fourteen
usrs old, the national half-mile holder,
Both have displayed iconoclastie speed
\ training, and their official breaking
q the middle distance records seems
Gals a matter of opportunity.
A Wonderful Feat
Several other likely candidates fol-
agnsl honors are in the field, and
rominent among them Miss Anna
Isan. of Lansdowne, Penn, the young
lony distance swimmer, who in Septem-
her negotiated twenty-six miles in a
continuous trip of IL hours s minutes,
me greatest feat or combined SPEED
and Stamina ever accomplished By a
woman.
Miss Kean is practising regularly,
and proposes to better her brilliant
record this year. She undoubtedly will,
for conditions could not have been
much worse when she made her last
great swim. and conditions play an all
important role in tests of this kind.
OF the other water sports favored by
the sex, fancy diving and soccer water
polo promise to prove the most popular.
Expert women divers have been devel-
Oped By the score; water polo teams OF
girls are springing up everywhere.
In line for the highest diving laurels
appear 10 be Miss Aileen Alien, of Los
Angeles; Miss Constance Meyers, Of
Portland, Ore; Miss Evelyn Burnett, Of
St Louis Miss Helen Pennypacker, Of
Philadelphia, and Miss Josephine Bart
lett, Of New York. They lead at pres
snt 10 their respective districts.
All told, the year 1917 should be the
most successful ever enjoyed by Ameri-
can mermsds.