The New York herald., 1922-07-30
WOMEN SWIMMERS
NEAR MINUTE 1900
Miss Wehselau's 1:O4 1-5 in
Honolulu Brings Her Sex
Closer to Goal.

The recent 100 yard swim in ! :04 Is
credited to Miss Mariechen Wehselau of
Honolulu has given fresh impetus to the
old controversy whether woman ever
will attain the speed of sixty seconds
for the classic sprinting course. Many
seem to doubt 1t. others feel confident
that some fair devotee of natation will
achieve the great feat before long.
If one glance over the history OF
swimming for women. and mark the
wonderful strides made in the past
twenty years, the thought will not be
denied that the questioned mark Is
coming. Old timers may recall the stir
then caused by Miss Annette Kellermann
of Australia when she hung up worlds
rcord of / :22. Yet to-day little novices
barely in their teens are beating these
figures.
And the progress has been very steady.
very consistent. Miss Kellermann within
two seasons was superseded as
record holder by Miss F. Carr of Bris-
bane. who dropped the figures to 10 rs
these being equalled shortly after by
Miss Dorothy of sydney. But in 1907
Australia lost the coveted standard. 1t
passed into the hands of Great Britain,
for Miss Jennie Fletcher of England
lowered it in succession to l :19, is,
then :l3 3-5, the latter performances
being accomplished in 1909. Another
English girl, Miss Daisy Curwen. bet
tered the record to / IL 2-5 in 1911.
and there British lassies stopped for a
while.
| The following year, however. Aus
tralia regained supremacy with start
ling emphasis, for Miss Fannie Durack
of Sydney broke into the spotlight and
| embarked on her meteoric champion
| ship career by winning the 100 yard title
of Australia in 1909. That was early in
| 1912 In March that year Miss Durack
registered the amazing time of los. a
feat which ,withstood all attacks for
eight years.
| But Miss Durack was a decade ahead
| of her time as a swimmer. She stands
out boldly in the annals OF the nata-
| torial sport, conspicuously alone at her
best. able to completely outclass all
rivals at any distance. Yet while she
was sweeping everything before her In
competition, smashing records right and
left. fair contestapts of several nations
were developing swiftly and presently
began to cut down her margin OF su-
periority. At last. in 1920, Miss Ethelda
| Bleibtrey of the New York Womens >.
A. caught and passed her. shattering
the long unbeatable record and creating
a new one of los.
Her turn had come. In 1921 she re-
duced the standard to 1:04 80 in AUS
| tralia. then on her return trip from the
| Antipodes she paused long enough In
Honolulu to startle the world by hang
| ing up the striking mark OF los 2-o,
where the international record rests at
present.
| At the time the latter iconoclastic
feat was performed Miss Bleibtrey rated
| in a class by herself. But in the brier
period elapsed since other great sprin-
| ters have pressed to the fore. and though
her record remains untouched, MISS
Wehselau, as we'll as Miss Pauline
Hoeft of New Zerland have come witnin
four-ffths of a second of 1t, while sew
eral very young girls have shown times
which indicate they may dispose OF MISS
Bleibtrey's wonderful mark before they
reach the age at which she achieved IL.
| This belief Is supported by the great
Improvement witnessed in the average
performances Of fair swimmers lately
an Improvement due to the combination
| of more efficient strokes and increased
interest in water sports for women.
None will question that the progress Is
hound to continue hereafter Most OF
the present topnotchers are at the vir-
tual outset of racing careers. They
should develop rapidly for several years
to come. Everything points therefore to
the probability of seeing some mermaid
do the century in one minute at not
distant date.