The first championship swimming event ever held in the pool of the Norwood Civic Association will take place tomorrow evening when competition is held for the women’s New England A. A. A. U. women’s 50-yard junior title.
The race is one of the headliners of the open meet program of the Norwood Swimming Club and has attracted a strong field of contestants. Indications are that there will be a large turnout of fans for the evening’s entertainment from all parts of New England.
Three women’s senior champions are found in the list of competitors on the program: Miss Katherine Mearls of the Boston Swimming Association, breaststroke title-holder; Esther Morison of the Women’s Swimming Association, Brookline diving champ, and Mrs. Olive Holland Cox of the Metropolitan Swimming Club, backstroke ruler.
In the New England junior 50-yard event 11 starters will face the opening gun. They are Rena MacDonald, Katherine Mearls, Arline Ahearn, and Margaret Long of the Boston Swimming Association; Martha Brown, Ruth M. Kimpton, Sylvia Brown, and Eva Kimpton of the Somerville Y. M. C. A.; Tella Morison and Tina Morison. sisters, of the Women’s Swimming Association of Brookline, and Jane Waldheim of the Norwood Swimming Club.
The 100-yard freestyle handicap swim and the 100-yard backstroke handicap swim should be interesting races, with strong lists of entries for both events. Mrs. Cox, the champion, will be seen in action in the latter event. The 40-yard novice swim ought to bring out some close and thrilling battling between promising youngsters.
Wilbourn M. Cox, director of swimming for the Norwood Civic Association, is in charge of the meet. Dr. Harold G. Metters is chairman of the board of governors of the association.
The pool, one of the finest in New England, was closed during the Winter months for five years, until its opening last February. It is 60 feet long and 24 feet wide, assuring a six-foot lane for each swimmer. At the deepest end, it is 9’2 feet, which is deeper than any other pool in New England, with the exception of the tank in Whitinsville.
It is planned to install in the pool one of the 10-foot springboards, built on Olympic specifications so that contenders for the national championships will have an opportunity to practice for high-board competition. An in-door high-board title event, the first in New England, will be held in the pool early in April, following the installation of the new board.
By FORD SAWYER
Tue, Feb 1, 1927 – 19 · The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts)