SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN 



amongst the various schools each year, and the 

 annual aquatic sports, which have been held for 

 eighteen years, furnish abundant evidence of the 

 useful work that the organization is doing. Instruc- 

 tion in life-saving claims special attention. Over 

 2,000 children have passed practical tests in life- 

 saving and have earned the various certificates 

 and medallions awarded for passing the Royal Life- 

 Saving Society's examination, while there have 

 been seventeen instances of schoolboy heroism 

 recognized by the Royal Humane Society. 



The Nottingham Swimming Club, which 

 contains over 700 members, is the largest organ- 

 ization of the kind in the provinces. It was es- 

 tablished in the year 1880, and is divided into 

 three sections senior, junior, and ladies ; the 

 last-named being inaugurated in 1905. The 

 Nottingham Swimming Club were the first 

 winners of the Royal Life-Saving Society's 

 national competition, defeating the famous 

 Ravensbourne Swimming Club at Liverpool in 

 1892 by 65 J points to 58 J points. In the fol- 

 lowing year, however, the tables were turned, 

 Nottingham succumbing to Ravensbourne in the 

 final at the Excelsior Baths, London. A grace- 

 ful compliment to the Nottingham Swimming 

 Club was paid in 1905, when the annual tourna- 

 ment of the Royal Life-Saving Society was held 

 in the city, Hastings beating the powerful 

 Leicester club for the trophy by eight points. 

 The various championships and handicaps con- 

 ducted under the auspices of the club have done 

 much to produce swimmers who possess both 

 speed and stamina. The winners of the cups 

 since they were first offered are as follows : 



lOO-yards Senior Championship of Notting- 

 hamshire 1895-6-7, A. Pounder ; 1898, 

 F. Stapleton ; 1899-1900, A. Pounder ; 1901-2, 

 F. Stapleton; 1903, G. H. Carlile ; 1904-5, 

 F. Stapleton; 1906, G. H. Carlile; 1907, 

 F. Wright. 



22O-yards Championship of Nottinghamshire 

 1898, F. Stapleton; 1899, A. Pounder; 

 1900-2, F. Stapleton ; 1903, F. C. Gadsby ; 



1904, H. R. Cobbin ; 1905-6-7, G. H. 

 Carlile. 



44O-yards Championship of Nottinghamshire 

 1904-5, F. Gadsby (a one-legged swimmer) ; 

 1906-7, G. H. Carlile. 



Half-mile Championship of the Trent 1895, 

 A. Pounder ; 1 896, G. Shepherd ; I 897, J. Gee ; 

 1898-1900, F. Stapleton; 1901, H. V. Han- 

 cock; 1902, A. Pounder ; 1903, R. Wilson; 

 1904-5-6-7, G. H. Carlile. 



lOO-yards Junior Championship of Notting- 

 hamshire 1899, C. B. Small ; 1900, A. Tomp- 

 kins ; 1901-2-3, F. Wright ; 1904, A. Butler ; 



1905, W. Baker ; 1906, G. N. Hammond ; 

 1907, B. W. Stafford. 



loo-yards Ladies' Trophy 1907, Miss 

 Roberts. 



Water Polo has many votaries among members 

 of the Nottingham Swimming Club, and an 

 impetus was given to the game in 1901 by the 

 formation of a Water Polo League, which has 

 met with a considerable measure of success. 

 Open to clubs in Nottinghamshire and Derby- 

 shire, it is divided into two divisions, which this 

 year (1908) comprise the following clubs : 

 Division I : Victoria (Nottingham), Radford 

 (Nottingham), Derby, Nottingham Manufactur- 

 ing Company (Loughborough) ; Division II : 

 Nottingham II, Derby II, Boots Athletic, Not- 

 tingham Y.M.C.A., Forest (Nottingham). Al- 

 though the Nottingham Swimming Club have 

 twice reached the final of the Midland Counties 

 Water Polo Championship in 1897 and 

 1901 they have failed to win the trophy, 

 having on each occasion had to acknowledge 

 defeat by the powerful Leicester Club. In 1905, 

 however, the junior championship was won by 

 the Nottingham Swimming Club, a success that 

 was doubly welcome after the club had missed 

 the distinction by one goal in 1897 when Smeth- 

 wick Swimming Club were the winners. Many 

 large and important swimming galas have been 

 carried to a successful issue by the Nottingham 

 Swimming Club, chief among which have been 

 the charity gala in 1897, the monster fete held 

 in conjunction with the rowing clubs of the 

 city on the Trent in 1902, and the national 

 championships which have been decided in the 

 Victoria Baths, where records have been broken 

 on more than one occasion. Nearly all the 

 great swimmers of the time have appeared in 

 Nottingham, but the town has yet to produce 

 its champion. In 1885 T. Hallam, Notting- 

 hamshire, won the half-mile championship (bath) 

 of the Midland Counties, and the 100 yards for 

 the same district was carried off by F. Stapleton, 

 Nottingham Swimming Club, in 1899. 



Of the other swimming clubs in Nottingham 

 those attached to the City Police Force and the 

 Y.M.C.A. may be mentioned. The latter, 

 founded in 1900, at one time was second only 

 to Nottingham Swimming Club in point of 

 numbers. In 1900 they were holders of the 

 shield presented by the Nottinghamshire Insti- 

 tutes Association Swimming Clubs Alliance, an 

 organization established in 1899. 



Swimming has grown enormously in favour in 

 Mansfield during recent years. The Mansfield 

 Swimming Club was restarted on a sound basis 

 in 1907. The captain is Mr. W. H. Poultney, 

 formerly instructor to the Nottingham City 

 Police Swimming Club, who holds the club 

 championship. A life-saving class is conducted 

 each season by Mr. W. H. Hare, the baths 

 manager, who holds the certificate of the Royal 

 Life-Saving Society. With a view to increasing 

 interest in the pastime, the club has joined the 

 Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Polo League, 

 and monthly handicaps and competitions are held. 



417 



53 



