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22 s =~ 42 lillts,. o ta . E ‘ vf '«s m \ \ "g{ B4 S <" wl o \, \. wess~ 2 ~C es ; T a Ji1 A little home cooking went a long way for two local Olympic hopefuls as they set new Canaâ€" dian records on the latest leg of the World Cup shortâ€"course swim meets in Europe last week. Jennifer Button, 22, set a Canadian record in the 200â€" metre butterfly event held in Sheffield, England early last week, and then broke her own record in Imperia, Italy last Thursday. "When I originally broke it in Britain it was pretty exciting because 1 shaved two seconds off my time," said Button. "It wasn‘t really expected. "I was shocked, surprised and really overwhelmed." The bigger thrill came when she broke the record again in Two local Olympic hopefuls rewrite the record book ALL HOCKEY EQUIPMENT 20% OFF ALL STICKS, BLADES & SHAFTS 20% OFF ALL NHL REPLICA JERSEYS _ 20% OFF 2000 MODEL BIKES ARE HERE . AND ON SALE Bob Vrbanac Chronicle Staff 75TH ANNUAL CLEARANCE "I couldn‘t believe 1 took another second off in Italy," said Button. "It was a good feelâ€" ing because I realized it wasn‘t just a fluke. Jen Button Italy, shaving another second of her newly established record. The new Canadian standard now stands at 2:07.76. _ "It meant, hopefully, 1 could go faster soon." Not to be outdone, Region of 20% OFF All inâ€"stock BIKE ACCESSORIES Great Deals on ‘99 MODELS PRICED TO CLEAR in bikes now for your £ m tuneup, avoid fhymh The Waterloo Siskins ning streak of the season to cight games against Stratâ€" ford Friday before losing against Cambridge Sunday night at the Clarica arena. The Siskins travelled to Stratford for a 4â€"1 win before returning home for a 3â€"0 loss against Cambridge. Siskins streak ends at eight Waterloo Swim Club teammate Laura Nicholls also set a Canaâ€" dian record in the freestyle at a World Cup meet in Berlin,Gerâ€" many. Nicholls beat her own Canaâ€" dian record of 1:57.54 to take bronze in the 200â€"metre freestyle in a time of 1:57 56. "It‘s always great to swim a personal best time," said Nicholls. "The record meant more to me the first time 1 broke it, but just being able to get back to your best time is a good thing." Both swimmers hope the shortâ€"course success translates into podium finishes at the upcoming Canadian National Swim Championships being held in Etobicoke in two weeks. "The nationals are a chance to put everything together," said Nicholls. "It will be a good The problems continue with the Waterloo Minor Hockey Association‘s code of conduct after a case of wild accusations made by three players against their coach almost resulted in a mass resignation by the associâ€" ation‘s convenors and at least one hockey director last week. The latest trouble started when three hockey players accused their coach of showerâ€" ing with them, a charge that would have earned him an instant ejection from the associâ€" ation. A quick | investigation showed that the players had in fact made up the story and tarâ€" nished the name of a good It was a chance for the league to apply the same standard to the players who contravened the code as it does to coaches or volunteers who have come up against iL. Everyone knows that the code has to protect the children playing the game, but it also has to protect the volunteers who are giving up their time for the good of the children. chance to see where everybody is at." More importantly, both want to use their recordâ€"breaking success as a spring board for the Olympic qualifiers at the end of May, as Canada selects its swim team for the 2000 Olympic games to be held in Sydney, Australia. All the important meets from now to the Olympics will be long course meets which require the swimmers to do fewer turns in the pool than the recent World Cup short course meets. But Button said the short course results will be a big boost for her confidence in the long course events. Problems continue with code "Once you get to a certain level there‘s only so much you can do to improve you techâ€" nique," she said. "Everyone is pretty comparable on their These volunteers have to have their reputations and livelihoods protected against such spurious complaints. A lot of people around the association were looking for the same standard to be applied to these players as the league management committee would have applied to the coach if he had done wrong. Instead the rep management committee, with a recommenâ€" dation from the coach involved, accepted a handshake and an apology from the boys in quesâ€" While it was a case of the coach being a better man than the players involved, people around the association howled at the light treatment the playâ€" ers got. They thought it set a technique, it‘s confidence and experience that makes the difâ€" ference. "You‘ve been there before, and you can do this â€" you can beat the person beside you." _ Coming home to do most of her training has also helped Button in the pool. She‘s taken the year off from her studies at the University of Toronto to concentrate Laura Nicholls 181 King St. dangerous precedent for future incidents mvolving coaches. If the association wasn‘t going to support its coaches in a case like this, why even bother to volunteer. A majority of the league conâ€" venors, the minor hockey offiâ€" cials closest to the coaches, knew what the decision meant and threatened to resign. The mass resignation sparked an emergency meeting between the convenors and the league executive last Thursday. The fiveâ€"hour meeting sifted through all the rumour and innuendo surrounding the There were charges that some of the convenors were simply making a power play for control of the association. There were other charges that the boys got off lightly because of their connections to the league executive. In the end, both sides came up with a compromise that the convenors have yet to accept. on her swimming. "I have a lot motre time to concentrate on training," said Button. "When we do go on these longer trips there‘s less stress to worry about school and stuff," The Chronicle know has to ask two questions. Is this the death knell of the code of conâ€" duct? And can it be saved? She feels the decision to scale back her work outside of the pool has also loosened her up in the pool. "A lot of things have just come together," said Button. "I was having a really good time at the meets and didn‘t have any pressure on me. "I just went in a swam and things went really well." Nicholls said having Button back in Waterloo has also teally helped her training. "She‘s a really tough swimâ€" mer and she really pushes me," said Nicholls. "She‘s also a great character who makes it easy to come to the pool." EVERY SUNDAY Including Hfli‘hyl‘ Monâ€"Fri 10â€"8; Sun 11â€"6