Swimsuit round axed from Miss York contest (From York Press)

Swimsuit round axed from Miss York contest

7:42am Tuesday 20th April 2010 in News By Mike Laycock, Chief reporter

ORGANISERS of this year’s Miss York contest have abandoned the traditional swimwear section – replacing it with a new fun run challenge.

The change was a bid to get away from the traditional image of such events as a “cattle market” and give the contest a new 21st-century feel, said organiser Angie Beasley.

She claimed there had always been various rounds in the contest but the only pictures that ever appeared in the media were of girls in swimsuits, so this section was being scrapped at both Miss York and Miss England levels.

She said Miss England 2009, Katrina Hodge, a lance corporal in the British Army, had also argued that getting up on stage in swimwear put girls through too much anxiety. Angie, who organises the Miss England contest and has taken over the running of Miss York following the death of former organiser Vivienne Lee last December, said the fun run would be staged in a York park a couple of weeks before the final on June 27.

She said: “The girls need to prove they are more than just a pretty face but are also pretty fit, and can get themselves sponsorship.”

The auditions for Miss York 2010 will be staged at the Royal York Hotel on Sunday afternoon, with Angie saying more local entrants were still needed.

She will be coming to York city centre on Saturday to scout for potential entrants in the shopping area and pubs and clubs.

Melissa Chapman, organiser of Miss Scarborough, began scouting yesterday, prior to the main weekend quest.

• To enter, send an email with your snapshot/photo to info@missengland.info with postal entries to Miss England/York Competition Organisers PO Box 190 Leicester LE2 8ZN.