Swimming

SWIMMING, the action of self-support and self-propulsion on or in water ; though used by analogy of inanimate objects, the term is generally connected with animal progression and specially with the art of self-propulsion in water as practised by man. Natation (the synonym derived from Lat. natare) is one of the most useful of the physical acquirements of man. There have been cases in which beginners have demonstrated some ability in the art upon their first immersion in deep water, but generally speaking it is an art which has to be acquired. For many years Great Britain held the supremacy in this particular form of ath letics, but continental, Australian and American swimmers have so much improved and have developed such speedy strokes, that the claim can no longer be maintained.

The teaching of swimming has been taken up in schools, and where the work is well done it is customary to use a form of and as a consequence he fails to preserve the buoyancy necessary for carrying him along the surface. When starting for the first stroke, the beginner should draw the elbows nearly to the side. at the same time bringing up the forearm and hands to the front of the chest with the palms of the hands downwards near to the surface of the water, the fingers being extended and closed and the forefingers and thumbs nearly touching. The hands are then land drill so as to impress upon the pupils some idea of the mo tions which have to be made in order to progress through the water. This drill is the preliminary practice to the teaching of the breast stroke.

The Breast Stroke.

When learning the breast stroke, the first thing to avoid is undue haste and rapidity in the movements. It is this fault, probably born of nervousness, which causes many to aver that though eager to do so, they have never been able to learn to swim. Rapid action of the arms only exhausts the learner, whose breathing then becomes hurried and irregular, pushed forward in front of the body to the full extent of the arms, the palms of the hands are turned slightly outward, and the arms swept round until in a right angle with the shoulders, when the elbows are dropped and the hands come up in front of the chest for the next stroke. The arms should not be kept rigid,

but allowed to work gracefully. As the arms are swept backward the legs are drawn up, the knees being turned outward to the right and left and the heels nearly touching. The legs are then kicked outward and swept round as the arms are being pushed forward to their fullest extent, a "flip" being given with each of the feet which must be kept loose at the ankles and in the same position as when standing.

The Back Stroke.

A knowledge of the back stroke can easily be acquired by those who are able to swim on the breast, for the leg action is very similar and the principles relating to the use of the arms are almost the same. The arms, instead of being moved through the water, are lifted in the air and carried out to beyond the head with the palms upwards. The palms are then slightly turned and the arms swept round. Just as this action is being made the legs are drawn up as in the breast stroke, the body being allowed to travel on with the force of the kick as the arms are extended beyond the head. The great difficulty that a back swimmer has to contend with in open water is that of steering, and the best way to overcome it is to take an object for a guide before starting and hold the head slightly to the side so as to steer by it. An adaptation of the crawl stroke is now used by most back swimmers in short distance races.

At one time the side stroke was the great racing stroke; the body being placed on the side, the upper arm worked from the head to the upper side of the body, the lower arm taken down wards through the water to the underside of the body and a scissor-like kick made with the legs ; but this has now been generally given up in favour of the over-arm, trudgen and crawl strokes.