PLUNGING The definition of a plunge, as adopted by the A.S.A., is as follows : A plunge is a standing dive made head first from an indi cated firm take-off, free from spring ; the body be kept motionless, face downwaid ; no progressive action to be imparted to it other than the impetus of the dive. Such plunge must terminate if the competitor has not already raised his face above the surface of the water at the expiration of 6o secs., or such time as may have been previously announced by the promoting body. The duration of the plunge shall be reckoned from the time the competitor dives from the take-off' The distance traversed shall be measured along a straight line at right angles to the diving base, to a line parallel with the diving base, over the farthest point reached by any portion of the competitor's body while fulfilling the above conditions.
It is unfortunate for the first-class exponents of plunging that the tediousness of the competitions, from a spectacular point of view, has tended in a great measure largely to decrease the interest which the institution of a plunging championship was expected to foster. Some measures were taken by the Otter Club to remedy this, and a system of plunging races was inaugu rated. In these the competitors started by word of command, in heats, as in ordinary races ; but the idea was not followed up successfully. Its failure may possibly have been due to the fact that all the men were started together, instead of a new time handicap system being formed, or the men started singly and their times recorded, the fastest being declared the winners.
Before water-polo matches began to be included in almost every programme, plunging was much more largely fostered ; but now, at an ordinary gala, plunging competitions are as a general rule vetoed, because they take up much time and do not pro duce excitement and interest among the spectators, as do those contests in which a number of competitOrs are engaged at the same time. They rank in the estimation of the public at about the same value as do the hammer-throwing contests among fol lowers of athletics. In all plunging matches one person enters
the water at a time, floats on till his breath is exhausted and he is compelled to raise his face to the surface, whereupon the plunge is deemed to have ended. He moves after the first thirty or forty feet at a pace somewhat akin to that of a snail, and to the uninitiated the contests appear absolute waste of time.
But although plunging competitions and championship contests are so little in favour, it by no means follows that this branch of the art of swimming should not be practised. There are very few first-class plungers, but if clubs would more generally encourage the art by including it in their ordinary fixtures, a vast improvement would be brought about in this respect. One of the greatest enthusiasts is Mr. H. Hewitt Griffin, and from the following table which he compiled for handicapping purposes a general idea of the present position of plunging will be gleaned. The io6 performances are those of competitors noted by Mr. Griffin, and the classes were framed from Mr. G. A. Blake's plunge of 75 ft. 7 in.
It is not very difficult for a man who at first starting is a comparatively poor plunger, or, to use Mr. Griffin's table, is in the fourth class,' to raise himself by a few weeks' constant practice to the second class. After reaching fifty feet, improve ment, except in phenomenal cases, is slow ; whereas a man in the fourth class may improve several feet each day. In the higher grade improvement comes only by inches, and at times the plunger is apt to be disappointed at his inability to equal his previous best. No notice of this should be taken, but practice continued, as very often in the next attempt the performance is better than expected.
To this cause is due the fact that in championship and level contests three plunges are allowed ; for it is seldom that a com petitor at the first plunge is able to equal his record. This is a curious fact worth remembering.