SINCE the passing of the Baths and Washhouses Act open. water bathing has not been encouraged so much in this country as it ought to be, and the average swimmer of the present day hesitates, when it is at all chilly, to bathe in the open. Cold water bathing has so often been strongly recommended by the medical profession that it requires no defence of ours. There are many men who bathe all the year round, even when their favourite water is ice-bound, and by habitual practice they have come to enjoy their morning dip so greatly and to reap such benefits from it that they would rather miss their breakfast than their bath. The reaction after a plunge in the open is some thing to be remembered. The body glows all over after the rub down, the spirits become light and elastic. If this reaction does not set in, it may safely be assumed that the bather has remained too long in the water or else is not in condition. To our mind the best time for fresh-water bathing is in the early morning. Then the swimmer moves so vigorously that he exer cises his limbs in the best possible manner. The opportunities for fresh-water bathing are, we admit, limited, yet energetic action on the part of local bodies has done much to remedy this. At Victoria Park Lake some hundreds of schoolboys are annually taught to swim, whilst hundreds of others bathe under the supervision of a schools' association. There still exist a few open-air baths in different parts of the country, but the tendency is to replace them by covered baths.
It is impossible to gainsay the fact that covered baths are more likely to be a source of profit, or at any rate to pay expenses, than specially built open-air bathing-places, which, in the majority of cases, are but infrequently used during the greater part of the year, and are of course of no rental value as places of entertainment during the winter season.
In most of the English rivers and lakes there are recognised spots for bathing. Cambridge, Harrow, and Eton swimmers all practise out in the open, and who can say that the training thus obtained is not beneficial? Yet there are frequently outcries about the danger to health from bathing in open water. Most
of these come from those effeminate swimmers who never dream of entering the water except under cover, and when it is at a high temperature. Open-water swimming should be regulated by common sense. A man cannot expect to stay in so long as in heated water, or to waste time on the bank before dressing, as so many do in the ordinary baths.
To rowing men, and particularly those who are fond of camping out, the ability to swim is particularly valuable. They who know not the pleasure of a dive into the deep lock pool in the early autumn, or the running header from some shady bank into the cool river on a hot summer's day, are men whose education in the essential pleasures of river life has been of a very inadequate character.
In fresh-water bathing some care has to be exercised on account of weeds and currents. It is unnecessary to point out that when bathing near locks or weirs the state of the stream should be taken into account, and that unless the swimmer be an expert it is best to avoid such places. Information can almost invariably be obtained from lock-keepers as to the best and safest spots for a dip, and if the bathers are unacquainted with the stream, advice should be sought and followed. If carried away in a swollen current, never attempt to swim across the stream ; it is only the exercise of strength in vain. Select some spot on either bank and swim towards it. In diving the great danger to be feared is the presence of weeds. There is very great need to be careful here, because when once well in them it is difficult to extricate a swimmer before unconscious ness ensues, and the would-be rescuer often has to give up the attempt. The swimmer when he finds himself in the midst of weeds should turn and swim with the current, rising to the surface as quickly as possible. He should not struggle, but swim gently ; otherwise he will find himself entangled without hope of relief.