All these various failings are apt to have a common origin in a wrong method of managing the breath. As the hands come back (when the stroke is done cor rectly), the little-finger side leads slightly the thumb, and the resulting inclined plane, pushing down on the water, lifts the front end of the body; the amount of the lift can be regulated by the degree of this inclination. The breath begins to come in as the hands get well separated ; so that by the time the arms are opposite the shoulders, the lungs are pretty well filled. The full lungs, therefore, float the head, no matter how far back the arms are car ried nor how slowly the recovery is made. The breath expires as the hands go for ward. But the hands as they shoot out, with fingers slightly higher than wrists, again form an inclined plane sliding up in the water, and they, in their turn, hold up the head until the lungs fill again.
Many, perhaps most, swimmers who have not been properly taught, reverse this timing, and breathe in when they should be breathing out. This brings them to the latter half of the arm-stroke with lungs empty when they should be full. The head consequence sinks, while to prevent this'the arm-stroke is cut too short and the arms are brought for ward too soon. This in turn hurries the leg-stroke, the slide is cut short, the en tire stroke is taken too rapidly, and the swimmer in consequence soon becomes winded and demoralized. The remedy for this "vicious circle " of faults is the proper management of the breathing. That set right, most of the other troubles disappear of themselves.
Incorrect breathing results also in an other fault equally fatal to ease and speed. Most unskillful swimmers carry the head too far back ; and the feet, in conse quence, are too low in the water. The
effect of this position is that the body, in stead of sliding easily through the water, shoulders first, ploughs through it with the whole front of the chest. On the other hand, if the breathing is right, the head can be carried easily with the mouth just above the surface as the lungs fill, and sinking beneath it again during the re mainder of the stroke. One must have the mouth above water to take in breath; one can breathe out anywhere.
The common remedy for incorrect breathing, short of reform, is to twist the head on one side, and lay the cheek down in the water. This has the disadvantage that it turns the body slightly on one side, interferes with the movements of the arms, and spoils the slide. If one is to turn on the side at all, he had much better turn clear over and swim the side-stroke. Unless the breast-stroke can be swum squarely on the breast, there is no reason for swimming it at all.
The slide, too, is another neglected por tion of the breast-stroke. Nobody wants to swim all the time at full speed, while the breast-stroke is especially the method of leisure. It ought to be taken slowly, with deep, quiet breaths. But the stroke itself should be vigorous, and after each kick should come the long, restful slide, when the body travels half its length and more, and the water lies close up to the swimmer's eyes. This is the special charm of the breast-stroke. Slowest of all strokes, and hardest to swim right; scorned of the racing man and the swimmer in tanks, in open water and in middle age it comes to its own.