The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-07-14
WOMEN DON'T DIVE WELL.
But THEY SHOULD AT LEAST KNOW
HOW TO SWIM.
IL Fear Is Once Overcome the Art Is
Easily Acquired-The bathing suit
should Not Be Made OF Heavy Ma
rerfuI

the coast OF Florida: my mother sat in
a rowboat, holding me by the back Of my
little cotton skirt. the only garment
wore. would kick and splash in the cool.
green water. sometimes delighted. some
times shrieking at the top Of my small
lungs because the salt water would get
into my mouth.
But 7 quickly learned not TO be afraid Of
the water. The depths in which my mother
held me were shallow. and the sand. as is
usual on that coast. glittered white and
firm yards length below the surface.
This was not swimming In its enlarged
sense, but It was the rudimentary actions
which many girls learn after they are in
their teens and many more never learn at
all. The legs and arms soon began to go out
in the prescribed rules, which teachers call
the art Of swimming. With me It was sim
ply natural law-the one of self preserva-
ton. In few years, when the legs and
arms grew stronger. my mother would
place me a yard or two from her and say:
Swim TO me-" with the instructive faith
that she would catch, did begin to go IN
der would strike out and swim to her in
some sort OF fashion. This was the way I
learned to swim. knew no method. had no
theory; knew only that usually I didn't
sink, that my motions propelled me
through the water No natatorium but the
great bay. no scientific teacher. only a wo-
man who had learned to swim even as
was doing; no life preserver but my moth
er's hand laid under my stomach when the
distance was lengthy
Then I remember when my uncle used TO
san up close in to shore in a small catboat
Where l was swimming, and give me a
tow would catch the tow line he would
throw me, and, holding on for dear life
90 scudding along through the waves
near In shore, behind the sailboat This
was collaborating and exciting For the
spray would dash into my face. the move
ment was so rapid.
Timidity is an unsurmountable barrier
TO good swimming, be your art ever so
perfect This is why. in all probability.
women never make the fine swimmers
men do. They are born with less physical
confidence.
have known woman to swim along
with the greatest assurance because she
thought hand was held under her. which
in reality had been removed some time.
| When she found this out she sputtered and
sunk. have also known women to swim
easily when they knew that by standing
their feet would touch bottom. Get them
beyond their depths and nothing could in
duce them to swim a stroke
Swimming should be a necessity. not an
accomplishment. A girl once said that be-
cause she ran to the end Of a short wharf.
Jumped OF into thirty feet Of water and
swan back to shore she was a nine davs'
wonder at the hotel Yet there were sew
enty-fve men in the house, all Of whom
could do the same thing, thinking IL onlV
child's play.
Women go year by year to the seaside.
but DO they learn to swim? How many of
them can go with men beyond the break
ers2 Singularly enough city women are
far better swimmers than their country
or coast sisters
How often is it the case that little ur-
! chin will be thrown from the side of a boat
and told to swim? Why, they take to it as
naturally as an alligator To begin with.
| they never seem to have any instructive
! awe OF the water. For them no hidden
stumps, undertows. oyster beds or tang
! ling seaweed hold any terror
When fear is eliminated good swimming
Is invariably the result. After all, it may
! be materially a question of strength. this
marked difference in the ability of tho
| sexes to swim. A boy jumps into unknown
| depths, trusting to his strength of muscle
/ and sinew to pull him through
A woman has no such quality on which
to depend. She knows her back Is weak.
her arms more like cotton than steel N
is this inherent consciousness of weak
/ ness that makes her shrink although she
couldn't probably define the reason of the
feeling.
! There Is this popularity about a wo-
mans swimming-she will either swim dog
/ or frog fashion, the former being the cas-
Ter the latter the correct way.
"A woman rarely, If ever, uses the over
hand stroke to any advantage. There are
women known to have done So but they
md it impossible to keep 1t up or make
any progress. All men use It, TO the exclu-
sion Of other methods That it is swifter is
/ SHOWN as swimmers all adopt II In racing
| This may be another reason why all women
swim slowly. The arm In this stroke is
brought backward. then over the head and
plunged forward. the shoulder being en-
! tirely out of the water at each stroke. This
motion seems to preciptate the body
through the waves, the action being rarely
graceful but forceful 1t is exactly as if one
were pulling himself through the water by
| means Of taut rope
lately asked a physician why II was
| that women never make use of this stroke
| He answered that these powerful strokes
were made by means of the muscles
|
are strongly developed, giving to the arms
| their whole strength. For a woman the
bosom takes the place of these sinews.
cutting off the means of her ever making
this stroke of any use to her
Again, woman is rarely a good diver
1 even though she is an expert swimmer
! Physicians explain that this is owing 70
| her weak back. She does dive in a sort Oh
fashion, standing on a slight eminence
and gracefully inclining herself head
| downward into the water. Even this 10
! INDUCED in by only a few. woman
! breads giving herself up to space in this
/ inverted attitude. Simply because her
back may play her false or the blood rush
| to the brain.
Now, a word as to bathing suits. Wo-
men enter the race handicapped by the
! garments they wear. Does a runner mn
| lead into his stockings when he races
! Flannel is the heaviest kind of cloth and
| yet the women cling to it as a bathing
| suit. stockinet garment that comes
! from heel to shoulder, so that the weight
| is taken of the waist. is the best. over
| that long Russian blouse of black wash
| silk or alpaca, and short sleeves. Then
! every muscle can work easily and natur.
ally. The blouse throws of the water. re.
| mains light and the swimmer has no extra
| weight to contend with.
efsss,