The record-union., 1896-09-27
HOW TO SWIM.
Greatest Defect in the American Style Of
Swimming.
About the Only Branch of Athletics in
Which We Are Behind Our
English Cousins.

August 22d. Wayne has an arti-
/ fetal fresh water bath, about 500 feet
long and so feet wide, which is consid-
cred the finest pool in the world for
swimming races.
| Swimming is about the only branch
of athletics in which we are behind our
English cousins. The reasons for this
! are threefold: First, we do not swim all
the year round, as they do, and don't
have open air-races on Christmas Day.
| Second, we have not the magnificent or
| ganiZation of swimming clubs, with
their omnipresent baths and reduced
prices of admission. Third, we have no
systematic or competent instructors,
| except a few specialists, whose charges
| are exorbitant, consequently we have
very few swimmers who have anything
like perfect stroke. The combined re-
suit of these drawbacks is that we
never yet had a swimmer who could win
| a place in an English championship,
and all our records are far behind
| theirs.
The great difficulty with our swim
| mers is that they are mostly self
taught, and have acquired bad habits,
which it is almost impossible to over
come. The three great characteristics
CT the imperfect swimmer are splash
| ing, rolling the body and moving the
| head. The perfect swimmer makes no
splash. His overarm enters the water
smoothly and deliberately, and his feet
never come to the surface. There is no
rolling of the body; it comes up from
the dive with the shoulders exactly at
| at right angles with the surface of the
water, and it keeps that position as
| steadily as a ferryboat. The head is
set square on the shoulders, and is
never lifted, turned or jerked forward.
| The only motions of the body are made
with the arms and legs; any other
movement destroys speed and interferes
with the mechanical perfection OF the
| stroke.
| In spite Of the immense number Of
swimmers in this country there are
probably less than a dozen who can
swim perfect racing stroke, the great
est defect in the American style being
the habit of striking with the overarm
and the legs at the same time. The best
teachers say that two years, swimming
one hundred times each season, is none
| too long to make a good swimmer, and
that If he has already learned a defec-
| tive stroke it will take him an addi-
tional year to get rid of it.
Any person going to an ordinary
swimming instructor will be told that
| the first thing to learn is the breast
stroke, because that is the foundation
of all other strokes" This is now an
exploded theory, and many of our best
swimmers never learned the breast
stroke and cannot swim it,
MOTION IS UNNATURAL.
One of the chief defects of the breast
stroke is that the motion of the legs is
unnatural, and, unlike any other made
| by human being, is such that the
muscles employed cannot be developed
in any other form of exercise. This eff
| feet is completely overcome in the side
stroke, the motion of the legs closely
resembling that of a runner in full
| stride. The best way to learn the side
stroke is to begin with the leg kick
which should be practiced at the edge
OF bath, holding on to a ladder or
rail with the hands.
| After getting the BODY we'll balanced
and steady in the water, with the feet
| as near the surface as possible, the legs
| must be gradually drawn apart and
| toward the body, the feet hanging
| loosely on the ankles. Great care must
be taken to draw the right, or under
| leg, as high as it will go.
| When both legs are we'll drawn up,
| the left, or upper foot, is brought
| square to the water and stamped"
down and slightly outward until the
| leg is straight; then it is kicked back
| ward to meet the other leg. While the
| upper leg makes this stamp and kick,
| the right, under leg, is stabbed
| into the water and hooked round in a
| large sweep with all the strength at
| the swimmers commnad. The COM
bination of these motions results in a
| peculiar scoop, or sciSSors-like clip,
with both legs, and the water is
| squeezed from between them like a
melon seed from between the fingers.
| The legs are then drawn up easily and
gradually for another kick and the mo-
| ton is repeated. The recovery must be
| made slowly and deliberately, but the
| kick is vicious and swift as lightning.
1t will take a good learner at least a
month to get this kick down fine SO
| that he can do it equally we'll on the
either side. After that he can try the
arm strokes which are best learned
| on a belt hung from trolley.
A GREAT DEFECT.
The great defect with most of our
swimmers is that they strike the over
arm and the legs at the same time.
| This style of swimming is now quite
| out of date and no longer used by the
experts because it gives the body a
| jerky motion and often splashes badly.
| 7 he best way to get the proper COM
bination Of the arms and legs is to
draw the feet up ready for the kick
with the upper arm down by the hips.
| AS the kick is made the upper arm is
| lifted out of the water and swung for
ward as far as it will go. The kick is
| so quick that it is finished long before
the hand reaches it's position beyond the
head, but the moment the feet come to-
gether the right, or under, arm begins
| it's supporting drag stroke.
| This arm is carried straight down in
semi circular sweep and then feathered
| the time the under arm drag stroke is
| finished the upper arm has been placed
quietly and easily in the water and is
ready to make its swift and powerful
propelling sweep down and alongside
the body, the legs being slowly gathered
up to meet it at the next time ready for
the next kick.
When this stroke has once been prop
erly acquired the motions will be found
smoothness and regularity, the kick, the
under arm, the over arm, one, two, three
-one, two, three. The motion of the