The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-07-28
DONE BY A GIRL SWIMMER.

| Swan for Forty-One Minutes Holding
an Open Umbrella Over Her.
The remarkable feat of swimming for
forty-one minutes and during all that
time using one hand to hold an open
umbrella over her head, with a stiff
wind blowing, was accomplished yes
terday morning by Miss Lydia Winter
halter, of 695 Holton street. To win q
wager and show an instructor at Rohn's
swimming school that she was a better
| judge of her own endurance than he.
she undertook to remain In the water
under these difficulties for half an
hour and succeeded in overreaching the
| time limit by eleven minutes.
| The undertaking would have been a
formidable one for any practised swim
mer, for the burden of supporting an
umbrella, light though it may be, is
considerable for that length of time
without a shift from hand to hand,
while it also means that one arm is
useless as far as assisting in the opera
ton of swimming Is concerned, In the
presence of a strong breeze, and il is
seen the self-imposed task was one
from which almost any one would
shrink. For a young woman, therefore,
to accomplish 1t with its tax on the
strength and endurance Is matter OF
special note, and in consequence Miss
WHITEWATER has found herself in the
possession of a newly acquired heputa-
ton as swimmer deserving of respect
full consideration by the best of the
many persons of that portion of the
city who are accomplished in the aqua
tic line. The young woman who Is
nineteen years of age, has been fond of
the water ever since she was a child
and she has always been an adept at
the sport, but 1t was not until her
achievement of yesterday that she had
an opportunity to demonstrate what
she could actually do.
Miss WHITEWATER was at the swim
ming school yesterday forenoon with
several companions, one of whom was
attempting to swim about with an UNI
brella In her hand, when q discussion
arose as to the difficulty of the feat,
Miss Winterhalter expressing the opin-
ion that it was not especially hard and
that she could do 1t for half an hour if
need be- The boast was not made with
any intention of putting it into prac-
tice, but as one of the swimming in
Structors, who took part in the discus
sion, insisted that the young woman
could not possibly do as she proposed,
Miss Winter halter's assurance asserted
itself and she inquired how much he
was willing to wager on his opinion.
A one dollar bet was the outcome and
the other swimmers at the place gath
cred about to watch the experiment.
Miss Winterhalter was as good as her
word. She swan into the deep water
with the umbrella in her right hand
and set about to earn that dollar bill
The conditions were that she should
hold the umbrella in the same hand
without changing, though she could use
any method of swimming that she de-
sired. The young woman swan about |
awhile on her side and then on her
back, and then rested by treading wa
ter, but during it all the umbrella con
tinued Its upright position above her
head. and never gave the slightest in
dication of dropping, as the minutes |
passed by. The swimmer laughed and
with those watching the feat, I
and gave no sign of exhaustion, and
when finally the half-hour was pro-
nounced up by the time-keepers and /
the wager was won, she decided to stay
a little while longer. Finally, when
forty-one minutes had elapsed she
swan ashore apparently as fresh as
when she had stepped into the water,
nearly three-quarters of an hour before
Miss Winterhalter refused to accept !
her well-earned money, regarding her
gain in local fame as quite sufficient to
pay her for her accomplishments
wau1ee Sentinel.