Evening star., 1905-08-20
NEW WAY TO SWIM
THE "CRAWL" IS THE FASTEST
STYLE YET DISCOVERED,
From the New York Tribune.

In the opinion of many persons the SWIM
ming race is to the strong sAs they watch
the brown shoulders of the expert swimmer
surging through the water. making as
much pother shovel-nosed yacht. the
more impressionable exclaim, what mag
nffcent muscles he has,
But strength does not win alone. The
style of stroke also has something to do
with the success of a swimmer. For ex-
ample. new stroke. which Is said to pro-
duce greater speed than any other, has
recently been introduced at the New York
Athletic Club by Gus Sundstrom. the SWIM
ming expert. 1t is aptly, or inaptly. ac-
cordng to ones point of view. called the
crawl" The stroke apparently originated
in Australia. It's introduction in New York.
according to Mr.. Sundstrom, came about in
this way:
We have every year In February in the
swimming pool of the New York Athletic
Club a match with the Brookline Club of
Boston. Last year they beat us four out
OF the six events. so 1 began to study up
on the crawl l practised in the tank
when no one was around, and when l was
certain that l could make a second better
time in twenty-five yards with 1t than I
had done before l invited number of peo-
pie to come and watch me. l had them
time me. and / did the distance in II 3-5
seconds. The worlds record Is II 1-5 sec
onds. OF course. that record doesn't stand,
lOT lHe IlInekeeperS were not official. Well
l taught some of the swimmers the crawl
and we had something up our sleeves when
we met the Brookline men this year. Four
OF our men had done II Ia seconds or bet
ter in practice with the new stroke When
the match came off We won everything In
the 2OO-yard relay race We beat the record
made by the Brooklne team the year be-
fore by seven seconds"
Inaptly Named.
1t will therefore be seen that the stroke
called the crawl is inaptly named from
the point of view of speed. Judging from
Mr.. Sundstroms testimony. the men who
use it travel through the water like motor
boats. The stroke. if waggling the feet and
paving the water constitute a stroke GER
tanly suggests crawling in appearance. and
from this point of view it is rightly named.
In the crawl the feet are moved back
ward and forward upon the ankles as
hinges, the feet moving alternately and as
FAST as possible. In the arms, circular or con-
tinuous movement has been developed I'D to
the time of the discovery of the crawl
the only movements developed for the legs
in swimming were the froglike spasmodjc
kick and variations. In the crawl the
legs lie stretched aStern, with no movement
above the knee and little above the ankle
The arm movement Of the crawl is a
modification of the well known ''trudgeon"
or double oVerarm stroke. Instead, how
ever of throwing the arms forward out of
| the water alternately to the full length the
arms are crooked until they suggest the
| pucked wing of a chicken, and dipped
smartly almost in front of the face They
| are dipped rapidly as the swimmer can
| bring them forward from the finish of the
stroke and without regard to the movement
| of the feet Other arm strokes can also
be used with the crawl foot movement
Mr.. Sundstrom has devised a combination
which he calls the windmill With the
swimming on his back. He says he secures
even greater speed with this The value
of the crawl lies in the fact that it throws
the body on top of the water and thus re-
duces resistance.
The Continuous Motion
The tendency In swimming for speed in
this country appears to be toward securing
an even, contiuous movement the limbs
alternating in such a way that there is no
cessation of progress. In Germany swim
ming seems to have taken the opposite di-
rection. In that country all the limbs are
| moved simultaneously. Between the vio-
lent kick and the Simultaneous push with
| the arms on the water the body almost
loses headway and must be set in motion
again with the next stroke. This method is
said to be easier than the continuous move
| ment of the American swimmer, as there
| Is a moment of rest between strokes
In both countries the aim Of .ha swimmer
| who desires speed is to get much of his
body out of the water as possible. For the
| same reason a racing yacht is built with a
shallow underbody. In order to reduce the
resistance. The overarm strokes, In which
| the arms are lifted above the water before
| the swimmer catches the wave for the next
stroke, accomplish this purpose. For this
| reason the simple and easy breast stroke.
which IS the first step away from the tmid
youths dog paddle produces the least
speed. In the breast chest, stroke one
swims after the manner of the frog. 1t Is
easiest for the beginner. because more OF
| the body is submerged. Speed with this
stroke Is difficult also for other reasons.
| The leg motion is not entirely natural.
| The side arm stroke is better for speed
because in this the legs are closed together
| like pair of scissors and the muscles used
| in walking are brought into play
The "Trudgeon."
There are several strokes for the arms.
! There is the side arm stroke. with the body
| on edge. In this the arms are swept back
| ward alternately In front of the body, the
| legs kicking between the arm strokes. The
| arms are then brought back to the begin
| ming through the water. One may swim
with either side up in this stroke. Then
| there Is the overarm side stroke. This is the
| same except that the upper arm is reached
| out ahead over the water when recovering
for the succeeding stroke. And last, but
| not least is the ''trudgeon." The "trud-
| geon' suggests windmill. In this stroke
| both arms are brought forward over the
| water in the recovery. the strokes being
| taken alternately. When swimming in this
| fashion the body writheS through the wa
| ter, turning from side to side. and the frog
! kick Is used by most experts. 1t Is a stroke
| that produces speed. For long distance
| swimming the side arm stroke is the favo-
rite. For short distance the "trudgeon,"
| with slight notifications to suit individu-
| ais. has generally been considered the fast
| est. but now has come the crawl to in
| crease speed still further.