New-York tribune., 1905-06-11
SWIMMERS DO THE CRAWL
NezUest MoUement for Spr7nters-It
Is Fast, bat AsOkzcard Looking.

The evolution of speed swimming makes an IN
teresting study. Unlike the majority OF athierio
sports. which have developed slowly. gradually
and seouently swimming has advanced IN great
revolutionary leaps. interspersed by periods OF
absolute stagnation. What strokes were useo
before the beginning of this century is a matter
of conjecture The breast is really the hrst
stroke the description of which has come TO us,
and II any faster were used we do not
know OF them
In the last fifty years. however, speed swim
ming has made gigantic strides. and the progress
has been marked by numerous and radical
changes. The single overarm was the hrsl
Improvement on the breast stroke. and lts
invention was considered marvel OF ingenuity
but its triumph was short one. and the double
overarm" soon supplanted it Then the scissor
kick" put In an appearance. closely followed
by the "trudgeon," and now, again, wave OF
reform has wept over the swimming world. and
the crawl" is being hailed every side as tbs
only racing stroke OF the future
a neculiar and noticeable feature of this for
ward trend of speed swimming is the fact that
none of the succeeding improvements are the
outcome of scientific study; they were simply
stumbled upon accidentally. Of this the "cra"F
is probably the best illustration. A few years
ago In the heyday of the "trudgeon. q match
was arranged in Sydney. Australia. between
'"runs' Cavill member Of the famous family
OF swimmers. and Sid Davis. a fast Balmain
lad. One OF the provisions OF the match was that
Cavill should swim with his legs tied. and In
spite of this handicap ne defeated his opponent
The spectators then urged that second race
be arranged at once. to enable Cavill to try his
speed while having the use Of his legs ano.
Davis graclously accepting the task Of pace
maker the men met again. Imagine the surprise
Of every one the two swimmers included. when
Turns" was beaten decisively.
This set Dick Cavill thinking, and ne reasoned
out that If '"Tuns' could swim better Without
the use of his legs his kick was evidently de-
fective. But. If this was the case what was tne
right leg movement?
Dick set himself without delay to the task OF
finding it, and he began his experiments by
giving the stiff, straight legged kick used by
the natives of Colombo (and hitherto the subject
of his rdcule) thorough test
How well ne succeeded we all know. He soon
found that the awkward kick, combined with q
speed and he decided to try the combination IN
the one hundred yard championship OF Australla.
He was beaten by Bishop. as all may remem-
ber but the race marked the advent or new
era in the history of swimming. Cavfll led by
several yards at the end of the first lap proving
the stroke very fast for short distance. and
II was realized by most Of the spectators that
only his inability to keep up the tremendous ex-
ertion caused his defeat.
The stroke Immediately taken up by some or
the best sprinters in liza, and a schooi or
"crawlers" was formed. Cavill. Wicknnan. Heaiy'
Langdon and Hobson became its best exponents,
and they swan their way into fame
CavilPs visit to England. in 1902 served to in
troduce the crawl" into Europe. but 1t found
scant favor there. and only few saw ft to
adopt II.
Meanwhile its fame had reached shores.
and many anxious inquiries about It were sent
over the water; but the descriptions which came
in answer were absolutely unintel1igibie. and
nothing could be learned from them. Frank
Galley, an Australian resident Of San Francisco,
and Professor Gus Sundstrom of the w-York
Athletic Club. then attempted to demonstrate
the points of the new stroke but no one paid
much attention to them, and it was not until
Zoltan de Holrnay defeated our fastest sprtnters
with 1t at the Olympic championships. that
swimmers grasped Its working and realized its
worth.
The knowledge led at once to the formation of
experimental classes in all Of the principal cities
and the results obtained are really wonderful
Reports from every side state the swimmer
adopting the crawl" invariably clips from one
to four seconds off his time in fifty yards within
the first month and this fact is borne out by the
performance of the 'crawlers'' in competition.
On December a one hundred yard open
handicap was held at the New-York Athletic
Club. and two club members, George Van Cleaf
and Jack Lawrence, made Joint attack on tbs
twenty-five yard worlds record on their way to
the hundred They had been considered very IN
different sprinters previously, yet with the newly
acquired stroke they both negotiated the dis
tance in II 1-5 seconds. equalling the standing
figures. and if Lawrence had not been caught
mapping at the start he would undoubtedly have
beaten the worlds record.
This sweeping improvement is an irrefutahle
argument in favor Of the Crawl and COM
petent Judges already prophesytng a new
era in history Of speed swimming. or course,
there are many skeptics who decry II as freak
stroke good only for short sprints: but these
said the same about the "trudgeon" at its
first appea rance, yet distance swimmers now
using 1t almost entirely.
Every one will agree that the "crawl" with
its present whirlwind movements. cannot be held
long course. but what prevents our de-
creasing the ratio of speed of these movements
in proportion to the distance to be covered? 1t
Is simply question OF mathema tics Prominent
aches both amat teur and professional. seem to
think that this will soon be done. and Otto
wahie. leading expert, expressed himself
ready to bet that I'm two three years time any
one not using the Crawl will have TO take
back seat when ii comes to racing While there
is every probability OF 1t, just ar present a new
ankle twist knee bend may out at any
moment to upset calculations and relegate the
crawl" to the land OF exploded theories. 1t has
happened before. and II may happen again.
For description Of the Crawl let us look TO
ifs inventor Dick Cavill. who writes follows
In Sydney paper:
The swimmer lies perfectly fiat on his stomach
and does not roll at all. breathing by a slight
twist OF the head only every three or four
strokes. The held little bent at the
elbow and don't reach out I'm the 'trudgeon
but dip in at the height Of ones head and are
then brought down srnartlv until stretched out
alongside The strokes must be taken very
rapidly. The legs held straight and rigid.
with foot bent back, and moved up and
down. alternately and continually, keeping time
with the opposite and striking the water
with the nstep."
The crawl is not pretty to look at, and some
compared it very Justly to the antics of a
wounded shark The onlooker merely
great splash tea ring over the water without any
sign of its cause. Still none can deny that II
is very fast and. unless present indications fail
completely, we viii be treated to a wholesale
slaughter OF records Just soon as our SWIM