The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-11
DANELS'S AQUATIC THEORY.
NEW YORK 4. e.. MAN DEVELOPS
SCIENCE or SWIMMING.


There is no branch OF amateur sport in
which Americans AVE come to the front in
recent years as quickly AZ in swimming,
and II the progress is maintained II 10 only
q matter Of u few years when the Yankees
will hold all the records from 100 yards
to a mile. Twenty years 6 the man
Who swan 100 yards in / minutes 10 seconds
or thereabouts was In the front rank, while
to-day these figures would not gain a par
former q respectable position In the slow
division Of the handicap brigade. To tell
q man q decade ago that within that space
Of time a young American would swim
the 100 yards with three turns and in a
bathing suit inISs seconds would have melted
ridioule, and yet these figures were 40
oonplish ed a few days ago In the tank Of
the New York A. C. by G, M. Daniels.
Daniels is only about % years old and
yet he 10 the forer1nner Of the new scientific
method In the art Of swimming. This APP
plies to the timing Of the parts of the stroke
to which very few swimmers formerly paid
attention and on which Daniels formed a
theory and utilized it successfully. Robert
Sandon, president Of the Amateur SWIM
ming Club Of England, recently contributed
a scientific paper dealing with the improve
ment In swimming and he paid the highest
tribute to Daniels and devoted most Of the
dissertation to the new wrinkle OF the
American.
Mr.. Sandon, in drawing attention to the
proper rhythm OF the arms and legs and to
Daniels's new study, said that those who
have studied the timing of the parts of the
stroke have no doubt noticed that at some
ime or other certain swimmers appear TO
progress by a series Of jerks. This can be
SEEM says Mr.. Sandon, @by watching the
head. With some it appears to go forward
with a bound, then stop dead, or even APP
pear to go backward, while with others it
seems to 20 forward continually. This is
due entirely to the timing OF the stroke. II
q swimmer makes a stroke with both arms
and both legs simultaneously he will get a
forward impetus, but he will mex ave to
recover both pairs of limbs simultaneously,
and the resistance of the water will be so
great that his forward movement will be
entirely stopped. The result will be like a
machine which has to get up speed, stop
dead and get up speed again about twenty
or thirty times a minute.
This can obviously be avoided by oulti-
waiting a stroke, il possible, wherein there
Is no instant without an arm or leg efIeo-
lively making a forward stroke. The swim
mer then, having once got up speed, has
only to exert himself sufficiently to keep
that speed. Most swimmers know the truth
Of this to a certain exent in the breast stroke,
and the advice to hang on to the stroke,
as applied to the arms, Is common knowl-
edge. Few, however, have thought OF it with
regard to other strokes. c. NJ. Daniels, how
ever, is one who did so thinkS%hen in practice
in the ami of the New York A. c., and ne
argued to himself that il he could make his
arms act not only at different times to one
another but at different times to his legs
he ought to gain speed. Putting his theory
into practice, in three months he was able
20 strike with his arms after the leg stroke
was finished, and found that within that
period he improved no less than ten Sec
onds in 100 yards.
sThere Ia an explanation why the side
trudgeon and crawl strokes are faster than
the breaBt-the arms work one after the
other; and one reason why the raw is
faster than any other stroke is that the
legs are made to work in the game way.
AZ there are four limbs, the worst timing
Of all is obviously that when all OF them
make the effective part OF the stroke sinful
~taneously, INC the best when each succeeds
another by a short and regular interval
that is, when here are four non-synohronous
movements. The first would correspond
to or engine having a single piston; the
latter to one with four.
"The resistance to recovery is also inn
portant. Twenty years ago the side
stroke was taught and practised entirely
on the wedge principle as regards the
leg movement that is. the legs were opened
as widely as possible, then brought together
with all the force the swimmer was capable
OF, There is no question as to the impetus
by the kick in this case, but the resistance
OF the water when the legs were opened
to the extent required greatly neutra!ized
the effect of the kick. In this connection
It is worth remembering that water acts
more and moro like a solid body as the
and it increases very much faster than
the speed; indeed, to he accurate, it in
creases az the cube OF the speed. In other
words, II a person could. make a stroke
twice az fast as another his stroke would
be eight times as effective in producing a
when a stone is dropped into the water
It sinks instantly, while a cannon ball
weighing hundreds Of times more than a
stone, shot from a cannon will ricochet
two, three or moro times before it sinks.
The water, in fact, will not get out of the
way quickly enough to allow the shot to
enter It, so that the shot rebounds as II 1t
bad hit an absolutely impenetrable surface;
AS the speed Ia reduced the wafer ano
shot are in contact for a longer time and
the water has more time to get out Of the
way, till finally it gets sufficiently out OF
the way to allow the shot 10 enter.
1This principle is most important TO swim
mers. Every swimmer knows by expert
enoe the great increase in the feeling OF
exhaustion when he increases the speed Of
his stroke much above his normal rate.
This is due to the extra work done in con-
sequence Of the increased resistance OF the
water. But this law Of resistance OF fluids
interests us in another way. II we could
take an infinite time In making the recovery
of the stroke we should feel no resistance;
but ~ we cannot, the water to a certain
extent mpedes our progress. The air,
however, offers much less resistance; hence
by throwing one or both arms or legs out
OF the water during the recovery portion
OF tho stroke We, as it were, dodge the re-
sistanoe due to the water. Herein lies the
great advantage OF the trudgeon and like
strokes, for the arms are practically in the
water at a time when the resistance OF the
water will assist progress. The reduction
Of resistance due to the water in the reoov-
cry OF the stroke is further diminished by
decreasing the distance to which the legs
open. The old proverb asserts that you