Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1906-04-18

as many as three leg strokes 10 one
complete half-circle of the arms. The
effect OF this was to bring the body
more on the breast, and was instinct
lively followed by the use of the lefi
hand in much the same way as the
right hand, pTesuming one was
swimm ng on the left side; and Ia 5
brought in what is now known as
! the ''trudgeon" stroke, which is prae-
tically a breast stroke. improved ~
Beckwith, French and many Others
after it had been originally introduced
and abandoned because it was s. *.
hausting.
Since then there has been practi-
cally no development in the way OF
any swimming stroke until the present
crawl with which Daniels of the
New York at'Ietic club is breaking
records. But in his 200 yard swim
last evening, an amateur champion
ship event, Daniels used his crawl
stroke for only about half the distance,
and it may be said with certainty that
the stroke is altogether impossible for
any distance except in the smo3thest
OF eank waters, because with the head
Down and the swimmer almost on his
breast, he would be bound to use his
breathing chance even among small
waves, and with any degree of rough
ness the chances are that he would
smother and choke and stop. In a
tank it is very effective stroke for
the man who is leading in the race,
and must be very hard for the man
who is getting the bacEwash right be
hind. 1t would be interesting to see
such swimmer as Daniels try the
overhead side strike with an improved
leg action, using the feet in the
peculiar twisting motion of the
crawl" or using at least three
strokes Of the feet to one of the
hands. In this way the great advan
tage of beth the "trudgeon" and the
crawl strokes-incessant progress
without any appreciable slackening of
speed between strokes, would be OBJ
lieve that the smaller friction would
tanned, and it seems impossible to be
not tell in the speed. Moreover the
side stroke can be swum in even
pitchy sea water and undoubtedly
gives the swimmer greater lung space
and breathing power.
In one or two of the races where the
men swan the crawl stroke without
the championship qualities of Daniels,
it was not particularly impressive, nor
was the time particularly good and a
good racing side stroke swimmer
would have been able to head the pro
cession, and would have done it with
more grace and less exhaustion. This
was particularly noticeable in Prof.
Lundstrum's exhibition, when he
swan several lengths of the bath
using a different stroke each length.
The crawl" did not bive him any no
ticeable speed, although much more
fuss, as compared with the side and
''trudgeon" strokes he had been swim.
ming, and it looked very much as If
Daniels victories were due to the
swimmer more than to the particular
stroke he was swimming. 1t Is not at
all improbable that with the old stroke
brought to high degree of perfection
he might do as well, but swimming
'si.drps viii have to wait and see who
beats Daniels, and how.
One thing was very noticeable in III
swimmers who went on their side in
the tank. even in Prof. Lundstrom.
that is, in swimming on the side they
kept much more out of the water than
necessary, thereby losing for purposes
Of buoyanc. power that might be USED
fer propulsion. The side stroke is,
too, much prettier when the swimmer
is practically under water all the time
except at the end Of the stroke, or
each two strokes, as the case may be,
when he comes to the surface to
breathe. 1t has been point of discus
sion whether man can swim faster
under water than he can on the sur
face, using a breast stroke, and it has
been believed that he can, but never
satisfactorily explained. 1t probably
depends on the make of the man and
the position of his metacenter and, OF
course, this differs in every man the
moment he tries to find his balance in
the water. and again differs according
to lie buOyancy Of the water To
thoroughly realize this, the swimmer
need only try to swim in the Salt
Lake.