The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-11

due to increase Of length OF stroke. but
not all appreciate the advantage or IN
creased breathing. Yet 1t Is a faot tnae
exhaustion il more often due to an M
Gent exchange OF air in the lungs Inan
TO the actual fatigue OF the muscles. What
more natural to expect than that a
who has two opportunities OF Dreaming
to every one OF another wimm houlo De
able to continue longer? -.
"Kieran's stamina was due more 10 ms
thorough and regular, breathing n 70
his own physique. Briefly, then, there are
several contributory causes for the in
crease Of speed during the last twenty years
In swimming and for the advantage Of one
stroke above another, the principal eeiLe:
/. Limbs acting non-synchronously, one
after the other, as invented by Daniels,
instead OF more or less together, 2: De-
creased resistance in the recovery OF the
stroke due TO opening the legs less widely
and recovering as much as possible in air
instead of In water. 8. Breaking more
frequently.
sidered IL, Have we reached finality as TO
speed and record ~breakingH Very probably,
il further improvement Is to come II VIII
come by the timing wrinkle introduced by
Daniels and the breathing shown by kieran.
improvements in the past have been mostly
brought about by rule Of thumb. A man
has more or less by chance got into a style
varying somewhat from the recognized
style. If he had beer successful in races.
he found imitators; IL not, his peculiar
style died with him.
This is not the scientific a for seek
ing for improvement. The scientific method
is to reason, and il the reasoning leads to a
theory 1t should be put In practice Tor n
certain time and under varying circum-
stances, to prove whether the theory is
correct or not II not it Is best to probe
for the fallacy in the theory and when the
fallacy has been discovered the theory
should be framed accordingly. Working
things out this way is certainly a job FOR a
young man. An old swimmer cannot
readily adopt himself to new styles OF
nounce the theory al a fallacy. whereas
# might be only his OWN incompetence or
non-adaptability to put the. theory into
practice. Such a young swimmer should
be one who can stand disappointment
He would probably find after working for
three or four months at a theory that it
was all wrong, and that at the end OF the
time he was probably swimming far worse
than he was at the beginning, so that he
would not only have to begin atresh but
get back to his original form. But what
a reward when the theory comes out r u
in practice, like that Of Daniels
To q majority Of Americans the craw'
stroke is something new and OF course
many are anxious to know what particular
brand was practised by Kieran, who was
unu OuDleuly tne RTedtteb sWIHlillei tHt
world ever saw. James Taylor. chairman
OF the New South Wales Amateur Swim.
ming Association, explains about the stroke,
and It was distinct from any other swim
ming stroke. The legs wore kept as straight
as possible, but bent from the knee, and
each foot was lifted alternately, striking the
water with the instep. There was no OPEN
ing of the legs or drawing up of the knees
as in other strokes. The swimmer was
almost square on his breast and the arms
were dipped in. bent at the elbow, just
beyond the head and drawn smartly back
till they came out of the water fully eX-
tended along the sides of the body. The
right arm entered the water with the left
foot and the left arm with the right foot
The advantage e were, Less resistance
etill on recovery, due to the legs as we'll
as to the arms being out of the water for
a portion of the stroke; the, resistance
offered by the water to the sudden
entrance of the legs when making the
etroke; good position of the legs to make
the stroke, and ease in breathing.