The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1908-09-25
DANIELS new
J Swimming KICK

IN This is the tins of the year when the
. average man taking his daily dip in
A the club tank or ocean yearns for a
better method of propelling himself
through the water than the primitive
and slow dog-fashion stroke of his
youth.
With admiration, mixed with envy,
he gazes at the bronzed young men who
with graceful and vigorous strokes
rapidly cleave their way through the
water, and then he resolves to learn
that method for himself. He first turns
to one of the many pamphlets on how
to swim, but soon despairs of mastering
the directions for acquiring the various
standard strokes, and once more is
forced to be content with strenuous
houndering.
AS matter of fact, the quickest and
best method of learning how to swim
is for the beginner, after having mas
tered the rudiments of the accomplish
ment, to closely observe the actions of
good swimmer. Observation is the
surest teacher.
Charles NJ. Daniels, the champion
hundred-yard swimmer of the world,
took naturally to the water. He had
an Indifferent stroke, with which he
barely won his novice race in slow
time when he first began to race. Then,
as n Junior member of the New York
Athletic Club, he paid daily visits to
the swimming pool in the clubhouse,
where he closely watched the move
qpents of the experts.
He adopted the best features of the
Catarious strokes thus illustrated, and
rom these evolved stroke of his own.
II course, there are q number of per-
Inns who claim the credit of having
Iught Daniels how to swim, but it is
- sclared by those who should know
hat Daniels is self-taught swimmer
Ey the method of observation.
The most remarkable feature Of his
swimming is his leg movement, or kick.
lLyNhe oldtime racing kick, known popu-
l1lsarly as the scissors, was for many
Hears thought to be the best method of
Rpropelnng oneself with the legs in the
Hlkater And so it was, if used proper
MY. But there was not one swimmer
81 d ten thousand who could use a per-
fa Nct scissors kick.
n II The movements consists in stretching
q. HE legs as wide apart as possible, and
, . Shen bringing them together with
n nap resembling the closing of pair
# scissors. This movement results in
tn hoving the body along at n lively rate,
to,Aut in most cases the swimmers feet,
I'll istead of stopping at the real finish
4 Il the kick, pass each other, and IN the
Firm of an X cause a double drag that
y AXES up nearly all the momentum orig
ITALY given. Thus the scissors kick,
4 extremely difficult to master, never
! Fcmounts to anything, except in rare in
stances. uu
/, Daniels made an improvement upon
I this. He abandoned altogether the
scissors movement. Lying on his breast,
4 with both legs extended backward,
! both feet in downward position and
the heels just showing above the sur
face of the water, he would give a
vigorous kick, first with one foot up
and down and then with the other.
This kick, while perhaps not giving
quite as much momentum as the scis-
sors kick when used by skiful swim
mer, was nevertheless devoid of the
principal objection to the latter kick,
for there was no retarding effect, the
legs alternately working up and down,
steadily pushing the body through the
* water.
va, What Daniels has accomplished with
Sihis new form of kick is well known.
Gin covering 100 yards in 55 AS seconds,
gas he did last year in the race for the
T. English championship, he exhibited
even greater speed than was ever be-
y fore known to be shown by human
being in the water.
Now, the clumsiest beginner can
adopt this same kick as used by the
worlds master swimmer. Superior to
4 all other forms of leg propulsion, it is
also the simplest and easiest to learn.
Anyone can learn it, man or woman,
boy or girl
The kick in its crude form is nothing
more nor less than the splashing motion
of all beginners, which dates back to
the time the first boy entered the
water. The most natural thing for a
youngster to do upon first making an
acquaintance with the water is to see
how high he can splash it. Almost
every boy knows how to keep his feet
at the surface of the water and kick
them up and down. This is easy and
also natural, for the boy rests in a
comfortable position.
This movement of the feet not only
furnishes a method of propulsion, but
it also keeps the whole body on the
surface of the water, and progress is
rendered twice as easy, as with the leg
movements the body must rest in the
water at an angle of 40 degrees, max
ing it more difficult to proceed.
With the new form of kick any arm
btrohe VIII no. mo tHorJ neeu De Hlaue
to make the arms and legs work in
unison.
The arm stroke best adapted to the
new kick is. what is known as the
double overarm, in which right and
left arm alternately come out of the
water. But the old-fashioned breast
: stroke or even the dog.fashion stroke
a will work with it.
H The Twentieth Century kick is as old
9E as the hills, the only new thing about
w it being its adaptation. What it has
ID done for American swimmers is shown
y by the new records made and the
III great number of swimmers who have
come to the front in the last three OF
four years.
Five years ago there was not swim.
mer in this country who could swim
hundred yards in minute. Now
there are a dozen or more. But the
a. 4.