Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-07-13
81 LOUIS bE B. t4ANpLEY.
Copyright, 1915, by American Press
Association

Ass0ciation)
Some ten wears ago the crawl swim
ming stroke came from Australia to
revolutionize the art of natation in
| this country, and II is interesting to
recall that, although we unfittingly de-
parted at the very first from the origi-
nal type, we undoubtedly owe to this
unconscious change our present inter
national supremacy In sprint swim
ming
In fact, the only data we had at the
start upon the new stroke were hazy
| descriptions written for the Australian
newspapers by men not versed in the
subject, and 1t was simply blind luck
which enabled us In attempting the re-
construction Of the crawl from these
! descriptions to stumble without know
\ Ing It upon somewhat different leg
drive superior to that used across the
seas.
In the decade since elapsed many
varieties Of the crawl have appeared.
Its American devotees showed such
1 immediate and remarkable increase OF
speed that both competitors and in
structors began to devote to it close
study and presently new theories
were evolved and various innovations
| introduced. Then we heard in turn
oil. the Australian true type, the leg
| less, the amble, the composite, the
American and the trudgeon crawl.
Experiments. however. eventually
led to the conclusion that most of
these variations were practically
worthless, and today only the Ameri-
! can and trudgeon crawl have survived,
at least in the United States. The
former is universally recognized as
| the best for short distance swimming
and has the worlds sprinting records
to its credit The latter is generally
advocated for the longer courses and
has been used effectively even in water
Marathon races.
In this article we will confine our
selves to the American crawl and
speak separately later of the trudgeon
crawl.
A great many swimmers, and not
few racing men among them, believe
that In using the crawl a shorter arm
drive than in the trudgeon should be
sought and more rapid action. This
is hardly the case, and the belief prob
ably comes from the fact that the
stroke has been the standard one for
sprinting, while the trudgeon Is shown
at present chiefly by distance swim
me-s.
But even IN sprinting it is not adj
visable to cut the reach and fay the
water wildly. Indeed. the worlds
greatest 100 yarders-Charles Daniels,
4. ~k1 II
Harry Hebner and Perry McGillivray
always take full, complete strokes,
and their action is comparatively very
slow.
The leading authorities on swim
ming are now unanimous in stating
that the identical arm movements
should feature all the modern strokes
-trudgeon. crawl and trudgeon-crawl
and as these were given space in
previous article on the trudgeon we
will pass on without further ado to
the leg drive of the crawl.
This drive is continuous, alternate,
up and down thrash of narrow scope,
performed entirely under water. The
legs are held oiltstretched, but not rig
i'd, and though the thighs move a lit
tie, the bulk of the work is done from
the knees down. Walk on tiptoe, with !
mincing steps, and you will obtain a
clear idea Of the wanted action.
The original Australian kick was
made by lifting the feet high above
water and beating them down Just
once to every arm stroke. each strik- |
ing the surface in time with the pull !
of the opposite arm Our experts. |
however. realized that waving the feet |
in the air added nothing to the pro-
pelling force, yet increased the EFFORT |
and caused the lower body to sink. |
They advocated therefore submerged