Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-07-23
FRONT NECK GRIP.

body. In the latter case the finger tips
are on a level with the wrists. In
sculling during an emergency the legs
can, of course. assist.
To learn to scull. practice the move
ment on the land. at first standing, and
then lying on the back. In the first
method hold the arms parallel. palms
down in front of the body. with the
hands about on a level with the waist
and. turning the thumbs down, sweep
the hands away from each other. Then
twist the forearms so that the palms
of the hands face each other and sweep
the hands back to their original posi-
ton. The movement should be exc
cuted very slowly at first to insure its
accuracy. After the first method has
been perfected, practice while lying
on the back Shove the imaginary
water away from the thighs and shove
and increasing the cadence 8 prof.
cheney is gained. Learning it thor
oughly on land insures its being done
properly when tried in the water. where
able the mouth to stay out. With no
land practice grave faults are devel-
oped in the water and very likely never
corrected. Numbers of people have
failed to learn to scull because they did
not first learn the movement on land.
The land practice should be contin-
ued until the movement can be exc
cuted for five or ten minutes with
out thought and then taken up in the
water 1t is best acquired after a
shove-on from the side Of a swimming
pool or from the bottom Of the water.
For the former. face and grasp the
edge and draw the feet up. putting the
soles against the wall. Keeping the
the water. sink down so that the
shoulders are immersed, and exhale
Then throw the head back. let 20 the
hands and shove back with the legs.
strengthening out the body at the same
time The lungs are filled through the
mouth at the beginning of the shove
Sculling starts as soon as the hands
leave the edge.
For practice from a standing posi-
ton in the water get to a depth of
about up to the middle, bend the knees.
stand on the toes and sink down,
throwing the head back and showing
backward with the legs. The scuIling
movement should start as soon as the
stretched out in front as in the frst
land practice The hands only are in
the water at this time and the body
gradually comes up to them until they
are at the thighs. The hrst few trials
result in the water running over the
iace. and a good plan is to hold the
breath for about half a minute, always
remembering to exhale slowly through
the nose before stopping.
The tendency to raise the head to
AVOID water running into the eyes
should be avoided. although after the
novice becomes an expert he may lift
his entire head out IL he SO desires.
One frequently reads that the victim
was an expert swimmer but that he
died of cramps. Cramp is an involun-
tary contraction Of a voluntary muscle,
and. while painful. is no more fatal
to a swimmer who is at home in the
water than 1t is on land No doubt,
many swimmer has become frightened
when he felt a cramp and drowned. but
nao ne known how. or, knowing how, had
ne remembered to turn on his back and
keep af1oat. he would have been safe
Take no chances: learn how to keep
anoat on the back with three limbs,
with two. limbs and with but one limb
moving. And remember that people do
not die from the cramps in the water,
but from fright
When a person falls overheard with
his clothes on he should turn on his
back and keep afioat by an easy scull-
ing movement In this position he can
recover his mental equilibrium and de-
eide what is the best thing to do
Swimming with clothes on is hard work
and to strike out as soon as the water
closes in about the body soon causes
exhaustion.
II help is at hand the only thing to
DO Is 10 wait, clinging to any support
at hand or sculling on the back when