Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-06-29

When | hear fellows say that swim
ing is a thing they'll never be able to
learn, or that water has got their
goat" or something of the kind, | al
ways think of the case of the SophO-
more at Yale who came to me a
couple of years ago and told me he
wanted TO be shown how He was a
Swapping big fellow. and looked like
a real athlete as l told him.
That's what they all say, he
grinned ruefully. But l might as
well admit that I've always been
afraid of the water. Just the same.
l want YOU to make me go in-push
me into deep water. if you want to-
He would have let me do ii. if I'd
thought it best. But that would have
been just wrong. Likely he would
have gotten mouth and nose full and
choked and struggled and batted the
water and sunk once or twice, and
then he'd have been more frightened
than ever.
[ don't mean To say that everybody
is afraid of getting ducked-not by
any means. But some people are.
and ii isn't a thing to be ashamed of.
Anybody can so about overcoming
such fear. and do it just as sue
cessfully as this big sophomore did
Start by SpIashing.
The first thing | told him To do. to
his surprise, was simply to step into
the shallow end of the pool and play
around in the water for while.
That's the first splashing and
jumping and twisting in shallow
water to get accustomed TO the feel
Of it. It's a good idea to take hold
of the edge of the pool or of the pier
or anything else and to raise your
feet off bottom. so that you'll be able
10 practice the proper kick I'll tell
YOU about them later) without danger
Of sinking. That's the way this chap
I'm telling YOU about went at it.
Next. | instructed him to learn to
breathe properly for swimming. That
means breathing in through the
mouth in a big gulp tordinarily in
swimming your nose is so full of
water that you can't breathe through
it, and then eXhaling through either
mouth or nose with the face under
water This form of breathing IS
vital in the crawl and certain other
strokes. and every swimmer must
learn It, 1t isn't so hard as it sounds
you'll be surprised at the ease with
which practice will make it effective.
Remember to make 1t seem natural,
and not to hurry it TOO much.
Remember. too, that you don't need
a whole lake or swimming pool to
practice it, a wash basin will do just
as well, All you have to do is breathe
in with your face above it's surface,
then exhale after plunging your head
into it This kind of work gets you
thoroughly accustomed to water.
Swimming's on the Level.
It's surprising how many swimmers
some Of them pretty good-make
the mistake of rolling their bodies too
much from right TO left with their
strokes. The shoulders should be at
all times parallel with the water. the
right neither higher nor lower than
the left at any time. The head
shouldn't be buried too far in the
water. either. I've seen boys who
looked like submarines as they eX-
hailed. their heads almost entirely
under water The water line should
strike the head about at eyes and
forehead In practice it's well to
carry your head higher than normal
that helps with the arch of your body
and teaches you not to bury your
head too deeply.
Perfection of this stroke--or any
other-isn't a thing you can get in
q. day Sometimes it takes a lot Of
long, hard practice TO get started on
the right track. But the start is
bound to come in time. You'll be