Swimming stroke

“ The crawl stroke is undoubtedly the greatest stroke that has ever been invented or discovered in connection with the art of swimming, and until its adoption and subsequent improvement by experimenting with it until it was brought up to a high point of efficiency, the swimmers of the world had practically reached their limit of speed performances, having perfected the other strokes beyond further improvement, and thus it was that they were eager to take up the new-found method by which it has been discovered that a person can go still faster through the water. ”

“ The action of the legs in swimming is most important. The strokes should come from the knees, not from the hips, the feet spreading wide apart, and striking backward and downward, in order to obtain the greatest amount of resistance from the water, and the ankle-joints firm.
When you have learned the stroke with the arms and that with the legs, you are able to swim. Always make your strokes with steadiness, and not too rapidly, taking a fresh breath every time you strike out. ”

“ The side stroke is used for long distance swimming and is easy to learn on either side. The pupil should count the movements and be deliberate while doing the strokes. Splashing and fast strokes always denote an indifferent swimmer. Easy and graceful swimming can only be acquired by taking slow strokes and keeping the hands under the surface, thereby obviating all tendency of pushing the arms through the air instead of the water. ”

“ Some swimmers draw the arms under the stomach, others use the arms entirely straight, a few place the arms in close to the head and extend to full length under water. As in the leg stroke, if the pupil tries the different methods he will find which stroke is the easiest to accomplish. ”

“ The double-over-arm, because of the submerging of the face on each stroke, and because of the forced regularity of breathing, and no effort being required to keep the body afloat, is well adapted for swimming in rough water, as the waves will not be so apt to dash in your face and mouth at the wrong time, to disconcert you, and interrupt the regularity of your breathing. ”

“ Having mastered the breast stroke sufficiently to feel comfortable in the water, the pupil is now ready to learn the more advanced swimming strokes, and the best one to take up next is the over-arm side stroke, a method by which Joey Nuttall, of England, held all the world’s records and won all the championship events from 100 yards to one mile, defeating all comers and being unbeatable throughout the world for over twenty-one years. ”

“ The arms should be folded across, below the breast, or compressed against the hips, and the legs employed as in front swimming, except as to time and extent. They should perform their action in half the usual time, or two strokes should be taken in the time of one; because, acting perpendicularly, each stroke would otherwise raise the swimmer too much, and he would sink too low between the strokes, were they not quickly to follow each other. They should also work in about two-thirds of the usual space, preserving the upper or stronger, and omitting the lower or weaker, part of the stroke. ”

“ The right arm, like the left, assists in supporting the anterior portion of the body. In swimming on the left side the major propelling factors are the right arm and hand and the right and left legs and feet. Swimming by the side stroke is, on the whole, the most useful, graceful, and effective yet devised. It enables the swimmer to make headway against wind, wave, and tide in quite a remarkable manner. Indeed, a dexterous side-stroke swimmer can progress when a powerful breast-swimmer would be driven back. ”

“ There are a number of strokes used in swimming and especially in racing. The common breast stroke is the first one to learn. In this the swimmer should lie flat on his breast in the water and either be supported by the hand of his teacher or by an inflated air cushion. The hands are principally used to maintain the balance and to keep afloat. The real work should be done with the legs. We learn to use the hands properly in a very short time, but the beginner always shows a tendency to forget to kick properly. ”

“ The toes should be pointed behind and the feet turned inward. Be careful that you do not make the mistake of kicking them too high or opening them too much, also that they do not come out of the water. In doing this thrash stroke you will readily know if you are making these mistakes, because the legs will become tired and cramped very quickly. Some fast swimmers bend their legs at the knees as illustrated in Fig. 27, others take a sort of pedalling motion by bending the ankles back and forth. ”

“ The first stroke that a self-taught small boy learns is what is called “dog fashioned.” This name accurately describes the stroke, as it is in reality very similar to the motions by which a dog swims. No amount of book instruction can teach a person to swim, but a clear idea of the best general strokes will be of great assistance.
Swimming is probably the best general exercise among athletic sports. Practically every important muscle in the body is brought into play, and measurements show that swimmers have the most uniform muscular development of any class of athletes. ”

“ Should the swimmer wish to turn on his back, he must keep one leg still, and embrace the water beside him with the other, and he will turn to that side. To shew the feet, he must turn himself on his back, and bend the small of it downwards, supporting himself by his hands to and fro immediately above his breast, and hold his feet above the water. Swimming under water is performed by the usual stroke, the head being kept a little downwards, and the feet struck out a little higher than when swimming on the surface. ”

“ The more air one gets into the lungs the lighter one is in the water, making swimming easier. That is the reason so many would-be swimmers, simply because they try to breathe through the nose, get winded very quickly. The main thing about breathing in all the strokes is to keep the mouth open all the time. With the mouth open, air can come in and out of its own accord and the pupil does not have to worry about the breathing. [p. 37]
THE DALTON STROKE
FIGURE 8
In my next lessons I teach pupils my own stroke—that is, the Dalton stroke. ”

“ Finally, stand up to the chest, face the shore, lean forward, and push off and try a stroke—the feet will easily recover themselves. Presently two strokes will become possible, after awhile three; that is swimming. The sea is so buoyant, so beautiful, that let them only once feel the sense of floating, and they will never rest till they have learned. Ladies can teach themselves so quickly, and swim better than we do. The best swimming I ever saw was done by three ladies together: the waves were large, but they swam with ease, the three graces of the sea. ”

“ The most difficult part of the early stages of swimming is to learn how to combine the stroke of the arms with the stroke of the legs. It is absolutely necessary that the arms and legs should work in harmony, and therefore the following rules should be strictly observed:
1. When the hands are being thrust out forward, the legs should be coming together, as in the third part of the leg motion described above.
2. When the arms are straight out in front the legs should be straight out behind.
3. When the arms are passing back in the act of performing the stroke, the legs are being drawn up. ”

“ To nothing else, so much as breathing, is due the inability of those who can swim to keep up the speed and regularity of movement for an indefinite period.
Annette Kellerman, the wonderful Australian woman swimmer, makes the matter of breathing very clear when she says, “Take a quick gulp of air through the mouth and let it ooze out slowly through the nose.” What could be more simple in explanation? In swimming you breathe entirely different from any other form of exercise, and you will never swim well, easily or far, until you breathe as described above and in unison with each stroke. ”

“ Make the stroke easy, and in proper timing, or co-ordination, breathe regularly and with precision on each stroke, and, above all, do not keep the limbs stiff or rigid, but relax, as swimming is not a matter of strength or force, but skill.
Be patient and persistent and you will soon acquire an art you can enjoy, with much physical benefit and great pleasure, until extreme old age. ”

“ It is very common for novices in the art of swimmnig to make use of corks or bladders to assist in keeping the body above the water. Some have utterly condemned the use of these ; however, they may be of service for supporting the body while one is learning what is called the stroke, or that manner of drawing in and striking out the hands and feet that is necessary to produce progressive motion. But you will be no swimmer till you can place confidence in the power of the water to support you ”

“ Swimming
For physical development the breast stroke is useful, for it is one that is used in carrying a tired swimmer and is used to go to the bottom for lost articles and to search for a person who has sunk before help has reached him. It is possible, you know, to go to the bottom and bring a body to the surface and swim with it to shore before life is extinct and to restore consciousness by well-directed efforts. ”

“ One mode of swimming is very singular; one arm is always out of the water, advanced in front, alternately with the other, sweeping or drawing the water towards them, and raising the body out of the water at each stroke. ”

“ In back swimming, the body should be extended after each stroke, and long pauses made between these. The act of passing from front to back, or back to front swimming, must always be performed immediately after throwing out the feet. To turn from the breast to the back, the legs must be raised forward, and the head thrown backward, until the body is in a right position. To turn from the back to the breast, the legs must be dropped, and the body thrown forward on the breast. ”

“ Every boy and every girl should be taught to swim, for it may be the means of preserving their lives. It is not difficult. For the benefit of those who start the beginners with the rather tedious and tiresome breast stroke, will say that the easiest way to teach swimming is to get the learner to float on his back. ”

“ The most important thing to remember in swimming the crawl stroke is the fact that the body should be kept perfectly flat on the water, the face and head partly submerged, the eyes preferably above the water and looking straight ahead. ”

“ As was said last week, the fastest way to swim on the breast is to use the over-hand stroke. It is the most common stroke in racing, both for long distances and short distances. But in order to acquire speed in swimming, one must practise considerably and maintain a certain kind of more or less strict training. The swimmer needs plenty of sleep. He should go to bed not later than 10.30 every night, and should rise early. He should then take a very light breakfast—a glass of milk and a piece of toast, for instance—and take a walk of a mile or so. ”

“ If we take up fast swimming, we must learn one of the various overhand or overarm strokes. The chief difference between these strokes and the simple breast stroke is that the arms as well as the legs are used to propel the body through the water, and this power is applied so steadily and uniformly that instead of moving by jerks we move with a continuous motion and at a greater speed. The single overarm is easier to learn than the double overarm or “trudgeon” stroke. ”

“ It is obvious, however, that the extension or effective stroke must have a considerable surplus of power over the flexion or non-effective stroke, and how this result is achieved will now be briefly considered. Experiment, and the observation of Fishes like the Sturgeon, which habitually move with sufficient slowness to allow the phases of their swimming movements to be followed without much difficulty, show that in swimming a Fish throws its body into two opposite and complementary curves, a cephalic curve formed by the anterior half of the body and a caudal curve by the tail. ”

“ After the leg motion has been thoroughly mastered, the proper use of the arms must be learned. It is a common fallacy that the beginning of the stroke in swimming consists of holding the hands in front of the face palm to palm. ”

“ As this stroke is being made, shoot out the sustainer quickly forwards, and while this arm is pulled in towards the body the legs and propeller are quickly brought into action for the next stroke. The learner will have to count one, two, only in effecting this movement, as, when the propeller and legs are striking, the sustainer is shot out, and vice versa.
OTHER WAYS Swimming on the back is very easy, once the confidence is assured. ”

“ The exercise of swimming has the effect of toning up and quickening the whole muscular condition, making the moving muscles pliant, responsive, and not bunchy and hard, as in the case of some of the heavier athletic and gymnastic pastimes.
HERBERT VOLLMER, N. Y. A. C., SWIMMING THE TRUDGE-CRAWL.
1. Position for breathing; 2. Correct position for Crawl, showing arched back; 3. Overhand Stroke with Crawl Kick; 4. Back Overhand Stroke.
Photos posed by Teddy Cann of the New York Athletic Club and copyrighted by American Press Association, N. Y.
1. ”

“ There are two faults the mediocre swimmer—even the average swimmer—is apt to have, namely, poor breathing 130 and hurried strokes. It is important to learn to breathe well. The breathing should be regular and is varied according to the different strokes. The common tendency is to hold the breath until it is a physical impossibility to hold it any longer, then let it out through the mouth with a gasp, hold the breath again, etc.
In haste to reach the objective point, the swimmer is sometimes apt to hurry her stroke. ”