How to swim

Some years ago it was not so easy to get people interested in the art of swimming and to have them realize the necessity of a knowledge of how to keep the body afloat and to propel it through the water by means of the arms and legs, in order to be able not only to save one’s own life but be the means of rendering assistance to others in time of danger and accident. Conditions have greatly changed in this direction now, and swimming is on a strong wave of popularity; in fact, the great mass of people of the United States, both young and old, have taken up this pastime with so much vigor and enthusiasm that it will not be long ere this country, as in many other things, will lead all the nations of the world in its educational interest in spreading this useful accomplishment, as our competitive swimmers are now leading the world in speed swimming and skill in the water.

That swimming is healthful, splendid for development, easily acquired and should be a part of one’s education and taught in schools as being as necessary as reading, writing, and arithmetic, is now generally admitted, and means have been provided in nearly all the large cities whereby the school children are given the proper facilities, under careful and up-to-date instruction, to bring about the desired end.

The Simple Method

It is not our purpose in this book to go into any extended details or give dry statistics, but to show by simple and plain talks on the art and science of swimming and by language that is clear and readily understood, with the assistance of various pictures, the different positions in the water in swimming the breast stroke, the over-arm side stroke, the double-over-arm stroke (sometimes called the Trudgeon), and the now generally accepted and famous “crawl” stroke, as these four movements in the water practically complete one’s swimming education and make their possessor worthy of the title of an expert.

There has been considerable controversy among expert swimmers and teachers as to whether it is best to learn the crawl stroke first, or the breast stroke, and various competitive tests have been made in order to let the exponents of each principle prove, if possible, the superiority of one method over the other, but no permanent deductions have been arrived at; however, the author, aside from having decided opinions himself in this matter, considers that where one method has an advantage over the other, both have their good points.

Crawl Teaching Is Quickest

It is claimed that one can be taught quicker by a sort of dog-paddle, sometimes spoken of as the crawl stroke, and we will admit this to be so, but those who learn by this route are seldom good swimmers until they master the other strokes, while the breast stroke as an elementary one, although being a little harder to grasp, on account of the co-ordination of arms and legs, gives more confidence to the beginner, and he or she will rapidly advance from this point on, and even in the early stages will be able to swim farther and with less effort than by the so-called crawl method; however, if the beginner can grasp the Trudge-crawl at the very start, the result will be much easier and the advancement more rapid.

But, as we will show and explain both methods, the reader who does not know how, can choose either one, and if he is taught by a professional instructor, or some expert amateur coach, it matters not which way he learns, so that he accomplishes the first object—to keep the body afloat and propel it by means of the arms and legs.

The very first thing you want to get in your mind, and fasten it there firmly, is the fact that there are only three things necessary to become a good swimmer—the proper timing of the stroke, or what experts call the alternate action or harmony (timing); breathing; and the ability to relax; and when you have acquired these things—and every one can master them—you will not only be able to swim well and without effort, but go indefinite distances in the water just as easily as walking on the land, and swim as long as your vitality will permit and the lowered temperature of the body will allow.

The Breast Stroke

And now for the simple lessons, beginning with the breast stroke.

To swim the breast stroke the beginner lies flat on the water, being supported by water wings, rubber life preserver, or held up in shallow water by the hand of a friend or instructor. The body, except the head and shoulders, is submerged a few inches under the water, the arms and legs outstretched in a line with the body, the hands, with palms downward, touching. The toes, knees and feet should be pointing outward.

When beginning the stroke it is best to make the movements with three counts. At “one” the hands are parted, describing a semi-circle, and at “two” are brought up under the chin, the knees being simultaneously brought up under the body, pointing outward, the legs being separated. At “three” the hands are shot out in front of the body and the legs whipped together, completing the full stroke, the body being allowed to float for an instant before again beginning the stroke, to get the benefit of the run as well as a little rest between strokes.

At first the pupil may naturally keep the limbs tense in going through these movements, and it is this, and holding the breath, that tires, and not the muscular movements. But you will soon loosen up after gaining a little confidence and you will find how easy it is to float on and move through the water. And now comes that all-important part of all swimming—breathing.

Breathing

Breathing plays the most important part in the art of swimming; in fact, no one ever becomes a good swimmer unless attention is paid to the matter of breathing, which must be done with regularity and precision. This is especially necessary when using the advanced or scientific strokes and much of the speed and endurance in swimming depend on a correct performance of this part of the work. In breast swimming, the head and face being more above the surface of the water than in the side strokes, breathing is usually performed through the nose alone, keeping the mouth closed in order not to take in any water. But it is not long before those who breathe in this fashion find out that the respiration is restricted, irregular and jerky, and the swimmer soon gets “out of wind” and tires, wondering why it is that he can only go such a short distance before he is “played out.” 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. It is much better to take the quick breath through the mouth and then submerge the head and exhale through the nose under water, for once you have mastered this you have learned the real secret of success in swimming.

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.

The Over-arm Side Stroke

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 over-arm side stroke is still one of the very best methods, and is used by many of the world’s great swimmers, particularly for long distance swimming, as it is not only very easy and comfortable, but requires less exertion than any of the other strokes, and one can glide along smoothly and at a good pace and keep up the movements for an almost indefinite period.

As in many other things where greater speed is required, the over-arm side stroke gives better pace and a longer run, because of the fact that the body, being on the side, presents less resistance than when on the breast, and, by minimizing the negative parts of the stroke, we get a maximum amount of positive action, resulting in more speed, with no greater effort.

Breast Stroke Elementary

The breast stroke is distinctly an elementary stroke, and until a swimmer masters the over-arm side or the double over-arm strokes he cannot be classed as a first-class performer in the water, as these modern and up-to-date methods are now recognized by all first-class swimmers throughout the world, both for record-making performances as well as for all-around swimming ability. These strokes have been experimented with and brought to a state of high proficiency in recent years by expert swimmers, and are practical and useful in all kinds of water and under every possible condition, requiring the least energy and giving the best results, with little lost motion.

Before describing the over-arm side stroke, we wish to emphasize the fact that the idea is to have a power working continuously on the water, for as the over-arm is being drawn through the water the legs are drawn up and the under-arm is shot forward, and when the over arm extends the legs are brought together, and the body moves through the water with a continuous run, and, when the stroke is properly timed, or the swimmer acquires the alternative action, he glides along quick and fast from the power of each stroke, without much loss of pace. It matters not which side the swimmer lies on, as the side that comes most natural will be found to be the better side, although some people, being ambidextrous, can swim as easy on one side as the other.

Right Side for Illustration

For the purpose of illustrating the lesson, we will imagine the swimmer to be on the right side. At the start of the stroke and on the count of “one” the lower arm should be pulled steadily downward toward the hip, but keeping it on the inside line of the body, and not toward the back, which will keep the swimmer on his side much like a cutter or yacht on her keel. The fingers should be kept closed, with the thumbs touching and forming a sort of spoon-shape, and used much like an oar in the pull through the water.

When the under-arm stroke is finished the hand should be turned quickly, palm upward, in order to have as little resistance as possible, and pushed rapidly forward to the point where it began. The over-arm stroke is started as the downward part of the under-arm stroke is finished, and should begin its downward course about six inches in front of the face. The upper arm should be slightly bent to work clear of the chest, with the palm and thumb pointing downward and cuplike, to get the most from the pull.

The Pull Through

When the upper arm is about opposite the shoulder in its pull through the water the legs should be separated for the leg stroke, and they should be in position for giving the snappy kick when the hand leaves the water and the kick should be completed and legs straightened out before the upper arm is ready to begin the next stroke. The legs are opened up and brought together simultaneously, the upper leg being brought forward, the knee slightly bent, and the foot kept in its ordinary position and not allowed to hang free, the lower leg being bent backward, with the heel toward the thigh and swinging on a hinge (so to speak), so that there is little resistance. Both feet should be kept near to the surface of the water, except at the end of the stroke, when the right foot dips to come just under the left.

Keep on the Side

Remember that you must keep on your side like a cutter. You must not roll over on your breast, but keep in a straight-line position, for, if you turn, or reach too far ahead with the upper arm, you will throw yourself out of position and lose the easy run.

And, as in all the other strokes, remember about breathing and relaxing, the great factors in making you swim easier, further and better than other swimmers. As the under arm is drawn down, take the quick breath or gulp of air through the mouth, closing the mouth and exhaling through the nose until the completion of the stroke, and then begin all over again. You will find that you do not have to make any effort to keep your body afloat while on the side, therefore you can relax more, and when you get the stroke and the breathing and relaxing in harmony, it will be dead easy.

Persist, practice daily and do not get discouraged, for all of a sudden it will dawn on you that you have mastered the stroke and will soon go through the movements intuitively.

The Double-Over-arm or “Trudgeon” Stroke

Once the swimmer has acquired the over-arm side stroke, he is not only ready but invariably ambitious to swim the double-over-arm stroke, and this desire is but natural, as it can be readily seen that the latter method gives an opportunity to increase one’s speed as well as to get a more evenly balanced exercise from this form of stroke; and here a word or two about swimming as an exercise and for body development is in order, for it can be shown that there is probably no other form of exercise that is better for a uniform development of the body and which brings all the muscles into play, including the heart and lungs, than swimming.

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.

The double-over-arm stroke is more frequently referred to as the Trudgeon, but nowadays this name is a misnomer, as the original Trudgeon stroke was so called after a man by that name had won an English 100-yard championship, using the double-over-arm, or both arms out of the water, but kicking a sort of leg motion like the breast stroke action, a style not now approved of by modern swimmers, because the scissors kick, as used with this stroke, made the same way as in the over-arm side stroke, has been found to be better, faster and more graceful in action.

The Stroke for Distance Work

Before describing the movements of the double-over-arm stroke, we will here remark that almost all the world’s records for middle and long-distance swimming have been made by this stroke, and some idea of the speed attained can be formed by the following records, all made by George Hodgson of Canada, one of the world’s greatest distance champion swimmers, and the best exponent of this method the writer has ever seen: 400 meters, 5 minutes 24 2-5 seconds; 1,000 meters, 14 minutes 37 seconds; 1,500 meters, 22 minutes; 1,600 meters, 23 minutes 28 1-5 seconds, and one mile, 23 minutes 34 1-2 seconds. And at the time the great swimmer made these records at the Olympic games in 1912, he defeated all the fastest and best swimmers and record-holders from all parts of the world, some of them using the famous crawl stroke, thus proving himself, as well as the stroke, to be the best in the world at that time.

While it would not be literally correct to call the modern Trudgeon stroke a “double-over-arm-side stroke,” yet that is most nearly what the motions of the double-over-arm approach, for you must first swim one part of the stroke as a side-stroke movement, and then roll over partly on the breast to get your other arm out of the water, thus giving you more positive action and greater speed by getting both arms out, than you would get from the single-over-arm, in which one of the arms must be pushed under and through the water, with the resistance such negative action entails.

Depends Upon Side

If you swim on the right side you begin the movements of the double-over-arm stroke by diving into the water, or pushing off on your side from the side or end of the tank, or the shore, and, when at full length, with right hand under the water and extended beyond the head, and the left hand pointing backward, and at the count of “one,” bring the right hand downward, on the inside line of the body, and not behind the back, for this movement will keep you on your side like a cutter, while if you pull downwards and back of the body, you will be thrown on your chest too soon and stop your run.

At the same time as the right arm is being drawn downward, and on the same count of “one,” the left arm is thrown forward out of and clear of the water, and at the count of “two,” the left leg is drawn up to meet the left arm as it comes down and through the water much like an oar, and at “three” the legs are whipped together and the body turned partly on the breast and the right arm brought out of the water and thrown forward, the body rolling to the right side again and repeating the same movements. If you swim on the left side, of course you must make the movements described to suit the opposite arm and legs from those given in the description.

The Test of Breathing

And now you are up to the point where it is a real test of whether you have mastered the art of breathing, for this stroke requires regular and automatic breathing, with proper timing and precision on each stroke, before you will be able to swim it easily and as comfortably as the other strokes, because you cannot miss a breath or hold your breath for any number of strokes, but must take the quick gulp of air while on the side as the face is upturned just as you draw the right hand down through the water, then close your mouth, and exhale slowly through the nose while the face is under water, until the stroke is fully completed, or, in other words, breathe in harmony and in timing with each stroke.

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.

Charles B. Durborow, conceded to be the world’s greatest distance endurance swimmer, uses the double-over-arm stroke in making all his great long-distance swims, some of which have never been made before or since by any other swimmer.

The Crawl 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.

And now, before describing the stroke and the action of the arms and legs when swimming the crawl, as we have done in our previous lessons, we will tell you the secret of why this new method is so much faster than the others, and the whole thing is a matter of eliminating resistance, or minimizing the negative parts of the stroke and getting a maximum amount of positive action; or, in other words, doing the same thing as has been done in many other things to produce greater speed—applying the maximum of power while at the same time reducing resistance to the minimum.

The crawl stroke originated in Australia, and Dick Cavil, one of the members of that famous family of expert swimmers, and one of the best all-around swimmers the author has ever seen, told the writer that his brother, “Tums,” in an argument with another swimmer as to their relative ability, said he could tie his feet together and then beat the other chap for a length of the pool, and when the contest came off he made good his boast.

“Tums” Cavil always argued that the legs were not of much use to him in fast swimming, and he believed that they hindered other swimmers when going at top speed, because in drawing them up and separating them they stopped the run on the stroke, and he at once started experimenting on this theory, with the result that a new stroke was developed and launched on the natatorial world and at once became popular, until now it is used by all the fast swimmers of the world.

At the Olympic games in 1912, Hodgson, the Canadian swimmer, beat all the fastest swimmers in the world at middle distance swimming, using the double-over-arm stroke, and Duke Kahanamoku, the Hawaiian, beat all the short distance men of the world with the crawl stroke, swimming 100 meters (109 1-3 yards) in 61 seconds, and since then the big bronze-skin athlete, at his home in Honolulu, swam 50 yards in 23 seconds and 100 yards in 53 1-5 seconds, which shows how very fast he can go through the water with the crawl stroke.

The Important Point

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. The arms are alternately reached out at a comfortable distance in front of the head, and on a direct line with the body, not pointing out sideways, but, if anything, pointing at the start of the arm stroke more nearly to the center line of the body.

The catch on the water should be taken at the beginning of each arm stroke, using the weight of the shoulders, without over-reaching, to get a good leverage on the downward pull. The arms must be brought straight down, stopping the pull about on a line parallel with the shoulders, and in recovering, describe a long oval, making sure that before the power of one hand is fully expended the other has taken up the motion, that it may be continuous, for it is this regular and steady pull of the arms, and not the thrash of the legs, that has the most to do with propelling the crawl swimmer through the water.

Breathing while using this stroke is harder than the other strokes, because the swimmer must not roll the body out of its straight line; therefore, the head and shoulders must be slightly turned in order to get the breath, which can be taken after swimming two or three strokes, but later on, when one has mastered the movements better, breathing should be done on each stroke, exhaling slowly under water.

The Leg Movement

The legs are moved up and down in a continuous action, and not necessarily in co-ordination with the arms, the motions being free from the hips and not from the knees, keeping the legs straight, without having them bent much at the knees (a fault almost all beginners have) and pointing the toes out straight.

However, after the swimmer has mastered the leg action, he can bend slightly at the knees, in order to get the sort of propelling movements necessary to help move the body in its steady pace through the water. But remember, the legs do not play so large a part in the crawl stroke as the arm movements, and are used mostly to keep them afloat and accelerate the run, and the fellow who gets it into his head that the more work and greater fuss he makes with his legs the faster he will go, will soon find that he is retarding his movements and not getting the full speed.

While there are definite and fixed movements for the crawl, hardly two swimmers use the stroke exactly alike, but all of them must nearly approach the proper position in the water, get good balance, breathe regularly and with precision on each stroke, and relax more in the crawl than any of the other strokes, if a clean, easy movement through the water is desired.

The Recognized Methods of the Crawl Stroke

There are two methods of swimming the crawl stroke that are generally accepted by expert swimmers and master coaches, the one being referred to as the straight crawl, where the swimmer lies very flat on the water, with but very little roll in order to breathe, and uses a six-beat kick, which the majority think is the best method for sprinting, say, from 50 to 220 yards, and the other being called the Trudge-crawl, using a four-beat kick, the under leg being used with a short scissor or Trudge kick, and the swimmer rolling more than on the straight crawl, and the action of legs not being as fast, this latter method is considered best for middle and longer distances.

L. deB. Handley of the New York Athletic Club, a recognized authority on swimming matters, and a man who has had a lot to do with the coaching of many good amateur swimmers, both men and women, and who has spent considerable time in connection with the study of the crawl stroke, has proposed the following suggestion in connection with the crawl method, which the author cheerfully endorses:

“It has been my aim for several years to have universally accepted a swimming nomenclature that would be descriptive, in as much as possible, and I have classified the strokes under the styles of: crawl, for a leg thrash of even scope; single Trudgeon-crawl, for leg thrash with one major and one or more minor kicks, and double Trudgeon-crawl, for a thrash with two major kicks (double rhythm) or two such kicks and minor ones; then add two, or four, or six-beat, to indicate the number of movements per full stroke. That gives to a swimmer a pretty clear idea of a man’s stroke without further explanation, while such names as Australian, American, rotary, etc., mean nothing unless every detail is added.

Swimmers who want to take up a more thorough and deeper study of the crawl stroke than given herein, should read the “Symposium of the Crawl,” in “Speed Swimming,” No. 36R of Spalding’s Athletic Library, price 25 cents.