Swimmers' Cramp.

Cromwell Argus, Volume I, Issue 6, 15 December 1869, Page 7

Swimmers' Cramp.

( The Lancet.) On a fine summer’s day some men are bathing in the sea. One of them, an excellent swimmer, suddenly cries out, “ I’m drowning!” sinks, and is no more seen until his dead body floats ashore some hours afterwards. How is this terribly sudden drowning to be explained] The victim is generally sail to have been attacked bv cramp, and manuals advert to the subject, and direct the swimmer who is so seized to thrust his leg out violently, and forcibly bend his foot upwards. The explanation seems to be generally accepted, but it does not really explain tliis mysterious sinking. We do not need to ask a good swimmer whether cramp in the log, however severe, would cause him to sink suddenly, and without a struggle, in the sea. It is impossible The human body is specifically lighter than water, and so much lighter than sea water that no effort is required to preserve it from sinking in that fluid. The swimmer seized with leg cramp would instinctively throw his head back as far as it would go, conscious that he might remain afloat in this position without the need of moving a muscle. The unfortunate swimmer who drowns under these circumstances always goes down suddenly, and without a struggle. This signifies that the body suddenly becomes heavier than water. This it can onlv do by losing the air which is contained within the cavity of the chest, and the probability s"ems to be that the cramp which happens is a cramp of the respiratory muscles, by which the expansion of the lungs is prevented or their air forced out. Death would then occur as it often takes place in tetanus. This is a subject which has strangely escaped notice. The feeling of insecurity which these cases occasion to swimmers is terrible. Could we but ascertain the exact 1 circumstances, it is conceivable that some measures might be devised by which their 1 occurrence could bo prevented. It must be remembered that swimming implies a 1 very much more violent muscular exercise f than is apt to appear. It seems probable b —though it is by no means certain—that 3 the muscles of respiration, which are b powerfully employed in swimming, maj i occasionally be seized with cramp as a re 1 suit of unusual exertion, with the effecl ,- of causing compression of the chest. I e such be the case, it is tolerably certaii e that regular and graduated gymnast! I exercise would be the surest safeguan e against an affection of muscles arising fron their being suddenly called upon to perfort :- unusual exertion of a serera character.