JOY OF SWIMMING.

Putaruru Press, Volume VII, Issue 320, 24 December 1929, Page 3

JOY OF SWIMMING.

AT HOME IN THE WATER. Commonsense Advice. Professor D. B. Anderson, of Auckland, the well-known teacher of swiram*n &> recently gave a demonstration and lecturette on commonsense lines, and his advice is especially applicable to novices, but well worth noting by those able to swim. We quote:—

Professor Anderson said that tho joy of swimming was the birthright of everybody. He had pupils whose ages ranged from 5 to 91 years. When a grandmother realised, after a lesson, the simplicity of controlling the body in the. water, she said, “Why didn’t I know this before, instead of waiting till my grandchildren had learned?” Another lady, 66 years of age, asked him, “ What is the secret of swimming ? ” “ The secret,” he replied, “is simply this: You must learn to breathe as a water animal.” “ How can I do that? ” she asked. “You must get a basin of water, fill your lungs with air breathed through your mouth, put your face in the water and blow out through your nostrils.” “ Will that make me swim ? ” “ When you can do that fifty times without stopping you will be safe in any rough sea where you otherwise would be drowned.” In a fortnight that woman was able to swim. She had learned the law.

Professor Anderson then proceeded, by using gargling as an illustration, to explain how water could be kept from going down the throat, and he also showed the effect of water “ going down the wrong way ” and causing the sensation of choking for a few moments. It was the latter which happened to the uneducated swimmer. He advised ony who had doubts on the matter to fill his bath three-quarters full, and, after filling his lungs with air, try to keep his head on the bottom. He would find this impossible. The knowledge that a body could not sink so long as the lungs were filled with air gave great confidence to the would-be shimmer. This confidence was all important. Propulsion methods were a secondary consideration. To emphasise this fact, Professor Anderson pointed out that if a vessel could not float, the best engines in the world would be of no use .to it. In exactly the same way, the most important thing to learn about swimming was floating; the methods of getting through the water could be learned later. The first thing to be done by a teacher was to overcome in his pupil the subconscious fear of suffocation. The speaker then went on to show how this could be done, and his explanation of the way in which a beginner should perform in the water was as clear as it was simple. “If you stood in Alexandra Street all day,” said Professor Anderson, “ you would not see anybody doiny this when trying to walk”—holding a leg out and giving a sideways kick. “ No, you would see each person stepping out 'With a leg, placing one foot on the ground and not lifting it till the other foot was about to take its place. A walker always has one foot on the ground. It’s exactly the same in swimming. One arm and hand must always support the body, and this support must be withdrawn until the other arm is ready to act as support. If a child was hanging on to a rope 20 feet in the air and wanted to come down'to the ground, he would sot let go with one hand before he had got a grip on the rope with the other hand. Why should he act differently in the water ? Yet the first thing a person did in the water when trying to swim or when in difficulties was to strike out wildly with both hands at once. Not only did he let go of the

water in this way, but he used up his breath, just as a man running hard became puffed whereas if he had walk’ll quietly his breathing would not have been disturbed. So soon

as air went out of the lungs the body sank. It was commonly said that a body rose to the surface three times bdore sinking finally. That was a wrong idea. A body sometimes came to the surface 20 or 30 times; sometimes only once. It all depended on the amount of air in the lungs. That was why a correct method of breathing—like a wpter animal—was all important. Professor Anderson then r ent on to illustrate the proper method. Placing a basin of water on a table, he inhaled • air through his mouth. Then, putting his face under the water, he exhaled the air through his nose, the bubbles coming to the surface of the water. This was repeated time after time, the professor explaining that this was exacly what should be done by a swimmer, though, of course, the head would be out of the water.

The idea that cold water will effect the heart is quite wrong, as Sir Truby King has shown. Warm water does not given the same results as cold water. A man "90 years of age, when asked if swimming in cold water was not too much for him, replied that swimming across the bath and back gave him a reaction which nothing else did. That was why he always went into the water. Where you have sub-tropical conditions,” said the speaker in conclusion, “ the skin is inclined to become lazy and the involuntary organs are not stimulated as they should be. Therefore there is great need for everybody to indulge in swimming in cold water. Professor Anderson, with hands and feet tied, then jumped into the water and proved that use of arms and legs I is not necessary to keep a body afloat. He lay on the surface of the water, | rolled about and was perfectly at I home. A boy attempted to push him j to the bottom, but he might as well j have tried to sink a cork, the Professor coming to the surface as soon as pressure was released. Then, holding a bar of iron (3Ubs) in his mouth, he floated on the surface. He did likewise holding the bar at arms’ length. During the whole of the time he breathed quietly and steadily, and lay perfectly still, his body entirely relaxed. Having demonstrated that the human body, with lungs full of air cannot sink, he deflated his lungs. Immediately he went to the bottom like a stone. The same thing happened when he made his body rigid. An arm or a leg sank as soon as the muscles were stiffened, but came to the surface when relaxed. “ Keep ; your lungs filled and your body limp, and you can lie on the water as long as you like,” said the swimmer. Then followed illustrations of various kinds of swimming—breast-stroke, s:destroke, trudge, back-stroke, torpedo, propeller and a host of others. So simple, in its gracefulness, did it all seem that it was difficult to believe everybody could not do it.