JAPANESE SWIMMERS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 392, 29 November 1932, Page 3

JAPANESE SWIMMERS

NOEL RYAN'S VIEWS SUCCESSFUL METHODS STUDIED AT OLYMPIC GAMES. INTERESTING ANALYSIS. If Australia is to gain greater renown in swimming sbe must adopt the rather revolutionary methods of the Japanese, deelares Noel Ryan, Australian swimmer, well known in New Zealand, in an. interview. At the Olympic Games at Los Angeles, Ryan sp'ent much time studying the methods of the Japanese, which brought them such great success. He questioned them, copied them, and came to the conclusion that theirs was the best possible style to adopt. He is now master of the complex details of the Japanese stroke, and is modelling his own style on theirs. His arialysis is of exceptional interest. Beginning with the leg action, he stated that the Japanese method was fundamentally a six-beat crawl. "The legs are kept considerably deeper, and the kick is executed with twice as much force," he said; "a looseness ahout the thighs and ankles has to he developed." The arms, instead of dipping down to get quiclc purchase power, as Johnny Weismuller had pointed out to Australians, after planing, should press downward about eight inches, and then he pushed straight hack to the thighs. They are driven, but very little, under the chest and stomach. "Under water, the arm is slightly hent at the elbow, to allow the pressure to be kept up all the way. The Japanese breatbe as we do, on either right or left side. They keep their heads well clear of the water, aiming at a rather higher position than our swimmers generally do. Their bodi'es are kept very loose, and lie, with the exception of a slightly-arched hack, absolutely flat on the water. "They do not roll or dip their shoulders," continued, Ryan. The first impression of the armstroke was, since the recovery in the air was much quicker, that a lot more strokes were taken. That was not so. In fact, Ryan carefully counted them, and found that they took almost exactly the same number of strokes over one lap as Charleston did with his long and seemingly lazy stroke. The Japs entered.the water with a claw-like hand. Apart from his exoellent performance at the Games, Ryan's trip was justified by the keenness of his observation and his willingness to pass on his information.