EARNING TO SWIM.

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2954, 3 August 1878, Page 3

EARNING TO SWIM.

An expert swimmer gives the following practical hints for beginners n- Get accustomed to the shock of water. Wade i Blowly into a smooth shallow place, turn and face toward the shore, duck under in water deep enough to cover the body, get your head wet, hold your breath under water, snort as you come to the air again, resisting the inclination to breathe in first; and then in a depth of lft. or 2ft. lie down, face downwards, and touch the tips of your fingers on the bed of the stream. You will find that a very slight lift, hardly 2oz, will keep your head afloat, but not your heels: use them as oars. Drop out backwards into deeper water, walking on your finger tips; and you will find that the more your body is under water the less weight you will have to carry. The only parts to keep in the air are your lips and nose; make these the only exposed surface; hollow your loins, and carry your head well back, so as to have it perpendicular to the lungs. _ All this is mere paddling; but you will soon find that keeping afloat is no trouble unless you keep too high, arid _ try to swim as much in the air as in the water. You must remember that y©u have to displace as much weight of water as the weight of your own body. You cannot walk upon the waves or climb out of them without a support. In swimming you must lie Jow. The legs ■fiouTd Ibe well ..under, and so should the hands. The chin should be in the water, tlie legs ab an angle 33deg. The theory is that you should use the feet as a counterpoise to the head—the chest, the buoyant part of the body, being the fulcrum of the lever. If your heels go up, your head will go down at once. Now stop paddling, abandon the grip of your hands on the bottom, keep your head towards the shore, arid strike out. Two feet depth of water is enough for the lesson. Keep both hands well under water. You can't swim in the air. Hold your fingers together, the palms of the hands slightly hollowed, the head well back, the chest inflated, and strike with all four limbs in unison of movement. The hands and feet will act as propellers, the hands moving backward and downward as low as the hips, and'outside of the body, the feet drawing together, and pushing down at the same moment. Give full spread to your hands and feet. Their resistance to the water is your propelling force. Then gather yourself together frogfashion, and repeat the motion. You rid yourself of the sense of danger by keeping in* shallow water and striking towards shore. Work in that way awhile, and the temptation will be irresistible to swim from shore; but it should be carefully indulged until you feel sure of yourself. When you have thus learned to, swim ialf-a-dozen strokes, all the rest is mere practice in a delightful school, where there is more fun than work. Water frolics are high Bport, and the most invigorating frolic oi a'l is a good dive.