CAVILL'S GREAT SWIMMING FEAT.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 137, 18 April 1879, Page 2

CAVILL'S GREAT SWIMMING FEAT.

■A cable message recentty informed us of the great swimming feat' performed by Cavifl in the Yarra, when hie is said to have accomplished 18 miles in two minutes under six hours, the fastest time, on record. The nearest one known was done in 1836, when a man named Samuel Buick swam nearly 15 miles in hours, but that-was in sea water, which is much-less: exhausting to the Swimmer than fresh water. In some of the reaches Cavill had to swim against a strong head ■wind, and.in many parts of the river he was compelled to adopt a zig-zag course in order to avoid snags. He swam: the whole distance on his right side. ~ The action of his legs- and right arm was perfect, but that of his left i arm more closely resembled the.'-'»push" of the breast swimmer than the- effective " pull" o£ the correct side stroke. To this peculiarity was probably td be attributed the fact of his not, being considered the fastest swimmer for short distances, but his great muscular strength, .the. -mechanical' precision of his legi.stroke, the clock-like-regularity of all Ms movements, his endurance, and British pluck undoubtedly qualify, him for the ? position of " the 20 mile champion. " When he had been about two hours in,the water,-he took three spoonfulls of. Reeve's, liquid extract of cocoa leaves in two tablespoon- < fuls of water, which is his favorite stimulant. Subsequently He was seized with an attack of. cramp in the, leg:' 1 This, | L-' * did not in any way incommode hibj, ?or he had' a 'similar attack, whjen | trying to cross the English Channel, and on tklsason that occasion itleft-hinv after a fow vigorous strokes, which. nky ' 1

be taken as a conclusive proof tl*t an exswimmer has but little to "icar from an attack of cramp in ' the water. After four hours in the water, he took a raw egg beaten up in a gill of cocoa. For hours' he did twenty-four strokes a minute, and afterwards 20. At Prince's Bridge, two v of Mr CavOl's children, a little boy and a little .girl* swam .out to meet him, and he brought the : pair?-on shore >: amid • the ; deafening cheers of an immense crowd that had gathered there; - As a matter ofscientific.interest a medical man; who was on boardrthe steam launch felt CaVill's' pulse as soon as he had left the water, and found the pulsations to be - the rate of 102 per minute, or 32 normal rate. The heat of his body was also tried,' . and found to be 90 degrees or 7 less than the natural heat of the humaJT body. ■. : . '1