This is a transition from front swimming, in which the attitude and
motions of the feet are still the same, but those of the hands very
different. One arm, the right for instance, is lifted entirely out of
the water, thrust forward as much as possible, and, when at the utmost
stretch, let fall, with the hand hollowed, into the water, which it
grasps or pulls towards the swimmer in its return transversely towards
the opposite arm-pit. While the right arm is thus stretched forth, the
left, with the hand expanded, describes a small circle to sustain the
body (Plate XXVIII. fig. 1); and, while the right arm pulls towards the
swimmer, the left, in a widely-described circle, is carried rapidly
under the breast, towards the hip. (Plate XXVIII. fig. 2.)
When the left arm has completed these movements, it, in its turn, is
lifted from the water, stretched forward, and pulled back,--the right
arm describing first the smaller, then the larger circle. The feet make
their movements during the describing of the larger circle. The thrust
requires much practice; but, when well acquired, it not only relieves
the swimmer, but enables him to make great advance in the water, and is
applicable to cases where rapidity is required for a short distance.