SWIMMING, ROWING, AND WATER POLO
$Swimming.$--A glance at some books of instruction conveys the
impression that swimming is difficult and complicated; but many boys
learn in three or four days, and we know a timid boy who had much to
overcome in fear of the water who learnt in fourteen without more aid
than he obtained from reading directions in books. It is easier to
learn in a tepid indoor bath, because the novice is not worried by
having to keep himself warm, and he has the rail, a sure bottom, and
the side of the bath to help him. A friendly companion who will support
his chest with one hand at first, especially if he can instruct him
too, will shorten the period of learning. There is no need to go into
deep water, nor to run any risks in learning to swim.
The action of the arms may be practised in or out of the water. Draw
the arms to the chest with the elbows touching the sides. Close the
fingers and thumb of each hand, and make the hands slightly hollow.
The hands will be under the chin and the hollowed palms downwards.
Push them out in front of your nose, not vigorously, but quietly and
steadily, for so far the action is one that retards the swimmer rather
than advances him. Once at their full extent, however, the hands should
be turned almost back to back, and then each should be swept away from
the other in a semi-circle, something like the action of the oars when
a boat is being rowed. When the elbows touch the body the stroke ends,
and the hands should go back to their position under the chin ready for
another stroke.
More important than the arms in swimming are the legs, but their
movements are very simple and easy to learn. Grasp the rail that runs
round the bath with one hand and place the other hand flat upon the
side of the bath about a foot below. Draw the legs up to the body,
with the heels touching each other, toes of each foot turned outwards,
the toes of the right foot to the right, the toes of the left foot to
the left. Keep the knees wide apart and turned outwards. When the legs
have been drawn up as far as possible the soles of the feet should be
only just under the water. Now shoot both legs out vigorously, not
only as far as they will go, but as widely asunder as you can spread
them. Then bring the heels smartly together so that the legs return in
a line with the body again. This last movement is very important, for
it is in displacing the wedge of water between the widely opened legs
that the body receives its forward impulse. Writers upon swimming have
likened this action to the flight of the slippery orange pip when it is
squeezed in the fingers of the school-boy.
When the use of arms and legs is practised together the legs are drawn
up and the hands are placed under the chin at the same time, and the
hands and legs are sent out from the body together. The head should be
thrown back well, and it will help the learner to do this if he looks
at the sky or at the ceiling of the bath when he is learning.
It is easier to swim upon the back than upon the chest. The movement of
the legs is the same, and the movement of the hands not very different.
Lie backwards upon the water and with the hands together stretch the
arms behind the head, palms upwards, thumbs touching. Then sweep the
hands away from each other, using them like oars, and so bringing them
back with a wide curve to the hips. Upon the back it is possible to
swim without the use of the arms at all.
Learning to swim makes one sadly out of breath, but with practice the
art becomes easy, and we swim with almost as much ease as we walk.
Having learned plain swimming it is not difficult to add gradually the
numerous other methods of propelling the body through the water.
$Rowing.$--To watch and imitate a good rower is the best way to acquire
a good style, but a few hints will help. Sit squarely upon the seat
and stretch your legs straight before you, but with your toes turned
out slightly. Rowers are not agreed about the knees. Some keep them
together; others have them apart, and they will tell you that this
arrangement permits the body to come further forward over the knees.
Your feet should be placed firmly against the stretcher, and this must
be let out or shortened, to suit the length of the rower. One foot may
be placed in the strap which is often attached to the stretcher. The
outside hand is placed upon the handle of the oar, with the thumb as
well as the fingers above it, while the other hand grasps it firmly
lower down, keeping the nut towards you. The arms are now quickly
thrust forward till they are quite straight at the elbows, after which
the back follows the arms by bending forward at the hips. Be careful,
however, to avoid round shoulders. When your hands have reached their
full stretch raise them, and the blade will drop quietly into the
water. Then with the water just covering the blade, the body is brought
back with a strong but not clumsy movement, till it reaches a little
beyond the perpendicular of the back of the seat, when the hands are
brought back to the ribs, the elbows gliding near the hips; and at the
last moment, as the hand touches the ribs, the wrist of the inside hand
is lowered, the knuckles being at the same time brought against the
chest, and the oar is made to revolve in the rowlock. This is called
"feathering" the oar, a process by which it is brought neatly out of
the water. Now push the oar rapidly forward again, first, however,
restoring it to its original position in the rowlock. This is done by
raising the wrist, and then darting the arms forward till the elbows
are quite straight. Now the rower is at his starting point. To "back
water" these actions are reversed. The oar is first reversed in the
rowlock, and then it is pushed through the water with as much power as
is needed, and pulled through the air. When the oars on one side are
pulled, and those on the other are backed, the boat is made to turn
round completely in a small space. Expert rowers have arrived at the
following maxims: Straighten the arms before bending the body forward;
drop the oar neatly into the water; draw the oar straight through at
the same depth; feather the oar cleanly, and without bringing the oar
out before doing so; use the back and shoulders freely, keeping the
arms as straight as possible; keep your eyes fixed on the rower before
you. By this means the body is almost sure to swing backwards and
forwards regularly in a straight line. If you look out of the boat you
will probably lose this rhythmic motion.
$Sculling.$--This process is different from that of rowing in that the
sculler has a scull for each hand, whereas the rower uses both hands
for one oar. The rower sits near the side of the boat, the sculler in
the centre of the seat. The sculls are lighter than oars, the action
quicker. There are from thirty to forty strokes a minute in sculling,
but the average is about thirty-two. The boy who goes out sculling
alone is often his own steerer, and so needs to keep a sharp look-out
over his shoulder. Having taken a seat in the centre, stretch out
your legs to their fullest extent and adjust the stretcher. Grasp the
sculls, one in each hand, by the handles, and bend your body forward
until your head is well over your knees. Throw your arms well forward,
and straight, so that the sculls will be thrown well backwards. Then
dip the sculls, try to keep the dip uniform, and pull hard.
The stroke comes to an end when the elbows are brought to the top of
the hips, and the hands to the chest, with the body well back as a
result of the strong pull. The sculls are "feathered" as they leave the
water by the depressing of the elbows and the bending upwards of the
wrists, as the back of the hands are turned towards the forearms, an
operation which offers the least resistance to the water when releasing
the sculls to obtain the position known as the return, that is, the
position to begin again. To turn a boat in the water the sculler must
back water with one scull and pull with the other. To do this one scull
is reversed, its rounded face being towards the rear as the sculler
pushes it from him. At the same time pull sharply with the other scull
until the boat's head has been turned round completely. Boats without
rudders are managed in the water, either by pulling both sides alike,
in which case the boat moves in a straight line, or by reversing the
action of the oars, equally on both sides, pushing them through the
water instead of pulling them, and called backing water. In this case
the boat recedes. By pulling one side only, the boat describes a part
of a circle, which is made smaller by pulling one oar, and backing the
other. By means of a rudder the boat may be made to take almost any
direction without reference to the rowers.
A few experiments with a rudder will soon demonstrate what its powers
are.
[Illustration: WATER POLO.]
$Water Polo.$--Boys who can swim will find this excellent sport. Each
player should provide himself with a sound cask. Place it upon its side
and weight it with lead or other material, making this ballast fast so
that it cannot move about. Now make the cask quite water-tight. Upon
one end fix a horse's head made of wood, upon the other a tail. These
features may be made as extravagant and comic as the owner pleases.
Get a paddle like a canoe paddle, and astride of this horse take to the
water. Choose sides as at football and have for goals stakes driven
into the bed of the river or floating objects moored into position.
The ball should be a light hollow india-rubber one, or a bladder from
the butcher. Some players use the inner part of a football. The paddle
both strikes the ball and propels the steed. This game should never be
played unless the players are accompanied by a capable person in a boat
who can go to the assistance of those who may be in difficulties.