OXYGEN FOR ATHLETES.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 609, 11 September 1909, Page 5

OXYGEN FOR ATHLETES.

: FOOTBALL HALF-TIME.. (Bj .Tclccri>pli.-l'r».i Aiunclnilnn.-rCoprrlebt I Adelaide, September 10. Experiments havo been tried in administering'oxygen: to "pumped-out'! footballers at half-time with marvellous, effects. ~ >■ / , ..; A team which, bad.played hard in the-first spell went back free, fresh, aqd vigorous. ..-Further trials will bo made., ,-v.'i

IS IT SPORTSMANLIkE?

. APPLIED IN CHANNEL SWIMMING.' . ■When a. Dos? of oxygen was given last, year, to WolUe,. the Channel swimmer, jiist as he , was . failing, in sight -of land, public attention ir..-England was strongly directed .towards the u!e of oxygen by athletes, and. two questions were.raised:.,, . fl) Is it effectual? ! (2) Is it "playing tho game"? . . ' : Dr. Leonard Hill replied to both in the affirmative.la a ilbtter' published in the press ho. said. that, in-'.the case of a Channel swimnier or 'Marathon runner,' owing -'.to ' fatigue, '.'the breathing . and: circulatory.' organs',..becoiue. Tinadequate.to keep up the supply,,; of oxygen, and; that .oxygen given occasioually. during sucb attempts would- do gdod. ,He is also 'satisfied. apparently, that' athlotea aro;perfectly entitled to use the .gas if tht«y want it., Ho added that he - would even give it to .foctballers at hillftime—as.v tiiey have,.now done in 'Adelaideaid .to boxers between the. rounds. ' •

Success by Artificial Means, . Mr; Montagu Holbein, "the..famous - Channel swimmer,'' is not, - however, ■ a- ' believer - in oxygen—at . any rate,-for cross-Channel swimmers. .-"I .would never think of . using? it. myself," ho says. ''It -mny help .the;lootyarus runner. to •! a- supreme - .■'effort; -.or: put j a 'sudden' spurt into a.'eyclist, .but I am: convinc6d .that its effects are too transitory, to givo;matcrial . tissistatidp tp.'a Channel'swimmer.'!Even. jrig ;this ptintj. there -would bo much' 7 difficulty ahd many .'delays; in successfully administering, the gas:to a man in the th»-sea . happened to be chcmpy. ' -("Besides, 'padded Mr; Holbein* '-'there is 'tho sporting-' instinct, ' which rebels - against', helping man,, by. artificial mpans, to -do. .some:thing,.that:is beyond, the power of his normally forking .heart, and muscles..-.Tho-Channel .will bo/swum,- assuredly, and: I h6pe;th*at : I shall be-tho s'wimmor to do it; but 1 slio'uld bd oldfashioned enough to feel that' riiy rietory had boen robbed of much of' its: sporting 'signifi,cnnco- had Oxygen."or- .6hy ! ' r| other-i'stimuiant, helped; rfierfoomy gbaM'j> or? r"An =-f> 'In-histiioplfs-to l|r;i-Holbean>'iDim-Hillidenies j ;ofrch!i op'-, 1 pears- toxoid - the view- that' its administration is "not. followed, by any/injurious reaction.: ißui his. .argtimOnt is ; mainly: one -.of, .analogywith ;other. stimulating-; foods .br';drinks.-He, writes: *: \"Mr.-. Montagu -Hplbein. is.;%:.greai-s.wiiiimor : iiid, knows his 'way;about' tho Channel' better. than.-most of usj xbut alw.ut oxygen'he, speaks wide of.-the inarli. ; Ho,.makes the' ', comiuon mistake that' oxygeti' is/a stimulant."'; To' a' perfectly4raincd runner'or' racehorse^oxygen' will' 'do - nothing' if given' boforo a sprint- ' It. will not rouse.,him -to -a "supremor;- : :offort'i-0r put a : stiddeii spurt into him,, as Mr.-'Holboin :thinks'.' .:/Th6/trained, mail. or ihorso,; has i got .enough in.'himifpr a..sprint, and excess hai no iffiCt- . -It is . to ':tho tired or .Untrained- man, .or .the'inin,: engaged; inland. fatigued hy a pro-. longed reffort,.: that oxygen does, so-much, behe'cannot get enough into his body.; v .

Analogous Aids. v'"Why,'l. aic,. should: the sporting' iistinot of Mr.' vHolbein..rebel.. 1 against.oxygen 1 any . mow thanI',against;'1',against;' the: taking . of .'somebody's',beefjuice, out of d feeding-bottle during- a'Channol .'..Which is the more, artificial aid; .oxygen purified i from the useless nitrogen' of. the' air :or thejiiice of tho'ox purified from' the useless bonef .v Tha: Channel .swimmer takes tea„.beefjuicej biscuits containing.casein-separated from milk'; ' he .wears, covers. himself with ■thick, layers of. grease/ uses, :a f feeding-bottlo, and lis. accoinpanicd by'a tug and a boat'-'.frith ■ a pilot to show him the ,way, and tlie'irepresentatives' of the' press and;'of the beef-juico' firm to stiniulato l his energies. . The.- .porfdrmarice,' : liko;'atmost' the' whole 'of modern sport, is conducted-with -/.artificial aids.The --. record feats of -to-day . too often- 'are not. sport, but deadly-earnest .bjisiness;.. "Mr. Holbeiri says that; oxygen will "make a man do something that ip beyond the poiVer'of. the' normally-working: heart ahd,.: muscles."lt will do so neither more nor less than the'feed takeh by . Mr, Holbein, in bis ; swims. : ' Beef-juico-is 'a ;food and oxygen' is a' food.' ' One is liquid,; and must' be, drunk; > the : other!: is a gas,' and: must be. breathed.' It is .-' As easy > to. give 'one' as the other. to.tho. swimmer, - He. wants oxygen; because, owing to fatiguo, .he, cannot breathe in enough from the'air, just us ha wants food, because ■ho has exhausted what is iii his body.; The oxygen oxidises' tho food' in his. body, and from that oxidation comes his bodily heat" .and his power ;to .swim."; It: is foolishness to'give the one and not'the other. '"Either,. I;saj-, limit sport .to -reasonable, feats.of ondur'ancb. or elso add oxygen to the; other .-artificial .'aids now, employed in .tho breaking-'of records,' and so diminish the harm donfe to tho.athlete's body."- . Other "Dopes."-. inhere' oxygen is or is not a "dope" or a stimulant, whether its use is sportsmanlike'or not,','-if. (it ■ beconjes Of genoral. application' in athletics ■ the : science of .drugs, will' probably have other-articles to supply, such as aromatic ammonia- for'inhalation, or a!. partiole ;-of Strychnine: kept '.under ;a long-distance runner's tongue'.