SWIMMERS AND THEIR WAYS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1045, 7 February 1911, Page 7

SWIMMERS AND THEIR WAYS.

♦ ON THE ROOF AT. THE BATHS. THE OLD ORDER CIIANGETH. (Br Sylvius.) Why should wo not, anyhow? • Man's ancestors lost their tails by gradual disuse, so wo are told—a process which probably occupied many thousands of years. Then why should not posterity somo thousands of years henco develop gills whilst retaining their lungs, and so become amphibious. Sitting in tho sun on tho roof of the To Aro Baths on Saturday afternoon, watching tho swimmers disporting themselves in tho mir-ror-surfaced water below, tho idea did not seem opposed to tho principles of physical evolution in the liumau species. Indeed, there were somo swimmers in and under tho water so long, that an earnest student of tho subject might havo been excused for rushing down and begging leave to make a privato o: ainination to detect, if possible, the firr faint, signs of gill development under the armpits or elsewhere. The pearl-divors of Torres Strait will probably bo the first to develop tho abnormal, so soon— ->nt more than 10,000 years—to be tho inal, but nearer at honio aro Tom

a lds and Sergeant Kelly, who arc apI-:. autly much happier, and more optimistic in tho water than they are'out of it. Bo ho ever so amiable when taking an order for a summer suit, Tom Shields is not nearly tho jolly, buoyant human that ho is when he comcs up from a .three, minutes' walk on his hands on tho gleaning sand* a couple of fathoms deep; and Sergeant Kelly is a much mora delightful character whou taking the waters than when taking a thief, hut is naturally, becauso of his amphibious attributes, more at. home when capturing a "lighthouse" than in "pinching a thug." There is ono good tip I would , like to givo the criminal class of Wellington, after my Saturday's sun-bath, and that is—"Don't take to tho water when Kelly is on your trailhe's a porpoise." Tho Swimmer in Evolution. Wo wove crushcd into conversation on tho crowded roof of tho bathing sheds. Ho wus about 53 years of age, with streaks of white in iv thin grey beard,, hut a clear skin and eyo that spoke of a clean youth. "Well/' said he, breaking a sunlit silence, "I haven't seen any swimming sports for twelve or thirteen years, ami it docs ono guod to see those sturdy young fellows getting through it liko that." I' admitted that it was certainly a pretty sight to sco Champion, llealy, Bricc, Freyberg, nnd Co. at it. "They didn't swim like that in my day. Tho cracks used to swin on their sides, bringing tho left arm right over tho head and sweeping it back in front of them; and making a short stroke downward with tho right, but there were always brcaststraltb races—short and lons distances. For practical purposes there is nothing like the breast-stroke, and I was glad to notico that tho president of tho Lifesaving Society thought so, too. There qught to 1)0 a breast-stroke mile championship oil'tho programmo for utilitarian purposes. YVhat d'yo call that stroke?" said tho stranger, referring to a human'torpedo below. "Thafs tho trudge."

"Well, it's a pretty good stroke, and it gets him' along at a great old rate—ho would loso the old side-stroke swimmer."

"Brico' has lowered the Now Zealand record," camo tho booming announcement through the megaphone. "There you are," said I, "another chip off tho 100 yards record—that shows you what the newer strokes can do. Then thero is the crawl, with the single or doublo kick, and tho trudge, with both or neither.' They nil call for n great deal more strength than tho old breast-stroke, which's really a spell-oh for the tnulger. In your day they did'not-trouble about a steady, courso of training, deep-breath-ing, and special exercises for the swimming muscles. Now these boys train as athletes do for a big meeting. O'thcrwiso those, boys down there would never bo able to trudge n mile. Look at Champion there—isn't he a champion," Marine Football. • ' If there was any special set of swimmers qualifying for ainphibiousness it is tho water pdlo players—or marino footballers. The rules are closely allied to those of tho '-'soccer" game, and the round ball m?v bo impelled with any part of tho anatomy, but is hand-balled tor preference, which admits of a skilled passing game.'After a delay of half an hour the first game was played on Saturday afternoon between Canterbury and Wellington B. Both sides line up and "tread water" en . the goal-line, the ball is thrown midway between them by tho referee, tho forwards dash forward, and - the others take up . their allotted places, and tho goalkeeper , "treads" between tho floating goal posts. llow they pass forward and back, bump the ball neatly over a charging opponent's head, follow up Y'ith a face-dribble, must be seen to bo appreciated. By the cries from tho players and tho "bank" it might havo been a football match.-

■ "Pass here!" "Right over!" "Give it to Kolly!" "Shoot!" "Over his head!" "Hooray for Kelly!" "Goal!" were a few of the smothered shouts among a babel of others that aroso from the disturbed bosom of the deep. It was exciting. Ono forgot nlmost that tho players were plunging about in deep water all tho time. When that is recollectcd tho staying powers of tho polo players must be set down as prodigious. W hat a race of young men ■ would arise if all wero compelled to tako a course of water polo. Let me, in conclusion, modify that by saying a steady courso of plain swimming. It is one of the healthiest and most enjoyable recreations kijown to man; it tones up a set of muscles not called upon in the ordintry activities of a man's lifo: it freshens the body andithe mind; and is tho greatest preventivo of drowning known to science or the world in ordinary. Besides, there is. this gill development theory. Docs tho reader wish his descendants to bo gill-less outsiders