SWIMMING.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLI, Issue XLI, 12 February 1921, Page 4

SWIMMING.

INTERESTING ARTICLE ON LUDY

LANGER'S METHODS

(By William Longworth, in Sydney Referee.)

During the past few weeks a great deal has been written relative to the speed of the Hawaiian wonder, Ludy Langer. But very little has been said as to how he is able to produce such speed, or how he differs in his methods from Australian swimmers. Ludy Langer has made a very complete study of his stroke. It was very noticeable in his training swims that he always instructed Kealoha to watch his stroke to see that he was doing everything correctly. One of the most noticeable points to me was the timing of his kick. We, in Australia, since the discovery of the crawl stroke, have always endeavoured to time our stroke by operating opposite limbs at the same time. I mean by this that, as we began to pull with the right arm we would make the feiok with the left leg, and on pulling with the left arm kick the right leg. This is correct in swimming the Australian crawl. But is it suitable for the independent crawl or trudgeon crawl? I say no. And bear this in mind, though we possess many natural swimmers, we have not produced one real champion in.either of these strokes in ten years, while America and Canada have done so. It is not that we do ! not possess the talent that makes champions. •

Now, the timing of Langer's stroke is exactly the opposite to that practised by Australians. He pulls on the right arm and kicks' the right leg simultaneously, and it is the same with the left arm and left leg. And results prove the superiority of this method. The method of pulling the armi through the water is a noticeable feature of Langer's stroke. On putting his arms forward he is careful to clear the water and thus avoid resistanc^ as much as possißle, while reaching out almost to the full length of his arms and hands. When pulling'back he endeavours to make a very powerful and decidedly straight pull, thus getting the full effect in continuous speed of his7 arm. , stroke, which is the chief speed-pro-ducing element in all swimming. This point is often missed by many of our swimmers,' who are much too hurried in pulling their arms through, and therefore miss a great deal of their length of stroke. Langer is. most decisive in getting a good and even pull with each stroke. The kick favoured by * this famous swimmer is of the six-beat type, one kick being called a major kick and^the other five minor kicks. The kick begins with a major kick (often termed a small trudgeon kick) at the time the right arm begins its pull; then five minor kicks, by which time the right arm is ready to again pull and the right leg makes the major kick again. It is very noticeable in the major kick that it is done almost unconsciously, because, supposing the swimmer breathes on the left side, he rolls slightly to the right, and this is the time the major kick is made. Therefore It is, in reality, just a small side-kick in Langer's case, though much more pronounced .in the case of Ross. The reason for this is that Ross has a very slow arm-stroke because of his great size, and he, therefore, has more 4ime to spare in making his major kick. In making the kick it should be remembered to kick only very lightly. If a hard kick is used it will entail too much energy on the kick. This is unnecessary, as the kick is not the speed producer—it assists and keeps the balance and rhythm. The breathing by Langer is also good. He does ndt interfere with his stroke while breathing, but is careful to get a good breath at each stroke. He breathes on the left side, taking in air as the right arm goes forward, and breathing out under water as the left arm goes forward. It is very noticeable that Langer swims much more on his chest than most of our swimmers. Except for a slight roll to the right when taking a breath he is almost fiat on the water. Langer also makes a feature^ of looking straight ahesid. This is splendid, because he makes sure of swimming a good course, a thing very necessary at all times, but more so in tank swimming, when a towel is put down, as in the edse of Ross, to help the competitor to swim a straight course. Many who have seen Langer and Ross swim are impressed by the • asy manner in which they seem to perform their movements. The reason is chiefly that they are not bustling, but swimming to a set stroke, and carrying their muscles as supple and loosely as possible. When the muscles are not carried supple a swimmer soon tires.