SWIMMING.

Otaki Mail, 15 December 1926, Page 3

SWIMMING.

NOTES OF ITS USEFULNESS. A WORLD'S CHAMPION- AND THE DOG-PADDLE. (By Les. M. Murpfey). (Continued). When you enter the wafer do n®t waste valuable time by groping about. Endeavour to pick up the simple dog paddle stroke which is tho first practical step in the art of a self-taught

swimmer. When a puppy dog is placed in deep water it is natural.for the animal to paddle to the shore again. .Watch the action of the dog's fore-legs when moving along the surface. If you imitate the to-and-fro movements of its fore legs with your arms, whieh is quite simple, and bringiyour legs into the up and down action, you will be surprised, after a little practice, how easy it is to advance along the surface of the water. To illustrate the simplicity of the "dog paddle" permit me to quote one of the great women swimmers in the world to-day, namely Miss Gertrude Ederlc, of Ame-rica. ' When.

seven years of age Miss Ederle saw a I puppy dog thrown into the sea and was surprised to know how quick that little sreature, which had never before been in the water, swim to the shore. She pondered over the way that little animal safely reached the shore and after seeing two atore pups repeat the same thing she eventually thought she could do the same thing, and commenced to learn the dog-paddle. She says she found little difficulty in imitating the animals' action in the water and she was quite proficient in the dogpaddle stroke in less than seven days. We learn day after day of the weiiderful feats of this same girl in the swimming world. Besides lowering the world's record times for various distances she was quite recently successful in swimming the English Channel. And all this astonishing progress has been gained through merely imitating the dog in his manner of stroke, in the first place. Just you try the same as this world's champion did. You will be astonished at ihe rapid progress you will make. The method should be practiced in about three feet of water. After you are fully satisfied as to your capability of paddling into the wafer the next step to advancement in the art is to endeavour to change your stroke to that. of the breast-stroke. Of course adults will find this very difficult to do, but a ehild can quickly pick up the different movements of other styles.

Life-Saving. JVhen a person unable to swim falls into the water 'he usually rises to the surface, throws up his arms, and calls out for help. This with the water swallowe'd will make him sink, and if during this struggle the arms are lifted out of the water above the head he will, as. a natural consequence, sink quickly. The struggles may be prolonged then cease for a time, allowing him to rise aga.in, though perhaps not sufficiently to obtain a breath of air. If Still conscious, lie will renew his struggles more feebly, perhaps, but with the same results. As soon as insensibility occurs, the body sinks altogether, owing to the loss o£ air and the filling of the stomach "with vwato;, The._gen.er3l belief that a cir&w.iing person must rise three times before he finally sinks is. to my mind, a failaCv. The question whether he rises at all, or how often he does so. depends entirely upon circumstaaees. (Continued nest Wednesday), wwtmm am iimiiiiim mil iiihij gg