Water Wisdom.

Thames Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 19603, 8 January 1936, Page 3

Water Wisdom.

HINTS FOR BATHERS. SAFETY AND PLEASURE TIPS. POINTS WORTH KNOWING. .IT you are to get most tun and oencht from your Oat lies there are a number oL ilitle rules which you should know. it, is this soil oi 'water wisdom" which makes tliu difference between the experienced swimmer and the novice. • Never go into the water unlit at east an hour and a hull lias passed since your last meal. More accidents are caused by ignorance oi ana rule than by aiiytning else. Don't begin a bathe when you aru cooling down alter hard exertion, acre is no harm in going in when you are hot providing you are not exhausted, too; but it is bad to begin your dip while you are cooling. There is always a right time to dnish your bathe. It is not when you are beginning to i'eel chilly—that is already too late. Come out vvhen you are still in a line glow, and then you will have the gIoAV afterwards instead of a hcac'aeny feeling.

Dive* if you can, but certainly duck your head right at the start, for this helps to keep your body temperature even. Get used to being in deep water as soon as you can swim about 20 yards. But don’t take risks before that. Should you be swimming out from the bank or shore, make allowance for the return and don’t go farther than you intend. No Silly Pranks. Never play silly pranks—ducking nervous bathers or pretending that you are in difficulties. And never bathe in an unknown stretch of water. Should you be taking a dip in the sea always choose a time when ihe tide is coming in. When it is ebbing there are often dangerous currents and eddies which can trap a bather and suck him out into deep water. If by any chance you should ever Find yourself faced with a hard swim against a current or tide, do not try to go right in the face of it, but set across, diagonally, so ,-hat you do not have to meet its full force.

It is not safe to dive into water unless you know the depth and arc sure that it is quite clear. Accidents often happen in crowded bath-ing-places through divers striking swimmers who are under the water, If you do need to go into strange water quickly always jump feetfirst. '

There is a right and wroii”' way if {jetting into a boat from the water. The wrong way is over the side, for that may make the boat capsize: the right way is by the stern or the bows —but in the stern look out for the rudder hook. Keep Your Head. Cramp is not really dangerous itself —it is panic that causes mishaps. Should you ever get cramp —which is not very likely if you remember the common-sense rules given here —do • not be scared. Hobble or swim to land as soon as you can and rub the atfected part, ’straining it in the opposite way to which the cramp is drawing it. Any o;,iod swimmer should be able to get to shore by the use of arms or legs alone, or even by a single limb.

Get used to handling a lifebeltthrowing it and tipping it over your head when you are in the water. At the end of your bathe get thoroughly dry. Don't leave your hair damp. Follow up with a briskwalk or other bit of exercise. On a cold day dry your feet first and slip on your stockings—warm feel mean a warm body.

Finally, remember that swimming ability does not come by chance. Put some real work into all your bathes if you would become an expert.