1952-53

plat.
l
r
SWIMMING a
6
55
head. The exact position will depend on the build of the swimmer—
the wider his shoulders, the further from twelve o'clock will his
hands enter the water. The arms should enter the water in a straight
but " easy " position—under no circumstances should there be any
sign of " over-reaching." The pull with the arms must be even,
otherwise the swimmer will follow. an oblique course. Too deep
a pull will tend to cause " rolling," and too forcible shallow pulling
will cause the swimmer to zig-zag unless he uses a tremendous lot
of unnecessary energy to keep his body straight. Hence the advice—
cultivate an easy, almost lazy looking stroke—it is the use of energy
at the right time followed by proper relaxation which in turn
means good breathing and rhythm, which makes the champion.
Learning and Practice
Commence by sculling as described earlier, then add the leg action.
When an easy action has been cultivated, time the breathing with
the leg stroke. Practise the arm action on land, before a mirror if
possible. When the limb track is known, practise the arm action
by tucking the toes under the side rail of the bath and with the
body lying as near as possible in the position described under
" Poise." In the absence of a rail get a companion to give support
to the feet. When the correct action has been established, intro-
duce the breathing, exhaling as one arm pulls and inhaling as the
other performs its propulsive stroke. Experienced swimmers will
find sectional practice useful. Swim lengths with the legs only, arms
sculling, also practise arms only with the legs trailing or with
suitable support at the ankles.
Racing Rules Peculiar to Back Stroke
It should be noted that the race must be swum entirely on the
back except when turning at the ends of the bath or course, and
that
no swimmer may turn over on his breast for the
purpose of turning or finishing before his foremost hand has
touched the end of the bath or course.
BREAST STROKE
Arm Action
Beginning with the arms stretched forward, but not tense, hands
together flat on the surface of the water, shoulders in line with the
surface, palms downwards, fingers closed, the head being held with
the face partially submerged and the eyes at water level, the arm
pull
is
made by turning the hands slightly, palms outward, the arms,
now tensed, taking an outward and downward sweep until they
form with each other an angle of 90 degrees ; in this latter position
the hands should not be more than
18
ins. below the surface.
The arms are recovered by bringing the hands in front of the
chin, the elbows being held close to the body and the arms then
stretched out to their original position.
Breathing
When the arms are thrust forward into their stretched out
position, described at the beginning of the preceding paragraph,
the swimmer should exhale—(breathe out)—vigorously through