OUTDOOR SPORTS AND GAMES
BY CLAUDE H. MILLER, PH.B.
XIV
HOW TO SWIM AND TO CANOE
The racing strokes—Paddling and sailing canoes
It has been said that the human being is the only animal that does not know
instinctively how to swim without the necessity of being taught. If we take a
dog or a horse or even a mouse and suddenly place it in the water it will
immediately begin to swim, even though it has never seen a body of water larger
than the source from which it obtains its drink. With a man or boy it is
different, for the reason that with all the other animals the motions necessary
to swim are those by which they walk or run; with a human being it is entirely
an acquired stroke.
After one becomes an expert swimmer he will find that he can
keep afloat or at least keep his head above water, which is all there is to
swimming anyway, by almost any kind of a motion. By a little practice we can
learn to swim "no hands," "no feet," "one hand and one foot," by all sorts of
twists and squirms and in fact to propel ourselves by a simple motion of the
toes.
The first stroke that a self-taught small boy learns is what is called "dog
fashioned." This name accurately describes the stroke, as it is in reality very
similar to the motions by which a dog swims. No amount of book instruction can
teach a person to swim, but a clear idea of the best general strokes will be of
great assistance.
Swimming is probably the best general exercise among athletic sports.
Practically every important muscle in the body is brought into play, and
measurements show that swimmers have the most uniform muscular development of
any class of athletes. After we learn to swim, the distance that we are capable
of going is largely dependent upon our physical strength. Almost any man can
swim a mile if he begins slowly and with the same regard for conserving his
strength that a runner would have in attempting a mile run.
Swimming is One of the Best Outdoor
Sports (Photograph by A.R. Dugmore)
However skillful one is as a swimmer, a proper respect for the dangers of the
sport should always be present. To take unnecessary risks, such as swimming
alone far beyond reach of help or jumping and diving from high places into water
of uncertain depth is not bravery; it is simply foolhardiness. A good swimmer is
a careful swimmer always. The beginner must first of all try to overcome his
natural fear of the water. This is much harder to do than to learn the simple
motions of hands or feet that makes us keep afloat and swim. Nothing will help
to give us this confidence more quickly than to take a few lessons from some one
in whom we have confidence and who will above all things not frighten us and so
get us into danger. With a good teacher, a boy should be able to learn how to
swim in two or three lessons. Of course he will take only a few strokes at
first, but those few strokes, which carry with them self-confidence and which
make us feel that swimming is not so hard an art after all, is really half the
battle. After we are at least sure that we can get to shore somehow, we can take
up all the finished strokes which make a fancy swimmer.
There are a number of strokes used in swimming and especially in racing. The
common breast stroke is the first one to learn. In this the swimmer should lie
flat on his breast in the water and either be supported by the hand of his
teacher or by an inflated air cushion. The hands are principally used to
maintain the balance and to keep afloat. The real work should be done with the
legs. We learn to use the hands properly in a very short time, but the beginner
always shows a tendency to forget to kick properly. For this reason swimming
teachers lay great stress on the leg motion and in a measure let the hands take
care of themselves. In swimming the important thing is to keep our heads above
the water, a simple statement, but one that beginners may take a long time to
learn. The impulse is not only to keep our heads but our shoulders out of the
water also, and this is a feat that even an expert can not accomplish for very
long. If we can allow ourselves to sink low in the water without fear, and if we
can also remember to kick and, above all, to make our strokes slowly and evenly,
we shall very soon learn to swim. I have frequently seen boys learn to swim in a
single afternoon. Another tendency of the beginner is to hold his breath while
swimming. Of course we cannot swim very far or exert ourselves unless we can
breathe. We should take a breath at each stroke, inhaling though the mouth and
exhaling through the nose, which is just the opposite to the hygienic method of
land breathing. Whatever may be our methods, however, the main thing is not to
forget to breathe, which always results in finishing our five or ten strokes out
of breath and terrified.
A great deal may be learned about swimming strokes by practice on land. In
fact some swimming teachers always follow the practice of teaching the pupil
ashore how to make the stroke and how to breathe correctly. A small camp stool
or a box will give us the support we need. The three things to keep in mind are
the leg motion and the taking in of the breath through the mouth as the arms are
being drawn in and exhaling as they are pushed forward. It is better to learn to
swim in salt water, for the reason that it will support the body better. An
additional advantage is that we always feel more refreshed after a salt-water
bath.
If we take up fast swimming, we must learn one of the various overhand or
overarm strokes. The chief difference between these strokes and the simple
breast stroke is that the arms as well as the legs are used to propel the body
through the water, and this power is applied so steadily and uniformly that
instead of moving by jerks we move with a continuous motion and at a greater
speed. The single overarm is easier to learn than the double overarm or
"trudgeon" stroke. This latter stroke is very tiring and while undoubtedly
faster than any other when once mastered, it is only used for short sprints.
Most of the great swimmers have developed peculiar strokes of their own, but
nearly all of them have adopted a general style which may be called the
"crawl."
There are many fancy strokes in swimming that one may acquire by practice,
all of which require close attention to form rather than speed, just as fancy
skating is distinguished from racing. One of the simplest tricks to learn is
called "the rolling log." We take a position just as we would in floating and
then exerting the muscles first of one side and then the other we shall find
that we can roll over and over just as a log might roll. The idea in performing
this trick successfully is not to show any apparent motion of the muscles.
Swimming on the back is easily learned and is not only a pretty trick but is
very useful in giving us an opportunity to rest on a long swim.
Diving is also a branch of swimming that requires confidence rather than
lessons. A dive is simply a plunge head first into the water. A graceful diver
plunges with as little splash as possible. It is very bad form either to bend
the knees or to strike on the stomach, the latter being a kind of dive for which
boys have a very expressive though not elegant name. Somersaults and back dives
from a stationary take-off or from a spring-board are very easily learned. We
shall probably have a few hard splashes until we learn to turn fully over, but
there is not much danger of injury if we are sure of landing in the water.
A perfect dive
Water wings and other artificial supports are very useful for the beginner
until he has mastered the strokes, but all such artificial devices should be
given up just as soon as possible, and, furthermore, as soon as we can really
swim, in order to gain confidence, we should go beyond our depth, where it will
be necessary to swim or drown.
A swimmer should always know how to assist another to shore in case of
accident. It is not nearly so easy as one who has never tried it might think. A
drowning person will for the time being be panic-stricken and the first impulse
will be to seize us about the neck. Always approach a drowning person from the
rear and support him under an armpit, meanwhile talking to him and trying to
reassure him. Every year we hear of terrible drowning accidents which might have
been avoided if some one in the party had kept his head and had been able to
tell the others what to do.
I have placed canoeing and swimming in the same chapter because the first
word in canoeing is never go until you can swim. There is practically no
difference between the shape of the modern canoe and the shape of the Indian
birch bark canoes which were developed by the savages in America hundreds of
years ago. All the ingenuity of white men has failed to improve on this model. A
canoe is one of the most graceful of water craft and, while it is regarded more
in the light of a plaything by people in cities, it is just as much a necessity
to the guides and trappers of the great Northern country as a pony is to the
cowboy and the plainsman. The canoe is the horse and wagon of the Maine
woodsman and in it he carries his provisions and his family.
A typical Indian model canoe
While a canoe is generally propelled by paddles, a pole is sometimes
necessary to force it upstream, especially in swift water. In many places the
sportsman is forced to carry his canoe around waterfalls and shallows for
several miles. For this reason a canoe must be as light as possible without too
great a sacrifice of strength. The old styles of canoes made of birch bark,
hollow logs, the skins of animals and so on have practically given way to the
canvas-covered cedar or basswood canoes of the Canadian type.
A sailing canoe in action
It will scarcely pay the boy to attempt to make his own canoe, as the cost of
a well-made eighteen-foot canoe of the type used by professional hunters and
trappers is but thirty dollars. With care a canoe should last its owner ten
years. It will be necessary to protect it from the weather when not in use and
frequently give it a coat of paint or spar varnish.
Sailing canoes are built after a different model from paddling canoes. They
usually are decked over and simply have a cockpit. They are also stronger and
much heavier. Their use is limited to more open water than most of the rivers
and lakes of Maine and Canada. Cruising canoes are made safer if watertight air
chambers are built in the ends.
Even if a canoe turns over it does not sink. Some experts can right a
capsized canoe and clamber in over the side even while swimming in deep water.
The seaworthiness of a canoe depends largely upon its lines. Some canoes are
very cranky and others can stand a lot of careless usage without capsizing. One
thing is true of all, that accidents occur far more often in getting in and out
of a canoe than in the act of sailing it. It is always unsafe to stand in a
canoe or to lean far out of it to pick lilies or to reach for floating
objects.
Canoes may be propelled by either single or double paddles, but the former is
the sportman's type. It is possible to keep a canoe on a straight course
entirely by paddling on one side and merely shifting to rest, but the beginner
may have some difficulty in acquiring the knack of doing this, which consists of
turning the paddles at the end of the stroke to make up the amount that the
forward stroke deflects the canoe from a straight course.
In Canoeing Against the Current in Swift Steams a Pole is
Used in Place of the Paddle (Photographs by A.R. Dugmore)
A type of sailing canoe
An open canoe for paddling does not require a rudder. A sailing canoe,
however, will require a rudder, a keel, and a centreboard as well. Canoe
sailing is an exciting and dangerous sport. In order to keep the canoe from
capsizing, a sliding seat or outrigger is used, upon which the sailor shifts his
position to keep the boat on an even keel. The centreboard is so arranged that
it can be raised or lowered by means of a line.
START | PREVIOUS PAGE | NEXT CHAPTER: BASEBALL
|