Swimming and Waierman,ship. By L. de B. Handley. (Macmillan. fis.
net.)—If swimming can be learnt in an arm- chair, we should certainly recommend this book as a dumb instructor. The author has an assuring style and gives clear descriptions of all types of swimming. Unlike most English instructors who teach beginners the breast-stroke first, Mr. Handley first teaches his pupils the " crawl." Modern strokes, he says, are not only more efficient, "they are also the easier to learn, because they are made up of movements closely resembling primitive man's natural mode of swimming, the dog paddle, which most children fall into by inclination when thCy first take, untaught, to the water." The breast-stroke is, of course, valuable in life-saving, and it can be easily acquired when the swimmer has mastered the free style. Mr. Handley, however, recommends an amended form of the breast-stroke not often used in this country. "The arms are no longer swept back close to the surface until at right angles to the body ; they take a shorter drive and pull down as well as out ; also, the arms and legs do not drive and recover together, but alternately." Any one who has tried this method will know that it gives greater facility In breathing and requires fewer negative movements.
Previous page
