Marching on the Water
Until one sees the swimmer march on the water its title is somewhat misleading. It is not a difficult method of progression through the water, after one catches on to the idea. Place yourself in a floating position, with the arms folded across the breast or the hands crossed back of the head, with the fingers locked. Then by bending the knees and drawing up the legs slowly, one after the other, keeping the toes pointed straight out in the upward movement, so as to have as little resistance as possible against the water. Straighten out the limb, turning the toes upward toward the knee, making a downward stroke with the leg, bringing the calf against the water with pressure enough to draw the body along. The upward, or negative movement, as we said before, must be slowly executed, while the downward, or positive movement, should be performed with some force against the water, the locomotion, feet foremost, the alternate action being the same as in walking. As it is not possible to get much power from the positive movements, marching on the water is therefore not a rapid means of gliding along.