The Side Stroke.—In this stroke the kick is very important. The scissors kick is used. The body lies with shoulder and side flat in the water, usually the right side; the upper leg is kept straight, almost stiff, and is kicked forward; the under leg is bent backward from the knee; then the legs are brought together and closed with a snap; the arms are stretched overhead, palms out; the upper arm, kept rigid, with the hand slightly cupped, circles just under the surface to the thigh, then the elbow is bent and the arm carried above the water to the first position; the under arm starts as the upper finishes and is carried to lower thigh; then, the elbow bent, it is shot forward under the surface of the water, palm of hand down.
The whole stroke is: Upper arm starts the pull, the legs are opened, and breath is inhaled; then as the upper arm finishes the under arm starts, the legs are snapped together; breath is exhaled as the under arm goes forward.
The Trudgeon.—The scissors kick as described in the side stroke is used also in the trudgeon. This kick is very important and should be practised carefully until the swimmer is perfect.
It is always better to swim on the right side if it is possible, as it relieves the pressure the heart is apt to be subjected to if the swimmer prefers the left side. The body rests in the water, arm stretched at full length, the palms are turned down; the upper arm catches the water and is brought down, the elbow is fairly stiff, palms turned slightly outward, fingers together; when arm is straight alongside the body, then the elbow is bent and the arm carried forward above the water to the first position; as the upper arm finishes, the under arm executes the same stroke as the upper arm; the body is rolled.
The whole stroke should be practised together, so that it is smoothly and accurately done. First, the upper arm catches the water, the body is slightly rolled, head twisted so that breath may be inhaled during the pull, the legs are opened at start of pull and closed at the end of pull. Then under arm catches the water, the body is rolled so that the face is in the water, and during the pull the breath is exhaled slowly under the water. Then, as under arm finishes the pull, the upper arm enters the water, etc.
The Crawl.—The crawl is the racing stroke. The best-way to begin is first to perfect the movement of the arms. The body is flat in the water, face down, arms slightly bent at the elbow, stretched over head so that wrists are a little beyond the head; the hands cut and are driven through the water, elbows still bent, until the hands reach the hip, then they are carried out the water and forward, elbows in air. The arms alternate, so that while one arm is traveling back under the water, the other is traveling forward in the air to resume the stroke.
The breathing in this stroke is hard to master. As the face is in the water, the breath is taken only every two or three strokes by turning the head quickly as the upper arm is being brought down; the exhaling is done under water, while the under arm goes forward. This is for racing; a breath may be taken at each stroke when the stroke is slower.
In the kick, the legs are stiff from the hip, knees close together, then they are moved up and down alternately with the feet close together. It is difficult at first to maintain the leg drive, to make the whole stroke smooth, and to breathe easily, but these difficulties may be conquered by practice.
Plain Back Stroke.—The body is flat on the back in the water, the arms are straight over the head, the palms of hands upward; the palms are turned outward, then the arms, stiff at the elbow, are circled down close to the surface and parallel to it; after the arms are straight by the body, they are carried to the first position, perfectly straight, and clear of the water; the legs are straight, then as the arms clear the water for the recovery, they are bent as in the breast stroke kick, kicked out straight, then the heels are brought together.
This stroke is almost the same as the breast stroke.