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Show DIFFERENT SWIMMING STROKES By TOMMY CLARK. fpiIE sensational work of Amurjcan swimmers this1 season has been looked upon by coaches and instructors instruc-tors in this countr as a. complete vindication vin-dication of their methods, for never htfore has such sprinting been seen, and all tho men who figured proml-I proml-I nently used tho form of crawl stroke Introduced and developed among Americans Doubtless theie will bc raised again abroad the cry that we ai claiming 1 credit to which Americans aro not en- I titled, because Australians d'scovercd the crawl, but unprejudiced people who I have given tho question close study I will not Join In tho cry. There Is more difference btween the Australian Austra-lian and American types of crawl than between the old trudgeon and the I original crawl The stroke advocated by Dick Cavlll of New South "Wales, w ho Is quoted as one of tho best of I modern coaches, is the one mainly I used by the foreigners we hare seen j here. I " Porry McGlllIvray of Illinois unlver- sity, who recently broke the quarter H mile record when he went tho distance H In 5 minutes 23 --' seconds In the sixty H foot pool of the Illinois A. C in Chi- cago, wan under CavIU's instruction, H and he cays that Cavlll teaches .in ex- H ceedlngly short arm reach, a pretty H wide leg thrash and a synchronous timing of arms and legs. According to the majority of our In- structors, tho reach of tile American IH stroke should bt long, th leg drive 'H narrow and continuous and the action of tho arms totally independent of that H of the legs. Is there any similarity at H all between the twe H As an argument against the inven- IH tion of tho American crawl will prob- ably be used the fact that nome for- clgners now swim a stroke similar to ours. This reverts in our favor A prominent Sydney water man said re- H cently that when Cecil Hcaly returned H home after racing Daniels in Europo H he set out at once to lengthen his arm H .stroke and to introduce between leg d lives a fluttering of tho feet which H enabled him to obtain a continuous H thrash without reconstructing his H stroke entirely a flattering tribute to H Daniels, and Indirectly to American H Instructors. Possibly other countries H followed the same line of reasoning H that wc did and so reached the same H conclusions, but that wc were the first H to swim the crawl with long reach and H separata timing of arms and legs Is H Incontestable. The newspaper and H magazine flics of 1905 and 1006 contain H ample proof that wc were even then H comparing our ways with those of oth- jH ers and trying to show why they H should give better results. H Our experts maintained from the H start that tho crawl was not a freak H bprlnting stroke, but one which would H eventually proc its superiority for all jH around swimming Even today Cavill H says it should not be used over dLs- H lances greater than 100 yards, and this H in spite of Daniels having created a H world's record of 2 minutes 25 2-5 sec- H onds for the furlong with it A ready explanation offers Itself of this differ- H enco of opinion )j In timing the legs with the arm drive H as Australians do there Ih experienced H a heavy drag as soon as the speed of H thf arms Is decreased. If the action of H arms aud legs Is independent Instead a slow continuous thrash can be indulg- H ed In which not only keeps the swim- m or under way while the arms are re- H covering, but also insures the main- tcnanco of the proper position of the body in water throughout tho stroke, thus avoiding all check of the forward ; Impetus. This is why so many of our , craw lei h have been able to hold the : stroke oer distances as great as sev- if eral miles. Lack of facilities for outdoor work H has really been the cause of the slow IH progress in distance swimming in this ' country, but if tho Improvement has H been gradual It has been nevertheless ' JH consistent, and it will not he long now H before tho now crop of "speeders" ls JH heard from. H |