1940s stock footage - learning how to swim 2

trying to reach the egg because if you move you will be moving toward shallow water in safety rather than into deep water where you may get into trouble this is a direct quote from Old Uncle Ben himself and Franklin was the greatest swimming authority of his time of course you really don't need an egg to prove you can float Watch What Happens as Betty slides her hands down toward her feet long before she touches them her feet come off the bottom and she floats suspended in the same way as would a jellyfish to get back again all she has to do is lift her head lower her feet and stand obviously you can't swim while making like a jelly fish so you learn next how to go from the jellyfish to a prone position and get back on your feet again without touching bottom with your hands now that you have learned to get on and off your feet without trouble you may take a prone position directly if you have difficulty in going from the jellyfish to the prone float position and back again try the turtle float in this form of floating you tuck the knees up to the chest then extend to a prone position position and come back to the turtle float before you stand just as in the jellyfish this must be done slowly and deliberately the ability to float motionless or with a minimum of effort is a basic safety skill in floating on your back you can rest when tired and recover your breath see how easily Betty adjusts her position and finds her balance so that she is clear of the bottom don't worry if on your first trial your heels touch bottom in deeper water later on you will find your correct floating position and don't worry it may be vertical or horizontal almost everybody has one the important thing in floating make all movements gently and lift no part of the but body except the face above the water learning to float in waste deep water requires only the skill you have learned in shallow water plus confidence the principle of floating is the same whether the water is 18 in or 18 ft the important thing to learn is how to go about it the easy way is to start from a crouching or kneeling position the first time Betty help her nose when she tried that's so if anything goes wrong you won't get a headful of water this time having gained confidence Betty doesn't need to hold her nose gently she eases back into position finds her balance and floats suspended now to give you a better idea of how it's done here's another view of the same action as seen from under water practice this until you can rest comfortably for as much as a minute at a time learning to float with the aid of a partner or instructor is perhaps the most frequently used Method All That the partner does is to help you find your floating position he also gives you confidence that there is someone to help in case of need and he helps you get back on your feet without going under in the first attempt the usual position is at the side of the learner but a better position is behind the head where he gives only as much help as is actually needed the important thing in helping a person to float is not to lift the body above the surface just give a guiding hand and help the person find the correct floating position you should now be ready for the back Glide this is done by submerging in waste deep water pushing off with chin tucked in arms at the sides and sliding a little way along the surface you should practice this many times until you can do it without getting your face underwater and are streamlining your body you can stay afloat you're ready to move through the Water by pushing off with one foot and gliding is doing here now try using both feet against the Turning board or wall to help you get underway at this point the first stroking movements are begun and the first leg stroke to be mastered is called the flutter kick the legs are churned up and down with the knees bending flexibly and with considerable depth to the movement deliver your major thrust on the back backward and upward kick that's where you'll get the power to your drive sometimes it's difficult to get the feet to press backward and upward against the water because the tendency is to smack downward when this happens go into shallow water as Bob is doing here and try crawling along pressing the feet into the sand until you're underway now bubbles follows his example first pressing her feet into the sand then thrusting against the water in the same manner she quickly develops an effective style that propels her through the water the most basic arm stroke you will use in swimming is the human stroke in which the hands slide forward under the surface of the Water Press downward and backward easily recover and slide back to position again while you are first learning the arms will not come out of the water at all but later on when you have perfected the stroke you may begin to lift your arms out of the water and develop a crawl now that you have a leg stroke and an arm stroke it is time to fit them together bubbles lies face down in the water start with the legs first then the arms fitting the two so that the right leg thrusts as the left leg presses and vice versa in a short time you will find you can work them together very effectively up to now everything that bubbles is done has been within the limits of one breath now she is fitting the breathing with the action of the stroke first with the arms watch how she coordinates her breathing with the stroke of her arms inhaling above water exhaling below the surface and coordinating the ho into a symmetry of motion for when you have learned the whole stroke legs arms and breathing combined you are really afloat and actually swimming under your own power with some degree of ease for the first time learning how to swim on the back is much easier than learning how to swim on the front the first thing is to learn to kick see how Betsy is using the top of her foot to press backward and upward to drive her along notice that the kick is deep and that most of it is from the knee down