Learning How To Swim (1938)

[Music] bathing and swimming are America's number one outdoor sport every year a 100 million Americans of all ages shapes and sizes seek Recreation on the nation's beaches along the shores of its lakes and rivers and in its pools yet of these 100 million who love the water only one and 10 can swim skillfully and nearly half the remainder cannot swim at all on the beach there are towers of strength but in the water all they can do is Wade and dunk they Sun they play ball they do tricks but most people have never known the full benefits and pleasures of swimming because they've never had a chance to learn if you wish to learn and will use this film as your guide you can be well on your way one of the best and most enjoyable ways to start is to find a group who wants to learn find a safe place in which to learn and a trained water safety instructor these three fine young girls Betsy Bubbles and Betty with their instructor Bob are all excellent swimmers long ago they learned there is little pleasure in just getting wet to begin with it's a good idea to get wet a little at a time never mind those stories people tell about how they were tossed overboard and had to swim it's all always best to walk out into shallow water and get used to the feel of it by experimenting you'll also discover that if given a chance the water will support you that's right sit down on the bottom and lean back just as you would in your own bathtub see how easily the legs rise from the bottom and seem to float just relax take it easy this time bubbles and Bob experiment in water that is waste deep here's where you as a beginner will do most of your learning bit by bit she's getting more accustomed to the pressure of the water on the chest and to the support offered by the water this is all a part of conditioning your muscles of adjusting yourself to the coolness of the water if you'll just practice these little experiments you'll learn a great deal which will help you in your swimming later on see how Bubbles tries to lift her feet off the bottom and how her own natural buoyancy tends to hold her up already she's finding out just as you will that if she gives the water half a chance it will support her weight she is also learning something of keeping her balance don't underestimate the importance of these first steps they're basic in learning how after you have become adjusted to the water the next step is to learn how to control your breathing practically all breathing in swimming is done through the mouth without proper breathing technique you'll never become a good swimmer now it's Betsy's turn to demonstrate the series of steps by which breath control in swimming is acquired first you must learn how to hold the breath when the face is buried in the water you'll find that when the face is laid flat no water enters the nose the this should be repeated a number of times until you can hold your breath underwater for at least 10 seconds look straight down at the bottom and the water won't run up your nose obviously Betsy can hold her breath longer than you will on your first try but with a little practice you too can become just as proficient wipe the hands smartly down over the eyes nose and mouth to clear away excess water see how Betsy inhales through the mouth then with the mouth closed she buries her face flat in the water and holds her breath now doesn't that look easy you try it yourself the next step is to learn to Exhale underwater you see in several swimming strokes the face is underwater at least half of the time that's why you must learn to inhale through the mouth above the surface and exhale through the mouth beneath the surface and in other words blow bubbles see how bets's blowing bubbles beneath the water it's not difficult to do and it's very important it is necessary to learn how to breathe rhythmically if you are to swim more than a few feet in the limits of one bread you see in many styles of swimming particularly the crawl the face is carried alter Ely above and below the surface of the water in the cycle of one stroke there is relatively little time to breathe hence the necessity for rhythmic breathing as Betsy is doing here the air is taken in just above the Surface by Rolling the face to one side then the faces rolled under and the air is exhaled in a steady stream of bubbles this should be practiced until you can take 20 30 or more breaths without breaking the Rhythm until you can Master the art of taking in an adequate supply of air within the cycle of a stroke you always will be limited in endurance if you have trouble breathing through the mouth only it is sometimes a good idea to use something to help you in this case Psy is using a face plate sometimes known as a diving mask you see her nose is now covered she can't breathe through her nose if she wanted to so automatically she breathes through the mouth if you don't have a face plate use a nose clip or you can even hold the nose with thumb and finger see how easily the action becomes almost automatic the face rolls above the surface the mouth takes in the air then rolls under and lets it out just forget you have a nose while you're in swimming when when you're in the water you have very little use for it it's really dangerous to swim with your eyes closed because you never know what you're going to hit with the face plate on everything's Crystal Clear what she sees is an underwater fairy land with every detail clearly visible the plate is very comfortable because there's no water in the eyes this is the easy way in which to get used to the idea of seeing underwater of course you can't swim with a face plate all the time so let's get used to the Natural Way when Betsy submerges and opens her eyes things are not quite as clear they're just a little blurred but she can distinguish objects of any kind and know what they are this is very important because swimming with the eyes open avoids collisions and enables you to see where you're going remember water without soap in it will never hurt the eyes too often beginners believe that to stay on the surface requires a lot of motion a lot of thrashing around in all directions Act it requires no effort at all all right Betty you get out there with Bob and show us how easy it is to learn how to float if possible always start an extremely shallow water where you can easily touch bottom then if anything goes wrong you know you're safe most people have the mistaken idea that the moment they take their feet or hands off the bottom they will sink by holding her breath and stretching out on the surface she is immediately supported by the water and has no tendency to sink Betty is in a prone floating position this skill is essential because this is the position you will have to assume when you learn to swim on the front if you are still convinced that the water will not hold you up perhaps you'd like to see an interesting demonstration known as Ben Franklin's egg trick drop an egg into the water a little in front of you and allow it to settle on the bottom then submerge and try to reach the egg whereas you thought it would require effort to stay up you find that you need effort to get down Franklin said also and this shows that he knew safety as well as swimming always face shallow water while 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 jellyfish so you learn next how to go from a 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 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 body except the face above the water learning to float and 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 held her nose when she tried that's so if anything goes wrong you won't get a head full of water this time having gained confidence that he 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 underwater practice this until you can rest comfortably for as much as a minute at a time 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 our Streamlight 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 movement 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 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 in 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 has done has been within the limits of one breath now she is fitting the breathing with 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 whole into a symmetry of Mo 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 deeper and that most of it is from the knee down sand crawling on the back is recommended for those who have difficulty in changing over to thrusting with the top of the foot instead of the so see how Betsy digs the tops of her toes into the sand and pushes backward then as she gains momentum and can no longer touch bottom she keeps right on with the same technique kicking against the water The Beginner's arm stroke on the back is entirely different from that done on the the front here instead of reaching and pulling you merely press backward against the water with little short stroking movements of the hands this is known as Finning because it is like the action of fish's fins combining the arms and legs is simply a matter of developing a rhythm of the leg leg stroke then adding the arms and fitting the two together here you do not have to worry about the breathing because the face is always carried above the surface of the water the first safety skill you should acquire before venturing any further is learning how to change your direction in the Water swimming a human stroke toward Bob bubbles demonstrates how easy this is to accomplish mely by extending the arm and turning the head in the direction you would like to go now Betsy under the watchful eyes of the instructor Ventures for the first time into deep water she turns around and swims back using the same stroke that bubbles did when she showed you how to turn in shallow water actually the technique is the same sliding on her forward arm bubbles rolls over picks up the back stroke and keeps right on going now to go from Back to Front sliding on an arm she rolls over and continues without missing a stroke it does no good to be able to swim on the front and on the back unless you can get from one position to another now Betsy demonstrates how all of these safety skills are useful in deep water she starts swimming outward decides to turn around and swim back halfway back she decides to turn over then turns on to the front again and continues into shallow water another safety skill that a beginner must learn is how to level off from an upright to a swimming position see how important this skill is for safety bubbles is swimming into deep water she lets her feet down and finds she can't touch bottom instead of becoming panicky she swims her way right back to a horizontal position and takes several more Strokes to reach a place where she can stand that's what you call leveling off in deep water the first simple diving skill to be learned is how to jump in feet foremost come up level off and swim Bob explains how a porpus dive is made and demonstrates his point see now how Betsy holds her arms and hands in front of her head the porpus dive is your first head foremost dive let's watch more closely ly as they do this again go down head foremost then lift the head come back to the surface arms extended this makes for control and wads off any object that might be in the water now Bob shows Betsy the steps by which you learn to dive head foremost from a position of above the surface without smacking yourself against the water first try sitting on the edge of the float or pool then tip forward into the water the next step is to kneel and tip forward into the dive now standing with one foot foot back you tip forward now with both feet parallel she crouches pushes with the feet and springs into the dive rather than falls into it finally with feet parallel she uses an arm swing and does a fully coordinated dive and so our three little girls have taken you through the basic steps of learning how to swim and dive just as they once learned if they can do it so can you you'll really enjoy it once you try come on in the water's fine remember swim in a safe place swim under competent supervision continue to practice get further instruction become highly skilled