The chief difference between these strokes and the
simple breast stroke is that the arms as well as the legs are used to
propel the body through the water, and this power is applied so
steadily and uniformly that instead of moving by jerks we move with a
continuous motion and at a greater speed. The single overarm is easier
to learn than the double overarm or "trudgeon" stroke. This latter
stroke is very tiring and while undoubtedly faster than any other when
once mastered, it is only used for short sprints. Most of the great
swimmers have developed peculiar strokes of their own, but nearly all
of them have adopted a general style which may be called the "crawl."

There are many fancy strokes in swimming that one may acquire by
practice, all of which require close attention to form rather than
speed, just as fancy skating is distinguished from racing. One of the
simplest tricks to learn is called "the rolling log." We take a
position just as we would in floating and then exerting the muscles
first of one side and then the other we shall find that we can roll
over and over just as a log might roll. The idea in performing this
trick successfully is not to show any apparent motion of the muscles.

Swimming on the back is easily learned and is not only a pretty trick
but is very useful in giving us an opportunity to rest on a long swim.

Diving is also a branch of swimming that requires confidence rather
than lessons. A dive is simply a plunge head first into the water. A
graceful diver plunges with as little splash as possible. It is very
bad form either to bend the knees or to strike on the stomach, the
latter being a kind of dive for which boys have a very expressive
though not elegant name. Somersaults and back dives from a stationary
take-off or from a spring-board are very easily learned. We shall
probably have a few hard splashes until we learn to turn fully over,
but there is not much danger of injury if we are sure of landing in
the water.

[Illustration: A perfect dive]

Water wings and other artificial supports are very useful for the
beginner until he has mastered the strokes, but all such artificial
devices should be given up just as soon as possible, and, furthermore,
as soon as we can really swim, in order to gain confidence, we should
go beyond our depth, where it will be necessary to swim or drown.

A swimmer should always know how to assist another to shore in case of
accident. It is not nearly so ea