SWIMMING
with
JEAN TARIS CHAMPION OF FRANCE
Mama, do the little boats on the water have legs?
Of course, silly, or else they wouldn't go
THE SPORTING CLUB DE FRANCE
KINDLY LENT ITS POOL TO THE FILMMAKERS
Now starting, Jean Taris...
holder of 23 French records,
in all distances, from 100 to 1,500 meters,
winner of the English championships for 500 and 880 yards,
and world record holder for the 800 meters.
On your marks.
Get set.
Like a fish, water is the swimmer's element.
There are a few movements to learn,
but first, just get in the water.
You can't learn to swim in your room.
One, two, three, four!
I use a stroke called the "crawl"
for both long-distance and speed swimming.
A correct starting position is important:
Grip the edge firmly with the feet
to avoid slipping,
and push off strongly with the legs, arms extended.
Enter the water in an almost prone position.
Glide under the water and begin kicking
as soon as possible.
Then the arms begin to work.
The head should be held fairly high but relaxed.
Rotate the upper body.
Alternate strokes with the arms.
Kick with the legs well-extended.
Then the legs work more freely and independently of the arms.
Breathing:
Underwater, exhale deeply through the nose and mouth.
Inhale rapidly through the mouth, on one side only at first.
Finally, breathe on alternate sides every three strokes.
As one arm rises, the other carries you along.
Same principle for the backstroke.
The leg movement is the same,
but the scull-like arm movement is a bit different.
The arms stroke like oars alongside the body.
Besides the crawl, other new competitive strokes are:
the breaststroke...
the trudgen...
and the over-arm stroke.
To turn around...
touch the edge with one hand and further down with the other,
then turn around and push off with the legs.