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If $ Easy Enough To Drown But Old Axioms Are Sometimes
Hindrances All Swimmers Should Study Lifesaring Rules
Before Venturing
By Richard W. Emery
WHK youe Binning iui me mira lime
and your mouth and nose are full of
oter and you remember with horror that the
third sink is supposed to be final well, Brother,
take heart, because It's NOT SO!
Three duckings don't any more make a
drowning than three firecrackers make a Fourth
of July. But jusi as one oversize nrecracker
an conclude a person's Independence Day cele
bration, so can one trip aown prove nnai.
nn the other hand, to look at the subject from
it, bright side, you (in this imaginary accident)
nay continue to bob and gurgle for an hour,
miering countless duckings, and still survive
to tell your grandchildren about It.
Of all tne misDeneis bdoui swimming, that
nUnut tha thtvrl Mmn )...... I i
teal is the most ancient and the least true. It
has cost many lives by discouraging spectators
from attempting to rescue apparently doomed
bathers.
A little thoughtful consideration of facts and
tables about swimming may prove to be your
liesaver when you most need one this summer.
you may believe that, because you learned
to paddle at a tender age and now defy the
very whales of the sea to match your pace, you
won't ever drown.
Discouragingly, the evidence is all against
fou!
Good swimmers go aown to Davy Jones'
locker right along with the dubs. In fact, they
live a bad name in lifeguard circles because
of the ease with which they erase their names
from the list of the living. The reason, of
course, is that good swimmers take chances that
i mere paddler never willingly would take, and
bad luck catches them.
In recent years scientists and autopsy sur
geons in America and In Europe, especially In
Germany, have been studying the causes of
iimming fatalities. Some strange theories
nave been developed, and the amazing indication
i! that most of the "drowned" bathers didn't
drown at all. Instead, they died of fright.
One strange conclusion reached by German
surgeons is that a "drowning" person becomes
lost in water, so that he cannot tell which di
rection is up. The upsetting of his senje of
orientation, say the surgeons, is caused by
water penetrating the ear and reaching the deli
cate inner ear, organ of balance.
Whether that new theory is or is not true.
hundreds of autopsies performed on American
bathers, after bathing fatalities, have shown
that almost nine out of ten died of shock or
(right instead of submersion.
Early every summer, In beach cities and
river resorts, lifeguards post such a list of
rules as the following:
Swim near the lifeguard station.
Don't dive into shallow water.
Don't over-estimate your ability.
Beware of tide rips or other currents.
After eating a meal, wait two hours be
fore swimming.
Don't try to mix alcohol and swimming.
Protect yourself from sunburn.
Don't throw glass or break glass on the
beach.
Stay away from piers and rocks.
Never signal for help unless vou need
Help.
Bathing resorts which have special
'.angers warn their visitors against
ftem. The terse warnings in the lists
My seem at first glance to be a bit
too severe. Yet not a bathing season
es without Its traceriies resulting
from violations :f the simplest safety
principles. S
Swim near the lifeguard station"
it sounds too simple! Yet sometimes a
bather far from a look-out station finds
"mself exhausted in deep water. Too
!te. he realizes what the rule meant.
Sometimes an un
skilled lifesaver
comes to the res
ce. and quite
possibly both
Wmmers perish.
Frequency of
'Jut type of acci
dent has prompted
'"guards at
"sny beaches to
Provide floats for
tmergency use.
n amateur res
ff can push a
":ank or a buoy
a weary bath-
and both may
rag safely to the
!W until a life-
ftard arrives
r of the time-
snored legends
"lures a hero to
-and life-long paralysis
j, j JUL Stn&iiHtl
V i J j
In Ocean This I -vV .
Summer ,ST) '
x -by. kv " I f' . t .
X-J r r W -Xi -T-
: ' .KJ rw' .......
clothed and
kind of float, to the rescue of a drowning rer-
tuch an act is not iustined in one map
out of a thousand. It is not only suicide; it is
murder.
The warning about diving into shallow water
uraerves lop place on the list. What's the haz
aru : A Droken neck
or death!
Drifting along in a current mav sound at
tractive. When a swimmer finds himself un
expectedly snatched up bv a current however,
his emotional reaction is usuallv one of fear
Heart pounding, he fights the current, thought-
trooiy irying to match its swift flow with
ailing ot arms and logs. Soon exhausted he
faces serious trouble. He might have avoided
trouble by swimming across the current instead
of against it. Like a boat crossing a river, he
probably would have reached safety
Lifeguards preach the "river" idea to surf
bathers, most of whom suffer from a super
stitious fear of "rip tides" which are not tides
at all.
Scores of lives arc lost every summer by
the tide rip route, only because an overwhelm
ing fear grips a bather when he finds that he
cannot swim straight back to shore against the
rip.
In that battle of swimmer versus tide rip,
there is an exception of the geometrical axioni
about a straight line being the shortest distance
between two points. Only bv drifting along
with the current and swimming toward its etlge,
as if it were a river, can a swimmer return to
shore.
r-araiyzmg cramps
are deadly but rare.
Muscle cramps of the
feet, calves, thigh and
neck are more com
mon than the dreaded
"stomach cramp"
which doubles its vic
tim into a knot. Fa
tigue, chill and over
exertion cause muscle
cramping.
Sunburn brings
a golden tan to
some skins, but
only raw, red
burn to others.
Too much direct
sunlight on a ten
der skin will de
stroy the outer
layers of skin and
dry the inner lay
ers, even tx the
9
I'
tendons of the hands and feet, crippling
tho surTercr. A few minutes of cxpo
suro each day will provldo the average
bather with a defensive coat of tan,
Untannablcs the redheads and some
blondes should wear protective cloth
ing. Thoughtless discarding of bottles
where lliey may be broken and en
danger bathers is one of the newer haz
ards at American beaches. Offenders
face arrest and lines.
On most bathing beaches the signal
for help is not a yell, but a wave of
tho hand. One of the reasons in that
a person half-drowned has little, breath
to use In shouting. The sender of falso
rescue signals may rue his foolishness
later If ho has real cause to wave for
help.
Most of the superstitions or misbeliefs about
swimming give an exaggerated Impression of
aquatic dangers. There Is one bit of misinforma
tion now being widely circulated, however, which
might give tt bather a confidence not Justified by facts.
The test Is simple to see If no one can possibly sink If he Just
relaxes! A bather need only to take a breath, hold his nose and refrain
from any movement for a few seconds In deep water, and he will
know whether he Is a (loater-typc or a sinker!
No sinker-type bather need give up hope on that account, however.
Some of the greatest speed swimmers sink like plummets, feet first,
unless they keep moving. When a "sinker" swims forward, his body
is Inclined at a slight angle, In the manner of an airplane wing, so
that tho water has a lifting action which keeps him on top.
HITJcisCS l-? lme Mea"s Vrw'i'ig" Pictures 2, 3 mid
KwS3rr' -J&?r jGT''' ;' ' 1 Show the M"" fighting to Keep Afloat . In
fcTCrTvfTT ' J' &--'J Number Hie Is Douu for the Third (but not
r Sf trfZ . nT4 : last) Time. A I. ie guard U as Reached llim in
MJsS? rSy & - t , fSZ Jr Number 6. These Prove That it Pays to Study
ESSr .r.n ft Safety Rules!
7 his Dramatic
Series of Photo
g r a l b s Has
Caught a Swim
mer in a Struggle
to Keep Prom
1 r tt If I It n
Also Refuting the Old
7 heory 7 hat "Going
Down for the Third
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