Things we didn't know we didn't know.
Sep. 2nd, 2005 04:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shewhomustAt the pool this morning, getting our breath back, and bitching about the other swimmers (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
durham_rambler and I are so space hungry, we don't just need a pool to ourselves, we really need a pool each); I complained of a pair of women swimming two abreast, talking, one of whom had swerved just as I was about to pull to one side of them, forcing me to swim between them, which is tricky as I kick very wide. durham_rambler reminded me that it is possible to switch to side stroke.
My father swam a form of side-stroke, which he called trudgeon - I hadn't thought of it in years. "Google it!" saiddurham_rambler.
So I did; but first I checked Chambers, and discovered that I had been mentally mis-spelling it all this time: the word is trudgen, after John Trudgen who introduced to England a stroke he had, according to the International Swimming Hall of Fame (I don't know why this name strikes me as inherently humorous), learned from South American Indians in the 1860s.
Heady days!
eHow.com offers instructions on how to swim trudgen, but the stroke described does not match my memory of my father's stroke, which was more a sort of breatstroke slipped sideways.
eHow also warns:
Children, do not try this at home; these people are - well, what? in water?
durham_rambler and I are so space hungry, we don't just need a pool to ourselves, we really need a pool each); I complained of a pair of women swimming two abreast, talking, one of whom had swerved just as I was about to pull to one side of them, forcing me to swim between them, which is tricky as I kick very wide. durham_rambler reminded me that it is possible to switch to side stroke.My father swam a form of side-stroke, which he called trudgeon - I hadn't thought of it in years. "Google it!" said
durham_rambler. So I did; but first I checked Chambers, and discovered that I had been mentally mis-spelling it all this time: the word is trudgen, after John Trudgen who introduced to England a stroke he had, according to the International Swimming Hall of Fame (I don't know why this name strikes me as inherently humorous), learned from South American Indians in the 1860s.
A few days apart, in the same month and year (August, 1875), Capt. Matthew Webb swam the English Channel (21 miles in 21 hours and 45 minutes) going all the way breaststroke, and John Trudgen of the Alliance Swimming Club of London won the English 100 yards Championships at the Edghaston Reservoir in 1 minute and 16 seconds.
Heady days!
eHow.com offers instructions on how to swim trudgen, but the stroke described does not match my memory of my father's stroke, which was more a sort of breatstroke slipped sideways.
eHow also warns:
Swimming is an inherently dangerous activity that can result in serious injury or death. We recommend that you seek proper training and equipment before attempting this activity.
Children, do not try this at home; these people are - well, what? in water?
