The Trudgen Stroke

mwsmith

cardarch wrote:
> On Nov 14, 10:25 pm, iamh2o...@webtv.net (Steve Curtis) wrote:
>> "Steve Freides" wrote:
>>> We still teach sidestroke, including that
>>> kick, in the YMCA swimming program
>>> and the YMCA lifeguard class.
>> Has there ever been a sanctioned competitive sidestroke event?
>
> I was told by a Navy Seal a few years ago the the sidestroke was the
> offical Seal stroke and the one the used for all their water work.

Don't they usually wear fins?

Pat

and there was the 80 year old woman who swims without moving
>> her legs ("I don't know why I don't move my legs, but I just don't---I
>> used
>> to, I remember that."), >>
>> Pat in TX
>
>
>
> The woman who does not move her legs may well have improved her stroke to
> the point where leg action is superfluous.

That's nice of you to say, but it's not true. She holds her entire head out
of the water and barely lifts her arms over the surface before they flop
down again. At first, I thought she was about to drown at any second
because she is so feeble in her attempts to swim. I wanted to growl "Swim
like you mean it!" at her, but of course I didn't. I did advise her that she
would enjoy it more if she wore goggles, to which she replied, "I tried to
wear a pair, but they leaked." I told her about different goggle designs,
etc., but she just replied, " I tried a pair once, but they just leaked."
The strange thing about her is that at the end of her swimming, she hangs on
to the pool ladder and vigorously exercises her legs for about 10
minutes...but she won't use her legs to swim. Like I said, she's sweet, but
she's also a bit dotty....

Pat in TX

Pat

>>
>> So, according to "American Red Cross Swimming and Diving" published in
>> 1938, the scissors kick associated with the sidestroke is integral to the
>> trudgen stroke and always has been. Not only that, but they used a lot
>> fewer commas in that day!
>
> I've seen the kick he is describing and used it, if I understand him
> correctly. It isn't a scissors kick in the sidestroke sense. It's an
> exaggerated flutter kick, although flutter isn't the right term. The legs
> aren't bent, as they are in the sidestroke kick. Where I use it is in open
> water swimming in the ocean, to rise up to get my bearings.

I went back and looked at the photos. There are pictures of someone doing
the trudgen and the legs are definitely bent at the knees in the kick
portion.

Besides, with the head and shoulders out of the water, you couldn't achieve
a flutter kick at all. The men I see doing this are turning to one side
(usually the right) in an effort to breathe, and when they turn, their legs
automatically bend. Maybe the legs bend in the effort of turning the
shoulders. Try turning to one side in bed sometime. I'll bet your legs bend
automatically at the knees.

Pat in TX