Home › Contents › Saving from Danger

Saving from Danger

Above all things the good swimmer should be anxious to save life, and to rescue those who are in danger, without himself becoming the victim, as it often happens. The following rules are highly important to be observed. The swimmer must avoid approaching the drowning person in front, in order that he may not be grasped by him; for whatever a drowning person seizes, he holds with convulsive force, and it is no easy matter to get disentangled from his grasp; therefore he should seize him from behind, and let go of him immediately if the other turns towards him. His best way is to impel him before him to the shore, or to draw him behind; if the space to be passed be too great, he should seize him by the foot and drag him, turning him on his back. If the drowning person should seize him, there is no alternative for the swimmer than to drop him at once to the bottom of the water, and there to wrestle with his antagonist; the drowning man, by a kind of instinct to regain the surface, when drawn down to the bottom, usually quits his prey, particularly if the diver attacks him there with all his power. For two swimmers the labour is easier, because they can mutually relieve each other. If the drowning person has still some presence of mind remaining, they will then seize him one under one arm, and the other under the other, and without any great effort in treading water, bring him along with his head above water, while they enjoin him to keep himself stretched out and as much as possible without motion.