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In none of our manly exercises has more advancement been made of 

 late years than in swimming. In the generation before my own 

 it was little practised in Ireland, nor was it, I think, in England. 

 Beyond having a bathe in hot weather I am afraid our fathers were not 

 over-fond of immersing themselves in water at all ; nor was the 

 morning tub considered a necessity to a gentleman in his preparation 

 for the day. Even in my own boyhood lads were not, as a rule, good 

 swimmers, and many could not swim at all, but most of us took our 

 matutinal tub. 



There is a village at the opening of Waterford Harbour called 

 Dunmore, and to this charming seaside resort many of us went every 

 summer. "Kelly's Rocks" afiforded excellent bathing, and at the 

 lowest ebb tide we could get headers into at least ten feet of water, 

 pure from the sea. A great many young men bathed there daily, and 

 all of course were swimmers, but there were only about half a dozen 

 who were really good ones. There is no doubt these few were very 

 clever in the water. I never saw a feat performed by anyone, not 

 even the Beckwiths, which some of us could not do five-and-twenty 

 years ago. None of us went in for swimming long distances, neither 

 could we swim very fast, but we could do almost anything in or under 

 water — leap-frog, porpoise turni^og, diving, swimming under water, and 

 numbers of other feats we thought nothing of. A couple of us often 

 jumped in fully dressed with collars and ties, and having our boots 

 laced, all of which we were able to take off in twenty feet of water. I 

 once got my feet tied closely together at the ankles, and my wrists 

 equally so behind my back, and in that hobbled state threw myself into 

 Kelly's hole when the tide was full in. Still, up I came, and by not 

 moving body or limb my face kept well over the surface for the few- 

 minutes I chose to stay in the position. I was perfectly powerless, 

 as may be supposed, and had to be towed ashore. I allude to the event 

 to show how easy it is to keep one's head above water — nothing being 

 required except a little self-reliance. At the same time, a feat of the 

 sort could only be performed in strong deep sea w^ater. 



" The side stroke " was only just coming into vogue in my young 

 days, but I never cared for it, and always stuck to the old breast 

 stroke. 



There is nothing more useful to learn in the water than how to save 

 a drowning man, and it should be practised as often as possible. To 

 make the task the more realistic, it is requisite that the subject of 

 rescue should do all he can to drown his rescuer. What fun we used 

 to have at that work long ago ! 



Practising feats such as some I have alluded to served me well 

 twenty years ago in Waterford Harbour. A sail boat went down under 

 me, and owing to the main sheet having got round my leg I was 

 dragged with her but I was able to liberate myself, some fathoms under 

 water, from the rather awkward predicament. 



Yes, I think few places in Ireland, perhaps not one, could produce 



