John Trudgen
Readers of Joan Cowdroy’s Murder of Lydia may be mystified by a reference to a swimming stroke called the Trudgen. It was known as the racing stroke or the East Indian stroke and owes its origin to John Trudgen who, although born in Poplar in 1852, went out with his parents to Buenos Aires when he was eleven. There he noticed that the local children used an overarm action when swimming rather than the more customary breaststroke.
Returning to England in 1868, John developed a stroke based on what he had seen in Argentina for use in competitive swimming and the result was sensational. Reporting on Trudgen’s winning swim in a championship at Lambeth Baths in 1873 for the Swimming Record, R Watson wrote, “A surprising swimmer carried off the handicap; we allude to Trudgen ; this individual swam with both arms entirely out of the water, an action peculiar to Indians. His time was very fast, particularly for one who appears to know but little of swimming, and should he become more finished in style, we shall expect to see him take a position almost second to none as a swimmer.
I question, indeed, if the swimming world ever saw a more peculiar stroke sustained throughout a 160 yards race. I have seen many fast exponents retain the action for some distance, but the great exertion compels them to desist, very much fatigued. In Trudgen, however, a totally opposite state of things existed ; for here we had a man swimming apparently easy, turning very badly, and when finished, appearing as though he could have gone at least another 80 yards at the same pace. His action reminds an observer of a style peculiar to the Indians ,both arms are thrown partly sideways, but very slovenly, and the head kept completely above water”.
In essence, what Trudgen had done was develop an early version of what was to become the front crawl which gave him incredible speed over sprint distances and because it worked the arms and legs simultaneously but differently instead of simultaneously and in the same way as with other strokes such as the breaststroke it was less fatiguing.
The new style enabled Trudgen to continue to dominate swimming events, winning an English championship at Edgbaston reservoir in 1875. But soon his rivals emulated his style, improving on it to gain extra speed, dominating sprint and middle distance competitions in the years up to the first modern Olympics. It was also used as the stroke of choice in Water Polo.
John Trudgen may have slipped into obscurity but his name lives on in swimming circles, the stroke morphing into the front crawl. The modern version involves the swimmer swimming on one side, making an overhand movement, lifting the arms alternately out of the water. When the left arm is above the head, the legs spread apart for a kick. As the left arm comes down, the legs extend and are then brought together with a sharp scissor kick.
The right arm is now brought forward over the water and as it comes down, the left arm is extended again. The scissor kick is deployed every second stroke and involves spreading the legs and then bringing them together with a sudden snap movement.
