欣喜地來到海邊，在這樣的炎炎夏日。
此時，海邊極為熱鬧。海灘上，有人在遮陽傘下閒聊，有人在拾貝殼，有人在玩沙，有人在捉沙馬，有人在追逐嬉戲，也有人在弄潮；再過去便是海了，有人在那裡游泳，各式泳姿在展出，也有套了救生圈任海水載浮載沉的。看起來是那麼悠遊自在。
游泳是一種很好的運動。不僅是夏日有人游泳，一年四季都適合，只是夏日天熱，游泳的人較多就是了。它又不分年齡和性別，是男女老少咸宜的運動。人一入水中，便全身各部位都浸進去，都在運動了，所以游泳是一種全身的運動。這是它和其他許多運動只注重某部位不同的地方。
可是，我小時候開始游泳卻不是因為懂得它的原理。其實，大多數人都是一樣的，小時候開始游泳，很少有人知道它的運動原理的，尤其像我這種在鄉下土生土長的孩子，誰會知道這些？主要的只是希望野，只是為野的樂趣所迷醉而已。想想，每個人從才會爬動開始，便喜歡下水了，明明大人說不能玩，但是哪個孩子不是見到水就迷下去呢？就說會溺死，他也是照樣要玩，一無懼怕，任令大人如何禁止，也沒什麼功效。如此，怎好說小孩玩水，開始游泳，可能懂得它的運動原理呢？懂得其中的原理，那是長到相當大的年紀，獲有相當豐富知識以後的事。
我家屋後那一片牧場有好幾條水溝，其中有一條南北向的，是我游泳（應該說學游泳）的最初場所。那條水溝寬約六公尺，水也不深，最深處水僅及頸，其他大多不及頸。最初是在那裡釣青蛙、釣魚，然後是玩水，試著游泳，或者是兼而有之。當時我最擅長的是狗爬式泳法（俯泳）。當然，也常常游的茶壺式——咕嚕咕嚕喝水的。過了一段時間，便把場所移到村子南方那條廍仔溝了。那裡水常流動，較清晰乾淨，不像現在那麼污濁，常常幾乎乾枯不流動，也不像牧場上那條水溝的水那麼髒，有時甚至要和水牛一起游，牛拉了屎撒了尿，溝水混濁不堪，仍照游不誤。那真是髒透了。待我學會立泳了，便往糖廠古井（灌溉用抽水井）裡游了。在古井裡游泳的時期，我同時學會了跳水；而在這同時，我也常常去埤內溪裡游泳。那裡不但水清晰乾淨，範圍又大又深，要如何游都可以。那時，我學會了自由式和仰式，還有蛙式，也常潛水，甚至邊游邊捉魚蝦。大概最常捉到蝦、蟹和土虱等。捉到蝦，常現場剝了殼生吃，很甜的。
接著，已到我讀初中階段了，見識已漸廣。當時每到夏天，上體育課時，老師常帶我們去海邊游泳。體育老師總是先勘好地形地勢，插上標旗，學生不得超越過標旗的連接線，到水深的地方游泳，並且事先覓好會游泳的同學做指導兼救生員；其實，總有些同學一到水裡便什麼規矩限制都忘得一乾二淨了，游出了畫定的範圍，到深處去，叫老師和同學緊張一場，現在想起來，還真為體育老師捏一把冷汗呢。太冒險了！那時海中有許多蟹，用腳踩了便可以捉獲，上體育課游泳時捉到過，而降旗後或禮拜六下午去游泳時更捉得多。
我的游泳歷程便這樣繼續上路。
由小水溝而溪流而古井而溪埤而淺海，然後大海，我不停地游著；由小而大，由淺而深，由近而遠，我不停地游著。這猶如人生，由小長大，由小地方到大地方，由見識少到見識多，由生澀而熟練，由淺薄而深入，層層疊疊，一步一步來，依次而進。
可是後來發生了一件事，使我的游泳歷程稍受頓挫。那是我高二的暑假，一位住枋寮的同班同學，邀我前往他家門前的海邊游泳。為安全計，他好心地給了我一個救生圈。我從未用過，沒有注意到救生圈內氣體多才能漂浮水面，其阻力必大，慢游則可，快游則不行，我用盡了氣力游向海中，大約游到距離海岸三百公尺處，由於用力過猛，右腳的小腿抽筋了，才設法慢慢游回海岸，到沙灘休息。自此以後，差不多每次下水游泳，每次小腿抽筋；好在我能設法調理，否則能不沉溺水中成為波臣？記得基隆福隆海邊抽過一次筋，在碧潭也有過，是我印象最深的。為此，我也就稍為收斂了對游泳的嗜好了。
游泳是一種很好的運動，只要人一下水便全身都在運動了，一年四季都無不可，夏日尤然。想想，炎炎夏日，蒸得人無處逃躲，悶熱不堪，浸入水中，說有多清涼便有多清涼，有多舒爽便有多舒爽。那種情趣，更是無以形容的。所以每到夏日，海邊、河濱和溪畔，只要可以游泳玩水的地方，便集滿了人。
只是水能載舟，也能覆舟，游泳有時常生危險，所以需要注意安全。熟悉水性、地勢是必要的。好幾個人一起去，不要單獨一個人去，以便互相照顧。不要逞強，冒險游到深處，或游太遠太久，使體力無法支持。如能帶救生圈更好。下水前，一定要先做柔軟操，使身體血氣暢通；然後慢慢下水。萬一腳抽筋，要沉著應付，千萬不能緊張慌亂，越緊張慌亂越糟糕。
看到那些海邊的景象，尤其是那些游泳的人，給了我許多游泳的回憶。確然，游泳有許多好處和情趣。我遂更衣下水了。啊，多麼清涼舒爽呀！但願我不再抽筋，好繼續我的游泳歷程。
The Swimming Hsu ChiCheng
I go to the sea side with great pleasure in the hot summer.
Now, the seaside is bustling extremely. On the sea beach, there are someone chat within the parasol, there are someone collect the sea shells, there are someone play the fine sand, there are someone catch the ghost crab, there are someone play the chase game, there are someone play the tide; and the sea which goes over there, there are someone swimming, appear every kind of posture, and there are someone with lifesaving belt to fall and lift. It looks like care free and leisurely.
The swimming is a good sport. It’s not only swimming in summer, and suitable for every season, just summer is hot, the persons go to swim are many. It also doesn’t divide of the age and sex, it’s the sport suitable for all persons no matter of male, female, old or youth. A person enters the water, every part of his whole body will soak into the water, will all in sport, so the swimming is a sport of whole body. This is no the same of other sports which pay attention to only one part.
However, I do not because of knowing this tenet while I started to swim. In fact, most persons are the same, as childhood to start to swim, less person know its sport the tenets, especially the children grow up in the country side as me, who know these? The main principle is just unruly, just be mad about its fan of unruly. May think, every one likes to enter the water from he can climb, it’s obviously that adult say it’s not to play the water, but which child will not be mad about while he meet the water? He will play the water as usually even it will drown, no pay any attention to it, it’s no effort even prohibited by adult. Thus so, how can we say that the child play water, start to swim, can know the tenet of the sport? Know its tenet is the thing after they get some more of age, and hold some more rich of knowledge.
There were some ditches in the pasture behind my home, one of them which from south toward north, is ( ought to say to learn swimming) the earliest place I went to swim. This ditch is about 6 metres in length, no deep the water, it’s just reached neck the deepest, the other place doesn’t reach neck chiefly. At first I angled frog, angled fish, and then to play the water, try to swim, or do both of them. At that time, I am expert in dog-climbing (breaststroke). Of course, I often swim the type of teapot—gargle of drinking. Passes for a period of time, I moved to the place to Channeling The Buzai in the south of this village. There the water was flowing frequently, and was cleaner than other place, no dirty like now, and often near no flowing, not the same as the ditch of the pasture, even sometime to swim with the buffalo, I still swam while it’s dunged and urinated by the buffalo, the water is too turbid to endure. It was truly dirty. After I learned vertical- swim, I went to the well ( for watering)of the sugar factory. During the period of swam in the well, I learned the dive at the same time; and at that time I went to pi-Nei stream. Not only because of the water is clear, but also the scope is wide and deep too, it can do what you want to swim at that time, I learned know how to free style and back stroke, and besides, breaststroke, and also often to dive, even to catch fish and shrimp as well as swimming, probably the shrimp, crab, walking catfish etc. I often peel the shell and eat uncooked, very sweet.
Then, it’s the time I went to the period of my study in middle school, I knew more knowledge. At that time, every time of the summer, on the physical culture class, the teacher often led us to swim at the seaside. The physical culture teacher will survey the terrain first, insert the banner, student can’t surpass the line which connect the banner to swim in the deep area, and point some students to be the guider and lifesaver; but in fact, there always were some all forget what the rule, swam across out side the scope which is marked, swam to deep place, let the teacher and student be strained, think of it, truly break into a cold sweat for the physical teacher. Too run risk it is! There are many crabs in the bottom of the sea, we can tread and catch them, we have been caught them while we on the class of physical culture, and also over the class or in the Saturday afternoon when we went to swimming is catch the more.
The course of my swimming is thus on the road.
I swim incessantly from the ditch to the well to the stream to the shallow sea, then to the ocean; I swim incessantly from small to large, from the shallow to the deep, from near to farer’s. It just likes our life, grows from child to adult, from small place to large place, from scarce knowledge to widen knowledge, from jerky to skillful, from shallow to penetrate, a layer upon a layer, step by step, advance slowly.
But it met one thing, made my course of swim suffer a little frustration. It’s the summer vacation when I was a student of second grade of high school, my classmate who lived in Fangliao, invited me to swim on the sea beach in front of his home. For the safety, he kindly gave me a life belt. I have not been used it, no care of that the life belt will float on the water surface is full of air, but it’s obstruction surely is large, it’s well to swim slowly, but negative to swim hurry, I swam with the most of my force, I swam to the place about three hundred metres from the beach, my right foot suffered cramp, then I tried my best to return to the bank slowly, and rest for a few minute. From that time on, nearly every time I will foot cramp every time I go to swim, luckily I can take care of it, or may I will be drowned, to be the wave ghost? I can remember that there is one time I had a foot cramp in the beach of Fullon, Keelung, and also a time the same, gave me the deepest imprint. For this reason, I have restrained myself a bit of my swim habit.
The swimming is a very good sport, just a person enters the water, whole his body is in exercising, it’s the same, especially in the summer. May you think, in the hot summer, no where to shuttle the vapour, the gloomy hot can’t be born, immerse into the water, how cool and refreshing we can say, how comfortable it is. Its taste is difficult to tell. So every summer, just it’s the place suit for swim or play water in the summer, there glut full of person in the sea side, river side and stream bank.
However, the water can carry the ship but will over the ship too, the swimming often arouses danger, so we must take attention to the safety. It’s necessary to know the nature and situation of the water. There must many persons to go together, don’t only one alone, in order to take care each other. Don’t flaunt your superiority, hazard to the deep place, or swim for too long time or too far, make the power unable to hold you. It’s better to take a life belt. Before enter the water, you must do exercise first, make the blood be unblocked; and then enter the water slowly. Just in case your foot cramp, be deal with keep cool, never strained and be flurried, it’s worst to be strained and flurried.
In looking the scene of the sea side, especially the person who swam, gave me a recollection of the swimming. Surely, there are many benefit and taste. I then change the clothes and enter the water. Oh, how cool and comfortable it is! Wishing I will not be foot cramp, and will make the course of my swimming successively! @
責任編輯：林芳宇
