
The Question: In the light of the Olympic Games, what sport do you think is the best body developer?
ARTHUR DE YOUNG
Intercollegiate gymnastic champion 1897-1898
Gymnastics, the most graceful sport. There is no close second. It develops a perfect physique and does not merely massage the muscles, as in swimming. Furthermore, gymnastics develops a perfect sense of timing and it can be used mildly late in life to keep the body trim.
LOUIS SOBOL
Hearst newspapers Syndicated columnist
The judicious use of one's forearms to push away from the dinner and cocktail tables. I built a stalwart physique of 131 pounds with this exercise and I've held it for 22 years. My father is 83 and weighs 136 pounds. He has never exercised in his life and doesn't intend to. Neither do I.
DR. PETER V. KARPOVICH
Springfield College Research physiologist
To develop the body so it looks strong and fit, weight lifting is the best. For speed and endurance, running or swimming are good body developers. But since you pin me down to one sport, I think that swimming is the best single sport that will develop all the muscles.
ADMIRAL JERAULD WRIGHT, USN
Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic
Swimming is the best for the average Navy man. However, in the fleet, there are other considerations. Among I them are morale, general athletic activity and keen competition. From an all-round point of view, no sport compares with football, which requires top conditioning.
CAPTAIN C. ELLIOTT LOUGHLIN, USN
U.S. Naval Academy
Director of Athletics
Considering general all-round development, I think wrestling, swimming and gymnastics, in that order, are the best. However, any competitive sport is a good body developer. That's why the Naval Academy makes competitive sports compulsory for every midshipman.
GENERAL CHARLES B. LYMAN
Westchester, Pa.
Breeder of race horses
Football. I should know. I played on the 1913 West Point team, the first Army team ever to play Notre Dame. Football not only makes a boy hard as a rock, but it's the greatest teacher of sportsmanship. I think every boy in the U.S. should be taught on some level to play football.
JACK SAUNDERS
Boston
Former Notre Dame football player
Baseball. It's a better body developer than football and chances of getting permanent injuries are much less. Take Dave Sime of Duke as an example. He developed as a baseball player. It took tremendous pressure to persuade him to take time from the game he loves and devote it to track.
ROSCOE McGOWEN
N.Y. Times
Sportswriter
Wrestling. I don't mean the TV variety, not with the pot bellies some of those clowns carry around. I mean amateur wrestling as practiced in colleges and gymnasiums. Wrestling is the national sport of Turkey. As a result, the Turkish soldier is the toughest campaigner in the world.
W. K. STRIPLING
Fort Worth, Texas
Department store owner
Football. There's a lot more to the game than developing muscles. To me, "best body developer" should mean mind as well as body. Football teaches sportsmanship and attracts players whose marks are often above the college average. All you have to do is read SPORTS ILLUSTRATED to know that.
RALPH J. FUREY
Columbia University
Athletic Director
There's no one answer. It depends on your purpose. Fencing, basketball and wrestling are great developers of agility, muscular control and reflexes. For sheer muscular development, football is best. Weight lifting is too restricted. It develops big muscles and chest, but you can only lift.
HARRY STUHLDREHER
One of Notre Dame's famed Four Horsemen
Football is first; there's no question about it. Swimming is second. In football, you not only have to develop the body to be tough, but you must develop looseness too. So you're tough for contact and loose for movement. Anyone who plays football is in better condition for the rest of his life.
BILL WHITEHOUSE
ABC networks
Manager of sports
Boxing. That's why we call it the manly art of self-defense. Boxing develops the arms, legs, back and stomach muscles. It develops reflexes to a keen edge. The good boxer has endurance and determination. Few persons would care to tangle with a Jack Dempsey or a Gene Tunney.
DOUGLAS R. MILLS
University of Illinois
Athletic Director
Wrestlingor swimming are the leaders in body developing. These sports are particularly good developers of the upper part of the body. Other sports encompass a larger area. Football, baseball, basketball and tennis, in addition to being good body developers, also quicken the reflexes and teach timing.
FOURTEEN PHOTOS
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