Uneuropean

thingiverse

This tribute piece was directly inspired by the introduction of what is commonly known as the “freestyle stroke” into the sport of competitive swimming. This happened in 1844 when the British Swimming Society had invited a group of celebrated Native Americans from the Ojibway tribe to a pool in England, only two were selected as competitors, Flying Gull and Tobacco. When they were signaled to start the Europeans had used their tame breaststroke while the Native Americans had “thrashed the water violently, like sails of a windmill, and beat downward with their feet, blowing with force and forming grotesque antics” (Weissmuller to Spitz), spectators had dubbed their swimming style “Uneuropean”. Nonetheless, Flying Gull had swam a distance of 130 feet in less than half a minute, and was the victor by 7 seconds twice. Around 40 years later it had been considered an official stroke as the “Front Crawl”, this has become the most essential stroke in swimming today, yet this only happened because an European amateur swimmer had travelled to South America and seen the Natives using the stroke, and adopted it in England, not seeming savage due to his ethnicity. I had created this piece to commemorate Flying Gull for utilizing a stroke that was seen as “wild”, due to it being a more intuitive movement through the water and was the style of swimming in the Ojibway tribe. I was inspired by the woodland art style that was used by the tribe, this art style is district that blends traditional legends and myths with contemporary mediums, usually exploring the relationships between animals, humans, and plants, rich with spiritual imagery and symbolism. I had included a Gull because it was apart of the name of Flying Gull, but in Ojibway folklore seagulls were noted for their endurance and perseverance, which perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the man had had accomplished the feat of beating professional swimmers in a foreign country. I had the gull’s wings outstretched while the talons were on Flying Gulls back using woodland style to represent the spirit of the gull carrying him as he had swam using the “front crawl”.