Having lived in the US for 8 years, I am aware how baseball has become an unchallenged and revered institution. I listened in awe as Americans spoke glowingly of their favorite teams, their attention riveted to the TV screen until the final scores come out. Canadians have the same passion for hockey. Even in summer time, you see kids in the street with a puck and stick, unmindful of the dangers of traffic.
Baseball historians insist that even if Abner Doubleday invented the sport, Alexander Cartwright is the true father of baseball. He established the first formal rules of baseball in 1845.
Time to polish your French to English baseball terminology!
| FRENCH | ENGLISH |
| lanceur | pitcher |
| receveur | catcher |
| premier but | first baseman |
| deuxième but | second baseman |
| troisième but | third baseman |
| inter | shortstop |
| voltigeur gauche | left fielder |
| voltigeur de centre | center fielder |
| voltigeur droit | right fielder |
| marbre | home base (also: home plate) |
| circuit | home run |
| masque de receveur | catcher’s mask |
| protège-gorge | throat protector |
| genouillère (aussi: protège-genou) | knee protector (also: knee guard) |
| manche | inning |
| arbitre | umpire |
| bâton | bat |
| zone de prises | strike zone |
| prise | strike |
| frappe | batting |
| jeu forcé | force play |
| vol de but | steal |
Turning now to swimming, there are four competition categories: freestyle, breaststroke, butterfly and backstroke. The spearhead principle is a concept you most likely have heard about. It means that in every competition, the fastest rated swimmer is assigned the center lane; if the number of lanes is even, he gets the right of center lane. The other competitors are assigned alternate left/right positions of the center lane, with the slowest swimmers getting the two outside lanes. This arrangement usually will see the swimmers fanning out into a spearhead formation as they complete the race.
A few French-English swimming terms for you:
| FRENCH | ENGLISH |
| piscine | pool |
| nage libre (aussi: natation libre) | freestyle |
| brasse | breaststroke |
| papillon | butterfly |
| juge-arbitre | referee |
| faux départ | false start |
| formation fer de lance | spearhead formation |
| nageur de quatre nages | medley swimmer |
| nage synchronisée (the FFN – Fédération française de natation also calls it natation synchronisée) | synchronized swimming |
| jambe de ballet simple | ballet leg |
| jambe de ballet double | ballet double leg |
| jambe pliée | bent knee |
| chevalier | knight |
| vertical | vertical |
| position groupée | tuck |
| carpé avant | front pike |
| carpé arrière | back pike |
I swim occasionally and my favorite strokes are the freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke. I sometimes do the dog crawl and the scissors. I have trouble with the butterfly.
For an English commentary on the freestyle technique, you can click on this link: http://www.dipity.com/timetube/YouTube_Freestyle_Swimming_Technique.
For a French demonstration (no commentary), click here: http://denismimi.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!9C207695B264ECE3!3136.trak.
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