The four main competitive swim strokes
These swim strokes consist of the backstroke, the breaststroke, the butterfly stroke and freestyle. Here is a simple breakdown of each stroke.
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| Backstroke |
Backstroke:
During the backstroke, the swimmer is laying on one's back. The legs are doing a flutter kick and the arms are moving in a fan-like motion. While one arm is moving from the hips up over the head, the other arm is underwater moving from over the head down to the hips. This stroke is slower than front crawl and butterfly, but faster than the breaststroke.
Click here to watch a video on how to swim the backstroke.
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| Breaststroke |
Breaststroke:
The breaststroke is easily the most popular and most used stroke styles. The swimmer's arms are moving in the same half-circle motion while their legs are moving in the same whip kick motion. Sometimes referred to as the "frog" stroke, the breaststroke is swam on the chest while the legs kick in an out and down motion similar to that of a frog.
Click here to watch a video on how to swim the breaststroke.
Click here to watch a video on how to swim the breaststroke.
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| Butterfly stroke |
Butterfly Stroke:
The butterfly stroke is the hardest and most unique of the four. It is swam on the chest while the arms are moving simultaneously and the legs are doing a dolphin kick. The arms come up and out of the water for an above water recovery. While doing the butterfly stroke, the swimmers body is creating a wave-like body undulation. This stroke is the second fastest stroke and can be difficult to learn.
Click here to watch a video on how to swim the butterfly stroke.
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| Front crawl |
Freestyle (Front Crawl):
In freestyle, the swimmer alternated their arms while swimming on their chest and they have an above water recovery. This is the fastest swim stroke of the four. The legs are in a flutter kick and the arms rotate similar to the backstroke. The only difference is that the swimmer is swimming on their chest, not their back.
Click here to watch a video on how to swim the front crawl.
-just keep swimming!
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