The Strokes of Swimming

In swimming there are four different strokes that can be raced, Freestyle, Backstroke, Breaststroke and Butterfly. Each stroke has a different technique and is uniquely styled.

Freestyle: Positioned with the front of the body facing down, the swimmer circles their arm forward alternating arms. At the same time the swimmer kicks their feet up and down. Breathing is most commonly done by rotating the body and turning the head on the side to get a breath.

       Emily Mance holds the top record for the 1650 freestyle, the longest event in swimming

Backstroke: Positioned with the front of the body facing upwards, the swimmer circles their arms backwards alternating arms. Similar to the freestyle, the swimmer kicks their feet up and down while moving their arms. Breathing is down normally as the face is upwards and out of the water.

                    Katie Hogan holds the top 100 backstroke record with a time of 1:05.37

Breaststroke: Positioned with the front of the body facing down, the swimmer moves their arms at the same time in an inwards circle motion toward their chest and then moves them forward. The kick is similar to a frog jump with the legs opening synchronized outwards and then circled back to being straight together. Breathing is down every stroke by raising the head out of the water.

   Both Katie vanBeek and Ian Lowe, key Breaststrokers this year, both set new personal records

 

Butterfly: Positioned with the front of the body facing down, the swimmer raise both arms simultaneously out of the water over their head and stretch them to fall back into the water and then pull. The kick is similar to a dolphin kick that is made in a wave like motion. Breathing is done by lifting the head out of the water.

           Anna Pacult swam butterfly in the medley relays to help break new team records