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The five competitve swimming strokes are: freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and individual medley.
In freestyle events, the competitor may swim any stroke. The stroke most commonly used is sometimes called the front crawl, which is characterized by the alternate stroking of the arms over the water surface and an alternating (up-and-down) flutter kick. On turns and finishes, some part of the swimmer must touch the wall. Most swimmers do a flipturn. Touch turns are also acceptable, but are slower than flipturns.
Backstroke consists of an alternating motion of the arms with a flutter kick while on the back. On turns, swimmers may rotate to the stomach and perform a flipturn and some part of the swimmer must touch the wall. Alternately, the swimmer can do a touch turn, as long as they touch the wall while on their back. The swimmer must also finish the race on their back.
The breaststroke, which is the oldest stroke dating back hundreds of years, requires simultaneous movements of the arms on the same horizontal plane. The hands are pressed out from in front of the breast in a heart shaped pattern and recovered under or on the surface of the water. The kick is a simultaneous somewhat circular motion similar to the action of a frog. On turns and at the finish, the swimmer must touch the wall with both hands simultaneously at, above or below the water surface.
Some consider the butterfly to be the most beautiful of the strokes. It features a simultaneous recovery of the arms over the water combined with an undulating dolphin kick. In the kick, the swimmer must keep both legs together and may not flutter, scissors or use the breaststroke kick. Both hands must touch the wall simultaneously on the turns and the finish. (The butterfly is the newest stroke and was developed in the early 1950s as a variation of the breaststroke. It became an Olympic stroke in 1956 in Melbourne.)
The individual medley, commonly referred to as the I.M., features all four strokes. In the IM, the swimmer begins with the butterfly, then changes after one-fourth of the race to backstroke, then breaststroke and finally freestyle.
All competitive swimming relays consist of teams of four swimmers. There are two main types of relays: medley relays and freestyle relays.
In the medley relay, all four strokes are swum. The first swimmer swims backstroke, the second breaststroke, the third butterfly, and the final swimmer anchors the relay with freestyle. There are two distances in medley relays: 200 and 400.
The freestyle relay events consist of four freestylers, each swimming one quarter of the total distance of the event. Freestyle relays can come in three different distances: 200, 400 and 800.
Short course swimming refers to events swum in a 25 metre or 25 yard pool. Long course events occur in a 50 metre pool (for example, the Olympic Games).