In this entry, I am going to talk about the individual development of each swimming style.
A swimming stroke involves coordinatingly and rhythmically moving the major body parts. Breathing is synchronized within each stroke. It is possible to swim with only the arms or the legs. This is usually done for training/exercises or is used by amputees.
There are four competitive swimming strokes. Freestyle and backstroke which are two alternating strokes and, breaststroke and butterfly which are two undulating strokes.
1. Freestyle:
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The use of freestyle goes as far back as the Stone Age. This is based on an Egyptian tomb from 2000 B.C. Freestyle also known as Front Crawl is the most common and fastest swimming style today.Based on the world record for 100m which is currently 47.05. The first mention of it being used competitively was in a Times newspaper from 1884.
Freestyle is believed to have originated in Australia. It was once called the Australian Crawl because Australians were continuously winning competitions with it and it looked as if they were crawling. There is a story of a boy from the Solomon Islands that went to work in Australia who would often swim in local pools using a stroke that looked quite like freestyle. A swimming coach passing. Saw this stroke and modified his stroke to create the freestyle we know and love today.
2. Backstroke:
Backstroke is very similar to freestyle. It has been around since the modern Olympics movement in 1900. Backstroke was first done by a poor swimmer who was tired of swimming front crawl and decided to turn on his back. By doing this he discovered that it was easier to breathe and you could still maintain propulsion. |
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It consists of an alternating arm pull stroke between the two arms and a constant flutter kick. It is the 3rd fastest swimming stroke after butterfly. In the 1980s there was a big development in the stroke when a group of swimmers used underwater dolphin kicks to speed up their times in the 100m event. FINA (which stands for Fédération Internationale de Natation) made regulations whereby swimmers could do up to 15m of dolphin kicks underwater. Another breakthrough in the stroke was at the 1922 Olympics when FINA allowed swimmers to turn on their front, do one arm pull and turn at the wall.
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3. Breaststroke:
Breaststroke is the slowest and most relaxing swimming stroke in my opinion. And is my personal favourite. It helps me unwind and give you space to sort your thoughts because so little is involved in the stroke. It is one of the most popular strokes for recreation because breathing is easy and you can swim comfortably at a slow pace. In early European swimming competitions during the 19th century, it was the most common stroke. Its first time being swam as a competitive stroke in the Olympics was in 1904. The event was won by a German named Georg Zacharias from Germany.4. Butterfly:
Butterfly commonly know as fly amongst swimmers is the 2nd fastest swim stroke in the world. (Personally, I think it's the fastest but who am I to argue with the facts.) It is the hardest stroke of the 4 and requires the most technique and strength. Fly is my favourite stroke mainly because it is so powerful.
The butterfly stroke evolved from breaststroke. Swimmers began lifting their arms over their heads using breaststroke kick. Eventually, the two strokes became two separate ones.
Fly is the youngest competitive stroke with its first Olympic feature in 1933. The current short course (50m) world record for fly is 48.08 and is held by Chad le Clos a South African swimmer. The long course world record is 49.82 and is held by one of the best swimmers known to man, Micheal Phelps.
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