Swimming Strokes
Swimming strokes are how a swimmer propels their body through the water. The strokes consist of various arm and leg motions to move the body forward. When done correctly, swimming strokes are smooth, graceful and designed to minimize water resistance. With the proper stroke, a good swimmer should be able to move through the water with very little splashing. The more popular styles of swimming strokes include:
Breaststroke:
The breaststrokeis one of the easiest and most common techniques in swimming. The swimmer uses arm movements that begin above their head and sweep around parallel with the water’s surface and back to the chest. The arm movements are combined with a frog kick to move forward. The swimmer will keep his/her head above water for this type of stroke.
Backstroke:
The backstrokeis another fairly easy technique. As the name implies, the swimmer lies on their back in the water and uses alternating over-the-head arm motions combined with a flutter kick to propel forward.
Butterfly Stroke:
Considered one of the most difficult types of swimming stroke, the butterfly strokeis done using huge windmill-like arm motions combined with a dolphin kick. In competition, swimmers must take care not to swim underwater while performing this stroke.
Crawl:
When doing the crawl, the swimmer alternates his/her arms in arching motions as if crawling. This motion combined with a flutter kick propels the swimmer. While doing the crawl stroke, the head is kept in the water and alternates turning side-to-side with each alternating stroke of the arms. This front crawl is one of the fastest swimming stroke techniques.
Sidestroke:
The sidestroke is similar to the breaststroke except that the swimmer lies to one side and moves their legs in a scissor motion. Of the swimming strokes listed, the backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly stroke are the main styles used in Olympic and competitive swimming. The Olympics also hosts a freestyle swimming competition in which swimmers are allowed to choose what strokes they will use. They can use any of the swimming strokes listed or even invent one of their own. Due to it’s speed, most competitive swimmers use the front crawl as the swimming stroke of choice during freestyle races.