The Four Strokes of an Individual Medley Swimming Event

Swimmers use four different strokes to swim an Individual Medley swimming event. Swimmers propel themselves through the water using four different arm strokes and four different kicks. Each arm stroke has a kick designed to meet the tempo of the swim. We refer to the strokes in the order in which they are performed, the butterfly stroke, the backstroke, the breaststroke, and the freestyle stroke. The four strokes are consistently swum in this order based on the rules that govern competitive swimming.

Butterfly Stroke

The butterfly stroke is the first stroke of the individually medley event. The butterfly stroke takes place at the beginning of the race and requires the swimmer to start from the starting block. The swimmers start consists of a streamlined body position for maximum entry speed and is followed by a two leg, simultaneous kick that begins from the hips in a whip fashion that follows through to the toes. This kick is most like the movement that a dolphin uses to propel them through the water. Because of the similarity of the movement, the kick is called the dolphin kick. The kick is combined with a simultaneous arm pull that starts with the arms stretch out in front of the swimmer. Both arms pull through the water together for maximum power. The arms sweep downwards towards the bottom of the pool creating a 90-degree angle in the elbow. Then the arms sweep past the ribs and end at the hips. The palms are in an upward position to the surface of the water. The power from the stroke lifts the swimmers shoulders to the surface to maximize the opportunity for a breath. Once the head lifts for the breath, the arms thrust forward over the water like the upward thrust of the arms during a jumping jack. During ...

... middle of paper ...

...or the speed of this stroke. Swimmers can choose how many strokes they take before they need to breathe. Each breath is a movement outside of the streamline. Every movement of the body outside of the streamline body position of this stroke can slow the swimmer down.

Narrative

The entire event is four equal distances in which the swimmer completes one of each of the strokes in sequential order. After each stroke, the swimmer must transition to the next stroke using a legal transition designed to allow the swimmer to carry their speed through to the next stroke. Although there are many other individual events that swimmers can compete in, the individual medley is the only event in which only one swimmer does more than one stroke at a time. Swimming the individual medley allows a swimmer to show off their power, technique, endurance and mastery of swimming.