- Also called:
- front crawl or crawl
- Related Topics:
- swimming
- American crawl
- Australian crawl
- flutter kick
freestyle
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What is freestyle swimming?
Freestyle swimming is a popular stroke involving alternating overarm motions and a flutter kick. Emerging in the 19th century, it gained prominence through swimmers like John Trugeon and Henry Wickham. In freestyle events, any stroke is allowed, but the front crawl is preferred due to its efficiency.
During competition, swimmers dive in and can stay underwater for 15 meters. The body remains prone with a constant flutter kick, and arms extend forward, scooping backward. Breathing occurs by turning the head during arm recovery. Freestyle races are held at distances of 50 to 1,500 meters, and it is the fastest of the four competitive swimming strokes.
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What does a swimmer do differently in freestyle compared to other strokes?
Freestyle swimming stands out from other strokes primarily due to its alternating overarm motion coupled with a flutter kick. In freestyle, swimmers position their bodies prone and flat just below the water's surface, maintaining a constant flutter kick with their legs.
The arm stroke in freestyle begins with one arm extending forward, thumb first, and scooping downwards and backward. The arms move alternately to create continuous propulsion. Breathing occurs by turning the head to the side during the arm's recovery phase.
The term "freestyle" is used because any stroke is allowed. However, the front crawl is the fastest and most efficient, so it is almost always used in freestyle races.
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How do you move your arms and legs when swimming freestyle?
In freestyle swimming, your body lies prone just below the surface of the water as your legs perform a constant flutter kick. The stroke starts with one arm extending forward in line with your shoulder, entering the water thumb first, and then scooping downward and backward toward the thigh. During recovery, the arm is brought back toward the head, keeping the elbow raised above the body.
The arms move alternately, timed so that one will start pulling just before the other has finished its pull, making propulsion continuous. Breathing is achieved by turning the head to either side during the recovery of the arm from that side. Freestyle is a popular and fast swimming stroke used in both competition and recreation.
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Why is breathing technique important in freestyle?
In freestyle swimming, breathing technique involves turning the head to the side during the arm's recovery phase to inhale. Proper timing ensures continuous propulsion by coordinating breathing with the arm movements. Typically, swimmers breathe every two to three strokes. Efficient breathing minimizes disruption to body position and reduces drag, which helps maintain speed and conserve energy over longer distances.
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How do professional swimmers improve their speed and efficiency in freestyle?
Freestyle, the fastest swimming stroke, involves alternating overarm movements and a flutter kick. Swimmers dive into the pool and can stay underwater for up to 15 meters. The body remains prone and flat, just below the surface.
The stroke starts with one arm extending forward, thumb first, then scooping downward and backward towards the thigh. During recovery, the arm moves back towards the head, elbow raised. Arms alternate to maintain continuous propulsion, timed so that one begins pulling as the other finishes. Breathing occurs by turning the head during the arm's recovery on that side.
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freestyle, perhaps the most popular swimming stroke, used in both competitive and recreational swimming. It is performed by using an alternating overarm motion combined with a flutter kick. The freestyle has become the fastest of all strokes in the pool and is also the almost unanimous stroke of choice for distance swimming.
History and competition
The freestyle stroke emerged from various antecedents in the 19th century. In the 1870s English swimmer John Trugeon raced using a overarm motion combined with a frog kick, later called the Trugeon stroke, that he had reportedly learned from Indigenous people in South America. About 1893 Australian swimmer Henry Wickham began using the overarm motion with a flutter kick, a stroke named the crawl, which was in use by Pacific Islanders. The brothers Syd and Charles Cavill of Australia popularized the stroke in Europe in 1902 and in the United States in 1903. The crawl was like the old sidestroke in its arm action, but it had a fluttering up-and-down leg action performed twice for each arm stroke. Early American imitators added an extra pair of leg actions, and later as many as six kicks were used. The kicks also varied in kind.
The name freestyle derives from the fact that in freestyle races, any swim stroke is allowed. In practice, however, the front crawl, being the most efficient and fastest stroke, is always used in freestyle races, and the two terms are now essentially interchangeable. Freestyle races for men were a part of the inaugural modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896, and women began competing in freestyle events at the Stockholm 1912 Games.
Technique and movement
In competition swimmers enter the pool in a dive and may remain underwater for up to 15 meters (49 feet) before surfacing. In the freestyle the body lies prone and flat just below the surface of the water, and the legs perform a constant flutter kick. The stroke begins with one arm extending forward in line with the shoulder and entering the water thumb first, then scooping downward and backward toward the thigh. During recovery the arm is brought back toward the head, keeping the elbow raised above the body. The arms move alternately, timed so that one will start pulling just before the other has finished its pull, thus making propulsion continuous. Breathing is done by turning the head to either side during recovery of the arm from that side.
Here is a list of the four strokes, ranked from fastest to slowest.
- freestyle
Notable freestyle swimmers
- Inge de Bruijn (Netherlands)
- César Cielo (Brazil)
- Caeleb Dressel (U.S.)
- Grant Hackett (Australia)
- Katie Ledecky (U.S.)
- Simone Manuel (U.S.)
- Michael Phelps (U.S.)
- Aleksandr Popov (Russia)
- Vladimir Salnikov (U.S.S.R.)
- Sarah Sjöström (Sweden)
- Ian Thorpe (Australia)
- Sun Yang (China)