About Freestyle Swimming

In swimming terms, freestyle refers to any swimming stroke that is "unregulated," meaning that there are no restrictions as to what the swimmer can do in regards to technique. Virtually every swimmer in competition today will swim a freestyle event with the fastest stroke available--the front crawl. This is the stroke most familiar to the average person, and freestyle has come to mean the same thing as this stroke.

  1. Types

    • During a freestyle event a swimmer can opt to use the front crawl, dog paddle or a side stroke. The front crawl is by far the fastest way to get from end to end in the pool for most competitors. There are individual freestyle events at various distances, and freestyle is usually the last part of a medley race, in which swimmers must employ the backstroke, breast stroke, and butterfly stroke.

    Types

    • At a sanctioned swimming meet, the freestyle stroke is competed at a number of distances. The shortest will be 50 meters, which in a typical 50 meter pool is one length of the pool. Freestyle is also held over 100, 200 and 400 meters. The 800- and 1,500-meter freestyle race are the two longest individual freestyle events, with relay races being competed over 100 and 200 meters, with four swimmers each doing one leg of the distance for their relay team.

    Time Frame

    • The times have been steadily lowered in freestyle swimming event records as the years have passed, with better training techniques and changes in what swimmers wear, making them more streamlined in the water, responsible for the quicker swims. For example, in 1908 the record for the men's 100-meter freestyle race was 1 minute, 5 seconds. In 2008 this record is just over 47 seconds. The women's record was 1 minute, 35 seconds in 1908; it is just under 53 seconds in 2008.

    Considerations

    • To swim freestyle, or the front crawl, you enter the water on your belly and keep your legs straight with the toes pointing outward. The swimmer kicks her legs up and down as she propels herself through the water headfirst using a windmill type motion with her arms. As one arm is coming out of the water and extending forward, the other will be going backward. The hands should be kept flat and used to "grab the water" on each stroke but with the fingers closed, and then continue until they are at the swimmer's side before being brought up again. The swimmer breathes by turning her head to one side and inhaling through her mouth as that side's arm comes out of the water.

    Identification

    • Some of the greatest freestyle swimmers in United States history include Johnny Weissmuller, who won five Olympic gold medals in freestyle events over a pair of Olympics before going on to portray Tarzan in a dozen movies, and the Hawaiian swimmer Duke Kahanamoku, who was the king of the freestylers prior to Weissmuller. Among some of the later freestyle champions from America were Peter Fick, Mark Spitz, Jim Montgomery, Matt Biondi and Michael Phelps.