Freestyle Swimming

swimming · sport · racing · strokes

Almost any stroke works. In freestyle races, swimmers can use whatever swimming stroke they want because the rules don't force them to use one specific style. This makes it different from other swimming competitions where you have to use backstroke, breaststroke, or butterfly.

Front crawl wins races. Even though swimmers can pick any stroke, almost everyone chooses the front crawl because it's the fastest swimming stroke in the world. Swimmers move their arms forward and kick their legs in an alternating pattern that lets them zoom through the water.

Many different distances. Freestyle races don't have just one length. Swimmers compete in races as short as 50 meters (the length of half a soccer field) all the way up to 1,500 meters, which is almost a mile long.

Most common competitions. Freestyle races are the most popular swimming events at competitions around the world, from school swim meets to the Olympic Games. You'll see more freestyle races than any other type of swimming competition.