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Here you will learn the primary rules for Freestyle and Backstroke:
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Freestyle ( crawl stroke ).
- The Freestyle is just that - a " Freestyle ".
- The swimmer may move their arms and legs in any pattern they choose; they are not required to even use their arms and / or legs at all!
- Swimmers must use a forward start.
- The swimmer must touch the wall with some part of their body at the end of each length in order.
- Any stroke, any style, almost anything goes.
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Freestyle - notice elbow and hand placement, as well as breathing technique.
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The primary rules that define the Backstroke are:
- The swimmer may move their arms and legs in any pattern they choose; they are not required to even use their arms and / or legs at all!
- Swimmers must start in the water, facing the wall, with their hands gripping the wall or hand grips of the starting blocks.
- The swimmer must leave the wall on their back ( shoulders at or past 90* toward their back ) and remain on their back until they complete each length of the pool.
- The swimmer must finish the race by touching the wall with some part of their body while still on their back.
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A very nice Backstroke start from the wall. |
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The most complicated part of the Backstroke rules have to do with the turns:
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When executing a turn in Backstroke, the swimmer is allowed to leave their back during the final arm stroke.
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Once on their back;
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The swimmer is allowed to complete that arm stroke by moving both hands to his / her hips ( either through a single or double arm pull ).
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The swimmer must execute the turn in a " continuous turning action."
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If the swimmer performs the turn too far away from the wall for the feet to touch, he / she is not allowed to scull back as this violates the " continuous turning action" as stated above.
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Example of a Backstroke start using the starting block hand grips. Nice high motion for faster start time. |
