History
Freestyle also known as front crawl has been around since the Stone Age, but was used in a competitive context for the first time in 1844. Initially it was swam with an over arm recovery, and a breaststroke kick. It wasn’t until 1912 when the traditional form of freestyle was discovered. The traditional form of freestyle is swam with an over arm recovery and a six-beat flutter kick
Since the 1912 Olympic games there have been a number of freestyle races contested, but most commonly there are six races swam at any competition. There is also open water races at the Olympic games and the World Championships where freestyle is the most efficient stroke. Freestyle is the faster for the four strokes and typically the easiest stroke to swim for long periods of time.
Modern Freestyle
Since the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, there are six races contested for both men and women. There is the 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, and 1500m. Before the Olympics in 2020, the women didn’t swim the 1500m at the Olympic games and the men didn’t swim the 800m, but now both are swam in Olympic competition. Freestyle is races are different than the other strokes because the 50m, 100m, and 200m are more sprint focused events and the 400m, 800m, and 1500m are more distance focused events. Due to this, there is a wider range of swimmers who are successful or Olympians.
How to Swim Freestyle
Famous Freestylers
Sprinters
Distance swimmers
