Swimming: the four strokes and their rules

Front crawl, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly, turns and finishes, the 15 m limit and the medley order.

The outline, topic by topic

Each topic is weighted the way the exam weighs it.

Freestyle: what is it?
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An event where any stroke is allowed; swimmers almost always use front crawl, the fastest.
In medley, freestyle excludes the other three strokes.
A breaststroker touches the wall with one hand at the turn. Decision?
- Disqualification
- Nothing, it is allowed
- One second added
- Warning
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Disqualification
In breaststroke the touch must be with both hands together.
Backstroke: what is it?
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The only stroke started in the water, holding the wall.
The swimmer stays on the back except during the turn.
Why does the medley relay start with backstroke?
- It is the slowest stroke, so it goes first
- The order is drawn by lot before each race
- Its start is in the water, impossible after a changeover
- To let the butterfly swimmer recover from the warm-up
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Its start is in the water, impossible after a changeover
The other swimmers dive from the block.