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Freestyle swimming

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Freestyle is one of the official swimming competitions according to the rules of FINA. However, it is technically not a style, as there are very few regulations about the way freestyle has to be swum. Most swimmers choose to swim front crawl during freestyle, as this style is generally the fastest. In fact, freestyle is often confused to be the same as front crawl, whereas freestyle means any style.

Technique

Freestyle swimming competitions can be any of the unregulated strokes such as front crawl, dog paddle, or sidestroke. Individual freestyle competitions can also be swum in one of the officially regulated strokes (breaststroke, butterfly, and backstroke). For the freestyle part of medley competitions, however, one cannot use breaststroke, butterfly, or backstroke. Pretty much all competitive swimmers will choose to swim front crawl during freestyle competitions, as this style provides the greatest speed. Freestyle competitions have also been swum completely and partially in other styles, especially at lower ranking competitions. During the Olympic Games, front crawl is swum almost exclusively during freestyle.

Rules and regulation

Freestyle means any style for individual distances and any style but breaststroke, butterfly and backstroke for medley competitions. The wall has to be touched at every turn and upon completion. One part of the swimmer has to be above water at any time except for the first 15 m after the start and every turn as the swimmer is usually submerged underwater. This rule was introduced to avoid the dangers of swimmers passing out during underwater swimming. (see: History of swimming). The exact FINA rules are:

  • Freestyle means that in an event so designated the swimmer may swim any style, except that in individual medley or medley relay events, freestyle means any style other than backstroke, breaststroke or butterfly.
  • Some part of the swimmer must touch the wall upon completion of each length and at the finish.
  • Some part of the swimmer must break the surface of the water throughout the race, except it shall be permissible for the swimmer to be completely submerged during the turn and for a distance of not more than 15 metres after the start and each turn. By that point the head must have broken the surface.

Competitions

There are eight common competitions swum in freestyle swimming, both over either a long course (50 m pool) or a short course (25 m pool). The United States also employs short course yards (25 yard pool). Of course, other distances are also swum on occasions.

  • 50 m Freestyle
  • 100 m Freestyle
  • 200 m Freestyle
  • 400 m Freestyle (500 yards for short course yards)
  • 800 m Freestyle (1000 yards for short course yards)
  • 1500 m Freestyle (1650 yards for short course yards)
  • 4×100 m Freestyle Relay
  • 4×200 m Freestyle Relay

Young swimmers (typically 8 years old and younger) may swim a 25 yard or 25 meter freestyle event. These shorter events are usually for swimmers who are slower than similarly aged swimmers or may have difficulty swimming longer distances.

Freestyle is also part of the medley over the following distances:

  • 100 m Individual Medley (short 25 m pool only)
  • 200 m Individual Medley
  • 400 m Individual Medley
  • 4×100 m Medley Relay

In the long distance races of 800 m and 1500 m, meets hosted by FINA (including the Olympics) only have the 800 m distance for women and the 1500 m distance for men. However, FINA does keep records in the 1500 meter distance for women and the 800 meter distance for men, and many meets in the United States have both distances for both genders.[1]

Current world records

All records were achieved in finals unless otherwise specified. Records with an asterisk (*) after the time indicate that they have been attained since the last FINA world records list.

Long course swim pools

Men

Event Record Holder Nation Date Location
50 m 21.64 Alexander Popov  Russia June 16, 2000 Moscow, Russia
100 m 47.84 Pieter van den Hoogenband  Netherlands September 19, 2000 Sydney, Australia (semifinals)
200 m 1:44.06 Ian Thorpe  Australia July 25, 2001 Fukuoka, Japan
400 m 3:40.08 Ian Thorpe  Australia July 30, 2002 Manchester, United Kingdom
800 m 7:38.65 Grant Hackett  Australia July 27, 2005 Montreal, Canada
1500 m 14:34.56 Grant Hackett  Australia July 29, 2001 Fukuoka, Japan
4×100 m 3:12.46 Michael Phelps (48.83)
Neil Walker (47.89)
Cullen Jones (47.96)
Jason Lezak (47.78) 		 United States August 19, 2006 Victoria, Canada
4×200 m 7:04.66 Grant Hackett (1:46.11)
Michael Klim (1:46.49)
William Kirby (1:47.92)
Ian Thorpe (1:44.14) 		 Australia July 27, 2001 Fukuoka, Japan

Women

Event Record Holder Nation Date Location
50 m 24.13 Inge de Bruijn  Netherlands September 22, 2000 Sydney, Australia (semifinals)
100 m 53.30 Britta Steffen  Germany August 2, 2006 Budapest, Hungary
200 m 1:56.64 Franziska van Almsick  Germany August 3, 2002 Berlin, Germany
400 m 4:02.13 Laure Manaudou  France August 6, 2006 Budapest, Hungary
800 m 8:16.22 Janet Evans  United States August 20, 1989 Tokyo, Japan
1500 m 15:52.10 Janet Evans  United States March 26, 1988 Orlando, USA
4x100 m 3:35.22 Petra Dallmann (54.53)
Daniela Goetz (53.87)
Britta Steffen (52.66)
Annika Liebs (54.16) 		 Germany July 31, 2006 Budapest, Hungary
4×200 m 7:50.82 Petra Dallmann (1:59.14)
Daniela Samulski (1:58.27)
Britta Steffen (1:57.77)
Annika Liebs (1:55.64) 		 Germany August 3, 2006 Budapest, Hungary

Short course swim pools

Men

Event Record Holder Nation Date Location
50 m 20.98 Roland Schoeman  South Africa August 12, 2006 Hamburg, Germany (semifinals)
100 m 46.25 Ian Crocker  United States March 27, 2004 East Meadow, USA
Roland Schoeman  South Africa January 22, 2005 Berlin, Germany
200 m 1:41.10 Ian Thorpe  Australia February 6, 2000 Berlin, Germany
400 m 3:34.58 Grant Hackett  Australia July 18, 2002 Sydney, Australia
800 m 7:25.28 Grant Hackett  Australia August 3, 2001 Perth, Australia
1500 m 14:10.10 Grant Hackett  Australia August 7, 2001 Perth, Australia
4×100 m 3:09.57 Johan Nyström (49.04)
Lars Frölander (45.69)
Mattias Ohlin (47.87)
Stefan Nystrand (46.97) 		 Sweden March 16, 2000 Athens, Greece
4×200 m 6:56.41 William Kirby (1:44.97)
Ian Thorpe (1:42.63)
Michael Klim (1:45.55)
Grant Hackett (1:43.26) 		 Australia August 7, 2001 Perth, Australia

Women

Event Record Holder Nation Date Location
50 m 23.59 Therese Alshammar  Sweden March 18, 2000 Athens, Greece
100 m 51.70 Lisbeth Lenton  Australia August 9, 2005 Melbourne, Australia
200 m 1:53.29 Lisbeth Lenton  Australia November 19, 2005 Sydney, Australia
400 m 3:56.79 Laure Manaudou  France December 10, 2005 Trieste, Italy
800 m 8:11.25 Laure Manaudou  France December 9, 2005 Trieste, Italy
1500 m 15:42.39 Laure Manaudou  France November 20, 2004 La Roche-sur-Yon, France
4×100 m 3:33.32 Inge Dekker (53.52)
Hinkelian Schreuder (53.63)
Chantal Groot (54.00)
Magdalena Veldhuis (52.17) 		 Netherlands April 8, 2006 Shanghai, China
4×200 m 7:46.30 Yanvei Xu (1:55.73)
Yingven Zhu (1:57.04)
Jingzhi Tang (1:58.37)
Yu Yang (1:55.16) 		 China April 3, 2002 Moscow, Russia

Endnotes

  1. ^ The 2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships had an 800 meter distance for men, and 1500 meter distance for women, and appear to have been conducted on this basis since 1989. The 2006 USA Swimming Summer Nationals have both events, as do the 2006 USA Swimming Summer Junior Nationals and the 2005 USMS Long Course Nationals.

Bibliography

  • Hines, Emmett W. (1998). Fitness Swimming. Human Kinetics Publishers. ISBN 0-88011-656-0.
  • Laughlin, Terry (2001). Swimming Made Easy: The Total Immersion Way for Any Swimmer to Achieve Fluency, Ease, and Speed in Any Stroke. Total Immersion Inc. ISBN 1-931009-01-5.
  • Colwin, Cecil (2002). Breakthrough Swimming. Human Kinetics Publishers. ISBN 0-7360-3777-2.
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