Swimming Strokes

Thousands of people around the world love to swim for fun but few know what it is truly like as a sport to swim competitively. Many people only know of the one basic stroke, freestyle (and no, doggie paddle IS NOT considered an actual stroke) and are unaware that there are also three other strokes. Butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle are all four of the strokes used during swim meets, some are more complicated than others. Butterfly is known as the toughest stroke to accomplish because of the timing and strength required in order to stay a float. Swimmer's must move their arms up and above their head like doing arm circles and keep their legs together while kicking like a dolphin. Backstroke is a nice simply stroke, where you just lay on your back floating while spinning your arms and flutter kicking. Breaststroke on the other hand is hard to do and explain. The easiest way to put it is that you look like a frog when you do this stroke. Last but certainly not least, the stroke that everyone knows, freestyle. You float on your stomach, flutter kick and spin your arms like you are throwing a baseball.