Chapter 2 Introduction to Freestyle Swimming

     The Freestyle swim stroke, often called Front Crawl in many parts of the world, is the fastest of the four competitive strokes and also the one best suited to long distance events. In the elite swimming world it is the only stroke that is raced for distances of 400 m and longer.
     Freestyle is unique in that the swimmer has their face in the water for most of the stroke before rotating to the side to breathe very low to the surface. Breathing is a significant challenge when learning freestyle and the struggle to get enough air, without taking on water, is a dominant feature of many beginners’ experiences.
     The body rotates along the long axis of the spine during the stroke, which helps the swimmer engage their chest, back and core muscles effectively on every stroke. The lack of vertical movement in comparison to butterfly or breaststroke allows good swimmers to sit very high in the water minimising their drag profile. In comparison to backstroke, freestyle has biomechanical advantages, allowing a better propulsive technique in the water. For triathlon and open water swimming, freestyle is a much more compact and ‘narrow’ stroke than butterfly and breaststroke making it ideal for swimming in close confines to other swimmers and obviously has significant sighting advantages for holding a straight line between points over swimming on your back in backstroke.