Whether you wish to learn swimming for exercise or competition, it is good to know about different strokes of swimming as each has its perks in multiple situations.
A swimmer should learn as many different types of techniques as possible. Source
Various styles hold more importance when you swim for long distances, as it assists in preventing fatigue.
Here are the different styles of swimming you should know:
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Front crawl
Front crawl is probably the first stroke you think of when you imagine swimming. It is generally called a freestyle stroke because most of the swimmers opt this in freestyle events as this provides speed.
To execute this, lie on the stomach and move forward with alternating movements of the arm just like the windmill motion. Your legs will propel you with a kick as the legs move in alternation.
You should keep your body in a straight position, as any of the lateral movements may hamper the speed. Breathing also holds great importance, so you should time your breath taken with the strokes.
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Breaststroke
It is the stroke which is learnt commonly and is the slowest competitive stroke. It is generally taught to the beginners, as it does not require putting your head under the water.
This stroke is executed with your stomach below the water surface. Your arms move at the same time beneath water surface in half circular motion.
Simultaneously, the legs perform the whip kick. Whip kick is performed by bringing your legs straight from behind you near to your body at knees.
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Backstroke
This stroke has multiple similarities to the front crawl.
This stroke starts with the upper body floating on the water surface and the rest of the body beneath the water. Keep yourself horizontal when you move through the water, so that you can achieve through the kicks of your leg.
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Butterfly
This is an advanced stroke which is a tremendous workout. This can be tiring and tough to learn but it also offers so much fun. This is considered the second fastest stroke in competitions.
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Sidestroke
Though not used commonly in competitions, it holds importance for the swimmers as you can use it to save someone, since it requires only one arm.
This resembles picking up apples as you float on one side, come up like picking up an apple and go down like putting apple into the basket.
You can easily glide in between the strokes that allow you to go easily through the water while rescuing some person.
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