Swimming as a Sport

There are four strokes in competitive swimming. The freestyle which is my personal favorite has no restrictions. The three other styles are the backstroke, the breaststroke, which is usually called frog style, and therefore the butterfly. The mechanics and therefore the turns are strictly regulated in these three strokes. Freestyle races in major championships are over 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m, and 1500m for men, with the 800m rather than the 1500m for ladies. within the other three strokes, both men and women race over 100m and 200m. There are medley races for both men and women, over 200m and 400m, during which each stroke has swum for 50m and 100m respectively, the order being a butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle. Relay races include 4x100m and 4x200m, also as a medley 4x 100m relay during which the order of the strokes is backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle.

The standard long-course swimming events happen in Olympic-size pools, which measure 50m approximately and which have eight lanes, 2.3m wide. Competitors dive in from starting blocks, apart from the backstroke, which is started within the pool, and are timed to the 1/1000^ of a second by touching the electronic pads at the finish. Swimmers must confine their own lanes, marked with ropes on the surface. Lines of flags hang over the pool to let backstrokers know once they are within 5m of a turn or the finish. The competitor with the fastest entry time is assigned the lane on the proper of the centerline. Slower swimmers are assigned lanes alternately to the left and right with the slowest swimmers within the outside lanes.

By: Khushboo

Birla School, Pilani