8 Types of Swimming Strokes: How Each One Works and Who It Suits
Four strokes are used in competition, but there are several more that are useful for safety, rest and long swims. Here is how each one works, what it is good for and which to learn first.
The four competitive strokes
World Aquatics competitions use four strokes: freestyle (in practice, front crawl), backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly. An individual medley race uses all four. These are the strokes most swimming programmes teach.
1. Front crawl
You lie on your front, your arms take turns pulling under the water and recovering over it, and your legs do a steady flutter kick from the hips. You breathe by rolling to the side. It is the fastest and most efficient stroke, which is why almost everyone swims it in freestyle races. It is also the stroke most adults want to learn for lap swimming. Read our front crawl technique tips.
Good for: fitness, lap swimming, covering distance.
2. Backstroke
Backstroke is front crawl on your back: alternating arms, a flutter kick and your face out of the water the whole time. Breathing is easy, but you cannot see where you are going, so swimmers learn to count strokes from the flags hung across competition pools about five metres from each wall.
Good for: learners who find breathing in front crawl hard, balancing out front crawl, posture.
3. Breaststroke
Both arms pull together in a heart-shaped sweep, both legs kick together in a whip, and you glide between strokes. Your head comes up to breathe on every stroke, so you can see ahead. It is the slowest of the competitive strokes but one of the most comfortable. See what is breaststroke for the full technique.
Good for: relaxed swimming, seeing where you are going, water safety.
4. Butterfly
Both arms sweep back under the water and swing forward over it at the same time, while the legs do a dolphin kick: legs together, moving in a wave from the hips. Butterfly grew out of breaststroke in the 1930s, when swimmers found they could bring their arms forward over the water, and became a separate Olympic event in 1956. It is the most tiring stroke to learn and needs good timing and core strength. See our butterfly technique guide.
Good for: strength, power and a challenge, once front crawl is solid.
Strokes for safety, rest and history
5. Sidestroke
You lie on one side, with one arm stretched ahead and the other by your hip. The arms pull alternately under the water and the legs do a scissor kick: one leg forward, one back, then snapped together. Your face stays clear of the water. Sidestroke is restful and has long been part of lifesaving training, because it lets a swimmer keep their head up and one arm free.
Good for: long relaxed swims, lifesaving skills.
6. Elementary backstroke
You float on your back with your arms by your sides. Both hands slide up along your body, reach out to the side and push back to your thighs, while your legs do a gentle breaststroke-style kick. Then you glide. It is slow, very restful and keeps your face out of the water, which makes it a useful survival stroke and a good first stroke for nervous swimmers.
Good for: resting in deep water, beginners, older swimmers.
7. Trudgen
The trudgen is named after John Trudgen, an English swimmer who used it in the 1870s. It combines overarm strokes like front crawl with a scissor kick taken once per arm cycle. It was one of the steps between breaststroke and modern front crawl, and the flutter kick later replaced the scissor kick. Few people swim it today, but it is interesting history and some swimmers still use a trudgen-style kick naturally. Read more about the trudgen stroke.
Good for: understanding how front crawl developed.
8. Combat side stroke
Combat side stroke is a hybrid developed by the United States Navy SEALs. It mixes a breaststroke-like arm pull, a front-crawl-like arm reach on the side and a scissor kick, with the swimmer rotating onto the side. It is designed to be efficient over long distances and to keep a low profile in the water. Some adult swimmers learn it as an efficient endurance stroke. See our combat side stroke guide.
Good for: efficient long-distance swimming, variety.
Other useful water skills
Two more skills are not strokes but matter just as much: treading water, which keeps you upright in deep water with your head out, and survival floating on your back. Both are central to water safety. In Singapore, the SwimSafer programme teaches swimming strokes alongside water survival skills like these. See our SwimSafer course page and water safety tips.
Which stroke should you learn first?
- Children usually start with floating, kicking and gliding, then learn front crawl and backstroke, then breaststroke. Butterfly comes later.
- Adult beginners often feel most comfortable starting with breaststroke or elementary backstroke because the face stays out of the water, then move to front crawl once breathing is relaxed.
- Nervous swimmers do best by building water confidence first: putting the face in, floating and recovering to standing. See our water confidence course.
Not sure where to start? Read how to choose a swimming course, or see the beginner swimming course.
More in swimming technique
- What is the fastest swimming stroke?Five strokes ranked by speed, and why
- Streamline position in swimmingA 10-step guide to the fastest shape in the water
- How to kick in swimming10 steps to the flutter, breaststroke and dolphin kicks
- How to dive safely10 stages from sitting dive to standing dive
Sources
- Olympics.com, Swimming long course world records. Competitive events use freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly, plus individual medley.
- Wikipedia, Trudgen. Named after John Trudgen, who used it in the 1870s; overarm stroke with a scissor kick, a forerunner of front crawl.
- Wikipedia, Sidestroke. Includes the combat side stroke developed by and taught to US Navy SEALs.
- ActiveSG Circle (Sport Singapore), SwimSafer. National Water Safety Programme teaching swimming proficiency and water survival skills.
Want to learn a new stroke?
Tell us the swimmer's age, which strokes they can swim now and what they want to learn. We will suggest a suitable course, format and pool. Lessons run at public swimming complexes, private venues and condominium pools across Singapore.