Competitive swimming incorporates four style of swimming, called strokes. Some strokes are swum individually and others are swum as part of a relay team. The strokes can also be combined in a race called an individual medley, where one swimmer swims all four strokes in one race. While the sport is still evolving, the four basic strokes are typical races you can observe and appreciate at competitive swimming events.
Freestyle
Freestyle is also called front crawl or Australian crawl. It is swum using an alternating-arm stroke while the legs kick in a scissor-like motion. If a swimmer is swimming more than one lap, she can use an underwater flip turn to touch the end of the lane and push off to to begin the next lap. Freestyle is called a long-axis stroke because it involves moving your body forward as one long unit, Robert Boder explains in "A Brief and Basic Competitive Swimming Stroke Clinic Handout."
Breast Stroke
Breast stroke uses a frog kick and a strong arm pull next to the body to raise the body up and let the swimmer breathe. If a swimmer is swimming more than one lap, he must touch the wall with two hands before beginning the next lap, USA Swimming notes. Breast stroke is sometime called a short-axis stroke because it is requires body movement that is shorter than long-axis strokes --- you undulate to move through the water properly.
Back Stroke
Another long-axis stroke, back stroke requires a swimmer to swim on her back using alternating arm movements and kicking her legs in a scissor-like motion. When swimming more than one lap, the advanced swimmer can turn on her stomach and complete a flip turn just before the wall. The distance before she can turn varies depending on the competitive authority.
Butterfly
Butterfly is also a short-axis stroke. It involves a double-arm pull-over while the body mimics a dolphin's movement. The legs stay together the entire time while the body undulates to let the swimmer breathe and lift her arms out of the water to further power her stroke. When swimming another lap, the swimmer must touch the wall with two hands prior to beginning her next lap.
Relays
Relays have four swimmers swimming the same stroke for the same distance --- typically 50, 100 or 200 meters or yards. If the swimmers are in a medley relay, however, each swims one stroke, then the next swimmer swims the next to compose a fully medley of strokes. The order swum is typically backstroke, breast stroke, butterfly and freestyle, according to USA Swimming.
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