Flipturned

Technique

The freestyle stroke was, like all the strokes, derived from breaststroke. The first version of freestyle was the Underarm Sidestroke. Created in the early 1800's, it was mostly used in competition. The swimmer remained on their side and switched pulling arms when one became tired while kicking with bent knees. A later variation was the Overarm Sidestroke with an over water arm recovery. In the mid to late 1800's, this became the Trudgen Stroke with alternating arm pulls and a scissor kick timed with the arms. This later evolved to the crawl stroke or freestyle, the version currently being used. Johnny Weissmuller (USA), the first person to swim the 100m freestyle in under one minute (1922) and still thought to be one of the greatest swimmers, had a very big influence on today's freestyle. Some even consider him a base model for the current stroke. His body stayed high on the surface, he had a 45° angle recovery, and his kick started from his hips and was a “flutter” motion with his knees minimally bent and toes pointed. Many adapted to his technique including Willy Den Ouden who competed at her first Olympics at the age of 14 (at the 1932 Games) and held the women's 100m freestyle World Record for almost 23 years.

The flip turn or tumble turn came from the US, created by Olympian Al Van Weghe (1934). The flip turn permits swimmers to quickly and efficiently turn at the wall with minimal loss of momentum.

Dawn Fraser, first female to go under one minute for the 100m freestyle (1964), was one of the few at the time to use a curved or “S” pull. Prior, most swimmers used a straight pull, not wavering from the entry point. The curve in the pull now plays a big role in the cohesion of the catch as it permits a stronger pull and is more aerodynamic.

The kick is a crucial part of swimming as it not only keeps the legs afloat, but also, and more importantly, is used as driving force. The flutter kick starts at the hip and extends all the way to the toes. There is so much power due to the length of body being used. Australian Olympic swimmer Lorraine Crapp took this to her advantage and narrowed her kick giving her more kicks in a shorter period of time. Her kick was so strong it was faster than all the men she trained with including Olympian John Devitt.

Up until about the 1950's, the flutter kick was timed to the arm pull as a six beat kick. Dawn Fraser, John Henricks and Lorraine Crapp were some of the first to use an irregular beat kick. This kick is much more efficient as each swimmer has their own rhythm and there is no forced pause to match the pull.

Thanks to all the influence from all over the world, the freestyle has become much more practical and efficient.