Ericka Dianne Abella

BS Pharmacy 2F

What is freestyle?

The freestyle stroke, also known as front crawl, is the fastest and most efficient of the
competitive swimming strokes. This is why it is used in freestyle races and is also often the
favorite stroke of experienced swimmers and triathletes.

History of Freestyle

The freestyle swimming stroke was thought to have originated in Australia which is partially
true. The stroke used to be called the “Australian Crawl” because competitive swimmers
from Australia were winning events with this stroke. It is said the freestyle was originally
from the pacific islands possibly the Solomon’s. There is a story which is probably true
about a boy from the Solomon Islands who went to work in Australia in the 1800’s.He used to
swim in one of the local pools using this stroke and someone pointed out that it looked like
he was crawling. A swim coach took the basics of this stroke and refined it to what is the
freestyle of today. The Australians were winning races with this stroke and the world took
notice.

The first modern Olympic Games in 1896 had only four swimming events, three of them free
style. Two of these events were the 100 meters and 1500 meters freestyle races that were
held in the open water. In 1922, Johnny Weissmuller was the first person to break the one
minute mark in the 100 meter freestyle swimming it in 51 seconds, it was called the
Australian crawl back then.

He held this record for over 17 years. He also won five Olympic medals and 36 national
championships and never lost a race in his career of ten years. He later went on to play
Tarzan in a series of movies, always shown swimming in a small body of water or fighting an
alligator underwater.

How to Do the Freestyle Swimming Technique

1. Push and glide.

2. Do the kicks.

3. Move the arms.

4. Practice correct breathing.

5. Start with your arms.

6. Do the back sweep motion.

7. Recover.